If a product label reads 'Made with Natural Ingredients', this may mean that one ingredient is natural, but the product may not be 100 percent natural.
Labels of packaged food can be misleading. For instance, a food that claims to be ‘healthy’ may be loaded with artificial flavors, colors, sugars, and trans fats. Athletes and diabetics tend to look out for healthy options. While athletes do it to enhance their performance, diabetics do it to control their soaring blood sugar levels. A lot of ingredients go into a food product, and you will find most of that information on its label. Here are five things you should check before purchasing packaged foods.
Look out for alternative names for sugar
Companies are incredible at hiding the sugar content in their food products. They may label their product as ‘no sugar’ but if you check the ingredients, you may find them in other names. Sugars are often mentioned with alternative names like ‘syrup’ or ‘malt’. There are other names that companies often use like, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS 90 or HFCS 55), Sucrose, Agave Nectar, Juice, Molasses, Caramel, Syrup solids, Maltose, Fructose and many more.
Watch out for Sodium
Excess sodium consumption can damage your kidneys, causing water retention in the body and leading to subsequent organ damage. All-day long you will be consuming multiple products in bits and pieces that are rich in sodium, and you might eventually cross the limit. Some brands declare these values on their pack labels. Remember to cross-check.
Avoid everything that is labeled ‘Healthy’
It may sound paradoxical, but do not purchase products that are labeled healthy. You will find a lot of packaged foods labeled 'diet', 'low carb', 'low fat, 'nutritious', 'healthy' etc. You may want to instinctively purchase it, but companies selling these products are only trying to target a specific customer base (usually those who are obese or diabetic), who are trying to switch to healthier options but do not want to compromise with the taste of the food item.
Multigrain claim
When a product claims to be 'multigrain', it should include the right combination of whole grains to boost your fiber content and offer various other health benefits. Carefully check the list of ingredients. If you see some ingredients are repeated - for instance, rice and broken rice cannot account for two different grains in a multigrain product. Do not let any brand trick you into believing that the product has multiple grains.
Artificial colors
Studies have revealed that artificial colors are associated with cancer in adults and hyperactivity in children. If ingredients, nutrition information, or labels are confusing, reach out to the manufacturer to clear your queries. It is best to consume food products that have 0% preservatives, 0% chemicals, and 0% jargon and are 100% wholegrain certified.
For a healthier tomorrow, eat healthy today and be true to yourself.
