2 Important Rules For Eating Healthy and Losing Those Extra Pounds
When you walk down the grocery aisle looking for something healthy, you get slick, in-your-face marketing messages on the packaging...
- 40% less fat
- 30% less fat
- Garden Veggie
- Vegetable and Potato Snack
If you are trying to eat healthily, there are 2 rules you should pay attention to.
RULE #1 - You can’t always believe the front of the package.
This is marketing to make you think you are getting something healthier than it is, just to trick you to buy their products!
RULE #2 - Don't forget Rule #1
Learn how to read food labels.
When it comes to reading food labels there are 6 things you should look for.
Serving size - Nutritional labels indicate serving sizes either in ounces or grams.
The Cape Cod Chips and Veggie Straws on the above labels serving size are 42 grams for the Cape Chips is 28 grams (or 1 ounce) and 28 grams (1.48 ounces) in the Veggie Straws.
Calories – Knowing the calories in a food item will help you determine the calorie density when choosing your food.
- 3 ounces of Cape Cod potato chips contain approximately 400 calories.
- 3 ounces of Veggie Straws contain 390 calories.
- Contrast that with 3 ounces of potatoes, only 59 calories.
Fat – Knowing this is a must!
You are aiming for only 10% - 12% of your calories from fat.
If you consume 1800 calories per day, your maximum daily fat intake should be around 24 grams.
The Cape Cod potato chips have 9 grams of fat (90 calories) 82% of the potato chips are fat.
The veggie snacks contain 7 grams of fat (60 calories) 46% of the snacks is fat
Fiber – This is one of the most crucial elements of your dietary pattern.
Aim for at least 50 grams every day.
- The potato chips have 2 grams of fiber.
- The veggie snacks have less than 1 gram of fiber
Cholesterol – Your body makes all the cholesterol you need. Any additional cholesterol is not only unnecessary but could be harmful.
There is no cholesterol in either the potato chips or veggie snacks.
From a health standpoint, this may be the only "positive" for these snacks.
Only animal products contain cholesterol.
If you have high cholesterol levels, aim for as close to ZERO mg of cholesterol as possible.
Sodium – If you are sensitive to sodium, it’s a good idea to know how much sodium is in the food you are going to eat.
The recommended daily sodium consumption is 1500 mg per day.
A good rule of thumb suggested by Jeff Novick, RD is 1 mg of salt for every calorie consumed.
A 1500 calorie per day diet would equal 1500 mg of salt.
Potato chips = 190 mg
Veggie Straws = 210 mg
By using the nutrition labels as a guide for your “overall” dietary pattern, you’ll get to know what foods are healthy
And it also shows that your “overall dietary pattern” is what counts.
In the next Newsletter, we'll cover the Ingredients list from the food labels.
There is always more to know...
Always dig deeper - your life depends upon it.
Ed Bishop