The Fine Art of Label Reading

In regards to proper nutrition, the easiest way to modify poor eating habits into healthy ones is practicing the art of label reading. Labels are the most important part of eating right. The little box of words placed on all of our processed food products is akin to reading a detective novel. Little clues and hints are available to help you make the correct food choices. The key to success, as in all mundane tasks, is to make a habit out of reading labels. Once you start reading labels and label reading becomes routine, you will always check your food's ingredients. It actually becomes enjoyable, finding out what foods are good, which ones are bad, and how often a food company is trying to pull a fast one on you. Here are five key areas you should pay attention too. 1. Serving Size. A lot of food companies try to trick you on this one. For instance, many refreshing soft drinks and even juice drinks will list the calories. Most people think the calories are for the entire bottle. Wrong. There are usually two servings in that "little" bottle and now you have twice the calories. 2. Trans Fats. The label sometimes will have a Trans Fat category. It usually only has this category if the product doesn't have any Trans Fats. The food company is bragging their zero trans fat percentage. If there is no Trans Fat category, we typically have a problem and now have to use are detective skills. Go to the ingredient section and look for the word HYDROGENATED. If you see the word hydrogenated, with an oil following it, bingo, we have Trans Fats. Trans Fats cause heart disease and strokes. Stay away from those foods. 3. Sugar. If it is above 5-8 grams per serving, the food is too sweet and contains to much added sugar. Another clue, is too look for the order in which sugar is listed on the ingredients. If it is to close to the beginning of the list, you just won bingo again. Food ingredients are listed in order of their weight in the product. Sugar at the top of the list means the product is mostly sugar. 4. Corn Syrup. Possibly the worst hidden sweetener ever concocted in a laboratory. Much sweeter than sugar, studies have shown that any form of High Fructose Corn Syrup increases your appetite and makes you eat more!! A major contributor to childhood obesity. 5. Artificial Sweeteners. There is mounting evidence that artificial sweeteners are dangerous neurotoxins. If you choose to avoid artificial sweeteners, watch for the words Aspartame, Acesulfame, Splenda, Sucrulose, and Nutrasweet.



Thought for the Week: "Life only demands from you the strength that you possess. Only one feat is possible------not to have run away.
---------Dag Hammarskjold



Chiropractic Thought for the Week: "Regular chiropractic examinations determine the existence of vertebral subluxations. Subluxations, resulting from "minor" traumatic episodes can lead to nerve interference that later in life displays itself in pain syndromes and organic malfunctions we call disease. A spine chiropractically maintained in youth is the best assurance to a healthy life that you can give a child."
---------Fred Barge, D.C., Ph.C