Learn How To Read Food Nutrition Labels To Be Healthy

Health & FitnessJanuary 19, 2018

The first step to changing your eating habits is deciding to read this article. Your willingness to bring the change for yourself and take control over deciding what’s going to be good for you! Now that you have made the first step, you may proceed to the next: changing your food habits by knowing how to read food labels.

The difference you are going to make will be positive and change how you eat. It requires eating not only foods that are low in fat but also the foods that are low in sugar. Imagine yourself seeing a product on a shelf and you are going to look for foods with a label that says ‘healthy’. You have to note that ‘healthy’ may not always mean that it’s good for you.

A Quick Guide on how to Read A Nutrition Label

The word healthy could be overrated since it is easily thrown by everyone in the food industry to describe what they are selling in general. They could define ‘Healthy’ in terms of weight loss, better medical health, and increased metabolism without clearly defining it on their package. But it is not enough to advertise that it is healthy, it must also pass the test for the nutrition label.

Rebecca Helquist, a registered dietician, said that reading the ingredients and the nutrition label should be highlighted.

A Golden Rule in Eating Healthy is Don’t Eat If You Can’t Pronounce the Ingredients

According to Helquist, the ingredients are listed on the nutrition label by the amount of the product. This means that the first ingredient listed will be the most in the product, and so will be the others. You have to look for the natural ingredients. The fewer ingredients mean that it has more natural ingredients and is better. She is also suggesting asking yourself upon reading the list of ingredients if you can pronounce it and whether your body could digest that. If you think the answer is no, carry on and look for the food that you can.

Helquist says that it can be confusing to look at the percentages on the nutrition label but is still vital when deciding what to put inside your body.

Aim low – It should be below 5 percent- when looking at the percentages of sodium, fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat the numbers should be below 5.

Aim high– it should be greater than 20 percent- when looking at the percentages of minerals and vitamins, the percentage should be above 20.

Low fat or low sugar doesn’t always mean that it is good for you.

If a product says that it has low sugar, it usually has more fat. A product that says ‘low fat’ usually means that it has more sugar. These spins on ‘healthy’ food mislead almost everybody. It is best to take a closer look at the foods that you are taking in your body. It would be advisable to look at the ingredients and its percentages in the nutrition label, take your time in determining if the food could lead you to a wise food decision.

Most Low Fat Products Contains High Sugar to Replace the Fats

Most Low-Fat Products Contain High Sugar to Replace the Fats

Note that it is better to choose the foods that are natural and organic instead if ‘healthy’ options. The word healthy is overused and vague in the food industry. Everybody wants to be healthy but the word can be exploited to up the sales of a food product.

Technically, when they are low fat, they are. But omitting that products could have more sugar and vice versa could really be misleading.

Organic Foods Are More Preferable to Stay Clean and Healthy

Organic Foods Are Preferable to Stay Clean and Healthy

The expert nutritionist at SmartBox has a defined philosophy about the definition of ‘healthy’. Natural and organic is their personal choice since, unlike artificial ingredients, their ingredients can metabolize. Products that are natural and organic have half the amount of sugar but have the same sweetness. This could satisfy the cravings and could lead to losing weight naturally. These foods could also promote personal productivity and increase your mental alertness.

Always be reminded that before you reach for a food product with ‘healthy’ on its package, be wise and read the nutrition label. Opt for the natural and food that are organic to truly live a healthy lifestyle.