Buying healthy foods: what to look for?

by Ola Bykowska

 

 

There are many products on the market which may look healthy, but in reality they are loaded with simple sugars and saturated fats. How to choose the healthiest foods?

 

1. “Low fat”, “Low sugar” claims on the package.Seeing claims on the packaging saying :“low fat”, or “low sugar” , should not make us certain that the food is healthy and provides us with most nutritional benefits. Very often, low fat foods may contain very high amount of sugar. Or low sugar foods will have a high content of saturated fats. To make a right decision, if weather we should buy that food, it is important to check nutrition labels.

 

2. How to read a nutrition label?

To do that quickly in the store before purchasing, we should know a couple of useful tips provided by www.health.gov :

 

• Look at the serving size and how many servings you are actually eating. If you eat 2 servings of a food, you will consume double the calories.

• Look for foods low in saturated and trans fats. Most of the fats you eat should be polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as those in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Fat should be in the range of 20% to 35% of the calories you eat.

• Control sodium intake, which is very high in processed foods, and increase potassium which is high in fruits and vegetables.

 

The picture below provides a scheme of what to look for on nutrition label (from www.health.gov).

 

Use the % Daily Value (% DV) column: 5% DV or less is low, and 20% DV or more is high.

Keep these low: saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, and sodium.

Get enough of these: potassium and fiber, vitamins A, C, and D, calcium, and iron.

Check the calories: 400 or more calories per serving of a single food item is high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Ingredient list

Another very important thing to do, before purchasing a food product, is to look at the ingredient list.To get as little processed food as possible (not as nutrient packed as unprocessed one), it is good to buy only products with 5 or less ingredients. Remember, that the ingredients which from the top of the list have the highest content in the product. That is why, you should not buy any food if the first thing on the ingredient list is sugar. Other names for sugar are: sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maple syrup, and fructose.