Reading Food Labels

As we grow more and more aware of our body needs and upcoming healthy food products in the market, we tend to choose them without too much awareness about its truth. What you see is what you buy. 

Products named "whole wheat", "oats", "high Fibre", "low fat", "zero cholesterol", "organic", "natural", "healthy" etc., have become a trend in the market. I can manufacture any product and market it the way I want and you are bund to buy them because I have caught your weak point and labelled it that way. 

NO!

Lets become more aware of the products. 

1. Looking at the Nutritional Label: 

The first thing you would at is the amount of calories. No. you may look at them but that is not the only thing you need to control or take care of! Look at more important things such as Proteins, Fibre and other micro nutrients such as vitmains, sodium, calcium, iron, etc. If they have mentioned these, means they contain enough of them and you can prefer these foods over others. You may choose higher protein and fibre values than others. So, instead of calorie counting, do your protein and fibre count. 

2. Check the Ingredient List:

Have you even looked at the ingredient list of the foods before buying? If not, start from NOW!

A lot of secrets lie in the ingredient list. the amounts of ingredients listed gives you what you are actually eating. Oats biscuits may actually contain only 3% oats while the rest is refined wheat flour(maida). Brown bread may be assumed to be whole wheat bread because of the colour but in reality, it may be brown only because of the natural colors used. So you might as well buy a white bread instead. Good companies will give you the percentage of ingredients and it is up to us whether we utilize their efforts or not!

3. Check for added additives:

If they have been labelled natural, you definitely should look at the column for added preservatives and added colours. In case they have added anything, they are not natural. They may be natural color, but definitely the addition itself makes it artificial!

These are the 3 major ways of looking and understanding the labels. Do message, comment below if you find any issues while you wisely choose your products. 

Spread awareness. Spread Knowledge. Spread Health!