Food Labels and You : How to Read Food Labels

Food labels are required on foods and manufacturers will manipulate them to make their product as appealing as possible. Because of this, the consumer needs to read and analyze the information contained there very carefully. The following are some tips to help you out.

Not all carbohydrates are created equal

Many diabetics use a diet plan that is based on counting carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are metabolized and become sugar but some metabolize faster which can cause insulin levels to spike. Good carbohydrates are metabolized slower and are actually quite useful in controlling blood sugar levels. The Glycemic Index can  help you identify the difference between carbohydrates so you can make more informed choices.

Serving Size

Many manufactures will decrease the serving size of a product to hide how much fat, sugar, carbs, etc… the product really contains. For example, one of my favorite truly horrible for you foods are Vienna sausages. There are 6 sausages in a can but they figure their serving size as 2 or 3 sausages (depending on the brand). So when you glance at the label, the fat content doesn’t look that bad, then you realize that any normal person is going to eat the can and you have to multiply their nutrition chart by 2 or 3. Other common products that use very small serving sizes are nuts, potato chips, canned entrees, etc…

Fat-Free and Sugar Free products

Many fat free foods compensate by adding more carbohydrates. As discussed earlier, carbohydrates must be controlled to control blood sugar. In many cases there is very little or no benefit to using these substitutes and in some cases they may be worse than the original product. Sugar free products may also contain higher carbohydrate content so check closely, don’t just assume that a sugar of fat free label means a product is healthy.