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Read the Label
READ THE LABEL
By Brenda Jaeck – Nutrition and Lifestyle Counselor
As a nutritional counselor “Read the Label” is often my answer to either the
question “Should I eat this?” or “What do you think of that food product?” As a
society to have become so used to packaged and convenience foods that we
assume that they all actually contain nutrients that can sustain us. The problem:
SO much of our food is filled with artificial flavors and manufactured “food stuff”
that many of us seem to be under nourished. Hence, the reason so many are
always hungry and/or overweight.
I see so many clients, both guests at New Age Health Spa and in my private
practice, focusing on calories. It seems this, for whatever reason, has become
THE thing that people are concerned about. Webster’s dictionary defines a
calorie as The amount of heat required at a pressure of one atmosphere to raise
the temperature on one gram of water one degree centigrade. As a unit of
measurement for comparison purposes this is somewhat helpful. The problem,
calories don’t FEED us – nutrients do. So, if we are constantly eating
manufactured food with little REAL nutrients in it we are consuming calories but
not nutrients. The result? We’ll always be hungry.
The answer – “Read the Label!” – But not the calories count – the CONTENTS.
What should we look for? Real food – food that grows in nature – food that you
can pronounce and know what it is. Below the ingredient panel from a food
product – can you guess what it is?
Water, corn syrup, cultured lowfat buttermilk, vinegar, garlic juice, cellulose gel,
sugar, salt, skim milk, dried sour cream, dried onion, canthan gum, malto-detrin,
monosodium glutamate with potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as
preservatives, lactic acid, natural flavor, propylene glycol alginate, cultured skim
milk (dried), artificial color, phosphoric acid, lemon juice concentrate, green onion
(dried), spice, Di-alphatocopherol actetate (Vicamin D)
Answer: Seven Seas FREE Ranch Dressing (Fat Free and Cholesterol Free)
Something so simple turned so complicated. Whatever happened to vinegar and
oil?
After ingredients what DO we want to notice on a nutrition label on the food that
we eat – sugar content and fiber content. Of course here we are looking for the
lowest sugar content and the highest fiber content. This is especially true of
products like breakfast cereal and packaged bread. Food manufactures add so
many different forms of sugar to food (a lecture attendee once brought a Weight
Watchers snack bar to me and asked what I thought of them – we turned it over
and read the ingredient label – we counted 8 or 9 different forms of sugar!
Needless to say, I no longer needed to answer the question.) Fiber is important
to control the speed at which food is assimilated into our system. The higher the
fiber content the slower the food is absorbed into the body. This helpful because
if our food is absorbed at a slower rate then the food we eat stays with us longer
– giving us nutrients and energy over a longer period of time. It also keeps us
satisfied (i.e. full) longer. Fiber also helps in the elimination process. It creates a
“scrub brush” to help drag undigested food and toxins out of the digestive
system.
We need to read the labels despite where we buy are our food – even foods sold
on a health food store need some investigation. Foods labeled natural or low fat
or healthy still need investigation. In summary, WE are responsible e for our
health – food is a big contributor or detractor. The only way we know what we
are REALLY eating is to do a little investigation – remember the mantra “READ
THE LABEL.”
Brenda Jaeck is a Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle Counselor, Lecturer and
Workshop Facilitator. She can be contacted at 917 213 9305 or
brenda@seedstochange.com.
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