How to Read Food Labels: The Ingredients List

The ingredients list is a very important source of information on a food label, because it tells you specifically what is in a food and helps you figure out how healthy the food reallyis. Unfortunately, it often goes overlooked, probably because there are usually a number of unfamiliar terms on the label, which can make it difficult to understand. Luckily there are some tips to help you understand how to get the most out of the ingredient list, starting with the order of the ingredients.

Ingredients are always in order from the ingredient that weighs the most to the one that weighs the least. While this does not mean that the first ingredient contains the most calories, it does tell you the primary ingredients that make up the food and gives you an idea of the overall health of the food. For example, if a package says it includes whole grains (which is good), but the first ingredient listed is bleached enriched whole wheat flour (not a whole grain), and the first whole grain is halfway down the list, you can determine that only a small amount of the carbohydrates are actually whole grains.

As for the ingredients themselves, you have probably noticed a lot of strange ingredients on the list, especially towards the end of the list. These items are usually 1 of 3 things: added micronutrients (vitamins & minerals), spices or natural flavorings, or artificial ingredients (flavor enhancers, colors, preservatives, etc.). Although these ingredients generally occur in small quantities, they can still have a significant impact on your health. As a general rule, nutrients and spices are healthy, while artificial ingredients should be avoided as often as possible.

The big problem with the ingredients list is that few people actually understand the names of everything on the list, so it can be difficult to determine good ingredients from bad ones. For example cyanocobalamin, which may sound bad, is actually another name for vitamin B-12. Unfortunately there are too many of these examples to cover in this article, so I will focus on the most important ingredients to avoid for maintaining good health and improving fat loss.

One of the most common unhealthy ingredients found in many foods is "partially hydrogenated" oil. Hydrogenation is a process that alters unsaturated fats and makes them incompatible with your body. This is a somewhat complicated chemical process, but simply put, hydrogenated oils have fewer health benefits and cause significantly more health problems than the same oils in their natural state (non-hydrogenated). As a result, partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided as much as possible.

When discussing unhealthy carbohydrates, it is naturally a good idea to limit consumption of sugar, especially refined sugar (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, etc.). Another type of carbohydrate to avoid is any flour/grain that has been "bleached," because bleaching strips nutrients from the ingredient. Companies try to make these ingredients sound better by making them "enriched," which adds some nutrients back, but they are not nearly as good for you as whole grains or other natural products.

When it comes to other additives, a well-known ingredient to avoid is MSG (monosodium glutamate), but this is a case where trying to avoid MSG, and actually avoiding it, can be two very different things. A nutritional label may list MSG or monosodium glutamate, but it could instead be listed as "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein" or even "natural flavors." The term "natural flavors" is a general term that includes any flavor that comes from something that can be found in nature.

MSG can be made in different ways and one way is by breaking down natural proteins, so if created that way, it can be listed on the label as a natural flavor. The good news for trying to avoid MSG is that it is most commonly found in foods that have other unhealthy ingredients (chips, microwaveable dinners, ranch dressing, etc.) and it will never be found in raw/natural products that do not have any added ingredients (fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, etc.).

Other added ingredients to avoid are "nitrates" and "nitrites." These are generally found in highly processed foods, especially meat products such as bacon and ham. These ingredients are believed to be carcinogenic (cancer causing) and products containing them should be consumed sparingly if at all. In some cases, alternatives without nitrates or nitrites are available, but you may have to go to a natural/health food store to find them.

There are many other unhealthy ingredients, as well as a number of ingredients that cause significant negative reactions in some people while having minimal effects in others. A couple examples are sugar-alcohols and artificial sweeteners. In any case, when it comes to the list of ingredients, when there is an excessive number of added ingredients, chances are the food is not very healthy.

The ingredients discussed above are some of the biggest offenders found in foods today and eating any of them in significant amounts over a long period of time can lead to a number of health problems, so the best thing to do is avoid them whenever possible. Also, by avoiding foods with these ingredients, you will probably also avoid a lot of the other unhealthy ingredients that were not covered in this article.

Of course, without reading the list of ingredients you will not have any idea about how many unhealthy ingredients are included, so it pays to read the label. It may take a while to get used to reading the ingredients, but after a while you will be able to make sense of the ingredients and do a better job of picking foods that improve your overall health and help you lose fat and keep it off.