Reading food labels is tough as it’s so hard to know which products are truly the healthiest option. Due to creative marketing and labeling we often find ourselves choosing products for what they highlight on the package versus the real ingredients list. In this podcast with Doc J’s coach Meredith Beard the gals breakdown how labels have tricked them and the process they use to determine what product is the healthiest.
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode:
• Why 5 ingredients or less is best when choosing products in the grocery store
• How to compare products to determine which is best
• Why we are often tricked into buying “fake” healthy foods
• How to look past the marketing to get the healthy foods you want
Resources from the Show:
• Non-GMO Project Verified Labels
• USDA Organic Certification
• Vital Farms – cage free vs pasture raised
• Dr. Jannine Krause’s guide to finding the healthiest items on the shelf
1) Ignore all the labels on the front of the packaging – look at the ingredients list
2) How long is the ingredient list?
3) Can you pronounce all of the things on the list? Do you know what all of the things on the ingredient list are?
4) How many ingredients can you not pronounce and you don’t know what they are?
Ex: Dextrose, Maltodextrin = corn; Malt, Barley, Malted Barley = gluten present; Natural Flavors = could mean over 100 chemicals used to create a “natural” flavor that is not the original flavor; BHT, BQHT = stabilizers to keep items on the shelf longer
5) Is there oil used? If it’s a fried item like chips – avoid vegetable, corn, canola, palm, soybean or a blend of any of oils; If it’s a bread/crackers/tortilla/pastry/nut butter/cookie/candy item – avoid vegetable, corn, soybean, palm, vegetable oil blends and all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Chips fried in avocado oil are best. Expeller pressed oils in non-fried items are best. Read mayonnaise labels carefully – Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo is the best.
6) Now look – is it organic? USDA or Oregon Tilth Certified? Non-GMO project verified (there’s a logo that says this)? The “natural”, “gluten free”, “sugar free”, “non-GMO (without certification), vegan (without certification) mean nothing ignore these statements as they are clever marketing – read the ingredient label.
7) Choose the item with the least ingredients, that you can pronounce all or the majority of the items on the ingredient list; that has good oils and then if the option is available go for the organic, non-GMO project verified item over others to round out your criteria.
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