motd Sunday Dec 4, 2011 - label reading

[Guest guest]

WHAT'S IN A

NAME?

Sunday, 04 December 2011

Oh, I've been writing these messages for so

long now. And I hope they've been helpful for you

over the years. See, I try to guide you to where I'm

going and...that's down the road to good health. I've

always stressed how you should be well-informed when

you go grocery shopping. And by that, I mean you

should keep yourself educated by reading the

ingredients label of all the foods you buy.

LOW-FAT! NON-FAT!

LITE! DIET! SUGAR-FREE! CALORIE-FREE!

LOW-SODIUM!

But I'm telling you, sometimes it seems these

companies don't want you to know what's in their

products. I mean, the print on their ingredient

labels is just so small. But besides those labels,

some of the companies shout from the package what

their products are all about in big BOLD letters.

LOW-FAT! NON-FAT! LITE! DIET! SUGAR-FREE!

CALORIE-FREE! LOW-SODIUM! Oh, my goodness!

What are we to make of all these claims? Well, let me

give you a few pointers.

When it comes to FAT...fat-free means a food

has less that 0.5 grams of fat per serving. A low-fat label on the

package means a food has 3 grams or less of fat per

serving. Now I want you to remember, the USDA

recommends that you consume less than

50 grams of fat per day. And I'm sure I don't

even have to tell you that it doesn't take long for

those fat grams to add up during the course of a day

of eating.

What if a product shouts

from the label...sodium-free?

Now let's talk about SODIUM.

What if a product shouts from the label...sodium-free?

Well, that product should have no more than 5mg of

sodium per serving. A low-sodium food should

have less than 140mg of sodium per serving. Keep this

in mind, too: The Centers for Disease Control

recommends that we keep our daily sodium intake under

1500mg daily.

And what about CALORIES?

If a label says the food product you're looking at is calorie-free,

that means it should contain only 0-5 calories per

serving. But where you have to be careful here is

when artificial

sweeteners are

used to lower the calories in any food. Remember, something has to take

the place of that sugar to make it sweet while keeping

the food's calorie-count down. And so often, that

replacement is a manmade chemical. I have to tell

you, I avoid any foods that contain artificial

sweeteners. There're just too many unanswered

questions about their affects on our health.

Keep reading those

nutrition/ingredient labels.

I hope you find this information useful for the next

time you go grocery shopping. In the meantime, please

keep reading those nutrition/ingredient labels. I

want you all to be educated and...healthy consumers!

And you will be, when you're clear about just what

goes into the foods you buy. Because, remember...

You are what you eat!

Love,