The fine print: Ingredients list.
All the ingredients in food are listed in order of how much is contained by weight. The first few ingredients make up most of the product. It is useful to look at the ingredients list in certain situations:
If you are looking for a healthy whole-grain bread or cereal, make sure the first ingredient listed is “whole grain.” Sometimes the name of a product may be misleading, but the ingredients list won’t lie!
Many packaged products contain a good deal of sugar. If sugar (or one of its aliases, like high fructose corn syrup) is listed as the first or second ingredient, you may want to reconsider your food choice. People with food allergies or sensitivities must read ingredients lists diligently to avoid trigger foods.
Let’s recap the basics: Look at the serving size and calorie count. Make sure you know how many calories you are putting into you body!
Check out the macronutrients. Good things to see are:
- High dietary fiber
- Low saturated and trans fat (unsaturated fats are the healthy fats, but they are still high in calories)
- Low sodium
- Glance over the ingredients list. The first 4-5 ingredients probably make up most of the product.
It’s your body! Make sure you know what you are feeding it.
-Steve
Again, all the credit in the world goes to my friend for taking the time to write out these blogs on nutrition, thanks Hales! Tomorrow’s blog might not happen because I’m still on a ship sailing up the Mexican Coast to LA (The Mayercraft Carrier, read our blogs about THAT over here). Things are crazy hectic and I might not get around to it. Updates surely to resume Wednesday!
