Be A Saavy Label Reader

Just because foods are available on a store shelf doesn’t mean they are healthy or safe for human consumption. Most of us consume foods each day being unaware of the harmful ingredients they are really made of and if we did know we’d probably think twice about putting it in our mouth or letting our loved ones put it in theirs. I have a book in my library called “Body By God” by Dr. Ben Lerner and one of the ideas that stood out to me was when he was talking about children & nutrition. He talks about the “kid foods” and the ingredients in most of these foods; they are just loaded with sugar, fat, artificial flavors & colors and have no real nutritional value. He says in many cases our kids would be better of eating the wrapper or box the food came in. With all of the stimulating colors coming from the dyes put in kid foods our kids might as well be eating the crayons they color with. So often I hear parents tell me that they know their nutrition is sub-par because eat “kid foods” or the foods their kids will eat, like pizza, hot dogs, mac n’ cheese, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, cheese burgers, crackers, white bread & fruit snacks. This blows me away if it is not healthy for you as an adult – then why in the name of all that is good and holy is it okay for your kids to eat. I also have a challenge with parents who tell me that it is so hard for them to have to buy healthy foods and eat different foods then the rest of the family is eating. Shouldn’t the whole family be eating the same HEALTHY, nutrient rich foods?

Well first of all, our children are not born into the world with a natural craving for those foods, food likes and dislikes are learned behaviors. We, the adults who do the shopping, drive cars, and have the monetary resources as well as mental capacity to make decisions buy, offer, and provide those foods to our little children who know no different. Our children would grow up loving and craving whole grain bread & cereals, fresh fruits & veggies, beans & legumes if that is all we offered them. So there is nothing that makes me cringe like having someone talk to me about so called “kid foods”. If there is every a time in a person’s life that healthy, nutrient dense food is most vital it is from conception through the growth & development years. We as Americans fill out kids with crumby foods and then to excuse ourselves for training there bodies to crave it, say things like “its all my kids will eat, my kids won’t eat anything else, my kids won’t eat anything I cook, my kids are picky eaters, my kids will only eat it if it comes from a drive thru or out of a box or can.” We really can take control and begin teaching ourselves and our children to love and crave healthy, fresh foods. Foods are best when they are closest to their natural state, minimally processed. We have a stewardship over our own bodies and our children, so if we love ourselves, our Creator, and our families then isn’t it time we start taking a serious look at our nutrition and make improvements (no matter how small and incremental) each day to eat and live healthier?

I encourage you to become a saavy food label reader. Let’s become aware of what we are actually putting into our bodies. Here are a couple of things to look for when reading labels.

1. Remember that ingredients are listed by amount (greatest to least). The ingredient that occurs first composes the greatest proportion of that food, the item listed last contributes least to the composition of that food. This can often be misleading especially when it comes to sugar. We may read a label and the first ingredient is oats, followed by whole wheat flour, sugar is listed #3 and then we find high fructose corn syrup at #5, brown sugar at #8, maltodextrins at #10, and corn syrup at #13. Oats are healthy and listed as number 1 so this food must be mostly made of oats and pretty healthy right? WRONG!! Although sugar is listed #3, the greatest component of this food is sugar because some form of sugar occurs 5 times in different amounts. The amount of sugar and refined sugars is very high compared to the healthy amount of oats & whole wheat.



2. Enriched doesn’t always mean healthy. Often we look at the word enriched in a positive connotation. However when it comes to food it is sometimes a different story. Enriched means they’ve taken the good stuff out and then add a couple of other good things back in as if to make up the difference. The most notable is enriched flours. Whole grains are the best because they are nutrient dense and complete. When flours are milled and refined they take out all of the healthy nutrients like the bran and the germ – this strips away the fiber and most if not all of the vitamins and minerals. They’ll enrich the flour by adding a couple of vitamins and minerals back in. When buying whole wheat bread if the first ingredient says “enriched wheat flour” it is not the same as “whole wheat flour” – it is lacking nutrients and essentially no better than refined white bread. Keep reading the ingredient list after “enriched wheat flour” and you’ll find that they’ve either added molasses or artificial coloring to give the appearance of “whole grain wheat”.


3. Fortified means that they’ve added something to a food that the food didn’t naturally have before. For example, calcium fortified orange juice. Which happens to be a good source of calcium for those who do not consume dairy products. Most breakfast cereals – even the sugary, junk food cereals are heavily fortified with vitamins and minerals. So these are better than not eating breakfast at all or eating donuts or pasteries which are highly refined and loaded with fat, empty calories and SUGAR. Fortification can help us get more of the good stuff we require.


4. Be aware of cholesterol, trans fat, saturated fat on the food label. These are all big contributors to heart disease, cancer and more. Watch the sodium level in foods which is often very high in pre-packaged, processed foods.

My friend & fellow nutrition expert, Deanna Latson, talks about the “dirty 5” ingredients found in foods. We consume foods on a daily basis without realizing what we are actually putting in our bodies. The 5 ingredients she is referring to are high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils, artificial colors (i.e. yellow #5), artificial flavors (including sweetners), and enriched flour.

Exercise 1: For the next week be a label reader. Go through your cupboards and fridge see how many foods you find with the “dirty 5” ingredients. You will be surprised. Then make it a point to eliminate one of those foods from your household and replace it with a healthier alternative. If you are not sure of what a good alternative would be for a certain food – email me and I will assist you.

Exercise 2: Find a fun and creative way to incorporate a healthy food or healthy meal into your own and/or your family’s meals. For example, rather than giving your kids packaged fruit snacks, make fruit kabobs by cutting up chunks of fresh fruit putting them on wooden skewers and serving them with light nonfat yogurt as a fruit dip. Rather than eating the sugary instant oatmeal packets, buy quick oats cook them on the stove and sweeten with something like fresh fruit, dried fruit, a little honey, agave nectar, or non-sugar peanut butter or other nut butter like almond butter.

Exercise 3: Check out Deanna’s website www.gotohealth.com as it is a great resource for alternative and naturopathic health & nutrition, she’s got great recipes for raw foods, vegetarian & vegan foods. She and her husband Patrick are dear friends and major inspirations to me.


"When Health is absent Wisdom cannot reveal itself, Art cannot become manifest, Strength cannot be exerted, Wealth is useless and Reason is powerless."- -HEROPHILIES, 300 B.C.

Melissa Guthrie – Your Healthy Lifestyle Mentor