Reading a Food Label Can Help Your Health

Understanding what food to buy at the local grocery store can be a nightmare. With literally hundreds of food options, it is difficult to decipher which food items are actually better for you and which only tout false claims on their boxes.

The key to finding the right food lies in the food labels.

We have all been there. In one hand you hold a box claiming that its contents are "Healthy, nutritious, with real fruit!" and your other hand holds a box claiming "Lowers cholesterol, high in fiber!" If you do not know how to read the food label, you might just opt for whichever box appeals to you most at that moment. However, a closer inspection may reveal that the first box only has 10% real fruit (and 90% sugar) and the other box has three times as many calories per serving and a hundred bizarre unpronounceable ingredients (preservatives).

Learning how to read the food labels can solve the mystery of which food to buy at the grocery store.

Food Label Clue 1: Calories

Every food label is required to list overall calories and calories from fat. Before you jump for joy and buy the 100 calorie option, be sure to check out the serving size of the food. Even a tub of pure lard can boast of having only 100 calories per serving if the serving size is the size of a thimble. When looking at calories, you want the product with the lowest number of overall and fat calories for the largest serving size. For example, an 8 ounce serving with 150 calories is most likely better than a 4 ounce serving with 100 calories.

Food Label Clue 2: Fat, cholesterol, and sodium

Depending on any preexisting health conditions, you may have to specifically avoid food that has high levels of sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fat. Fats in general are not good for you (because they are still usually high in calories), but the big one to watch out for is saturated fat. The label will also list sodium and cholesterol. Have a talk with your doctor about the amount of sodium and cholesterol you need per day. The percentages listed are for a 2000 calorie-a-day diet, but you may be under or above that or have a differing level of physical activity that will affect your daily calorie intake.

Food Label Clue 3: Carbohydrates

Generally, the higher the fiber and the lower the sugar, the better the food is for you. If you have any sort of blood sugar issues like diabetes or hypoglycemia, you want to avoid anything with a high level of overall carbohydrates, high sugar, and high sugar alcohol. Dietary fiber is your friend, and you want your foods to have high levels of fiber, no matter what your age or health.

Food Label Clue 4: Vitamins and Minerals

If you have a choice between Juice A which has 35 grams of sugar and 5% of your daily Vitamin C and Juice B which has 35 grams of sugar and 100% of your Vitamin C, Juice B is the better option (albeit still a little higher in sugar). This is where you can find out if your health food is actually healthy. Many canned foods, besides being high in sodium, will also have little to no nutritional value. In other words, if your food does not have some sort of vitamin or mineral listed, most of the nutrition has been processed out of it.

Food Label Clue 5: Ingredients

You hold in your hand a can of yummy ravioli. It is low in fat and calories, has 45% of your Vitamin A and Vitamin C of the day, and has a manageable amount of sodium. Should you buy it? Before you do, check the ingredients. If you see that the list of ingredients has more than half a dozen ingredients or that the majority of the ingredients have bizarre names that not even your chemistry teacher could pronounce, then you are better off leaving the can behind. Why? Our bodies were made to process things like carrots, peas, meat, fruit, and nuts, not chemicals with names like hydrolyzed corn, disodium guanlyate, MSG, xanthan gum, and a dozen other bizarre names.

A final food hint

Whenever you can, buy fresh and buy local. You do not need to worry about what has been pumped into your tomatoes if it comes from a local grower and has not been sitting on the grocery shelf for eight months.