Natural. Healthy. Sustainable. These are just some of the phrases we see on labels every day. They are often just distractions, using vague language to mislead or deceive people into thinking that a product or its ingredients are healthier, more environmentally friendly, or have more benefits than it actually does. While this is true for labels or packaging on any type of product, nowhere is it more prevalent than on food labels. Today buzzwords dominate food packaging. That’s why knowing how to read a label – and doing it – is an essential skill for anyone committed to their health and longevity. The truth is health is in the details—and those details are often buried in the fine print of an ingredient list.
Reading Food Labels
Seals on the front of packaging carry a lot of information. Seeing the organic seal on a product means that it is grown without using genetically modified organisms, chemicals including pesticides like glyphosate, or hormones. Seeing the biodynamic seal means that the product is organic and more, having been growing using a holistic approach to agriculture that replenishes and improves the quality of the soil. Seals convey a lot of information.
However, it is ingredient labels, particularly if there aren’t any seals on the packaging, which give us the information we need to make informed decisions. But that’s only true if we know what we’re looking at. The ingredient list and nutrition facts give an educated consumer the real story. By educating yourself about how to read a label you will come to understand that organic or biodynamic products can still be high in sugar, salt, saturated fat, fillers offering no nutritional value, and other things you might want to avoid.
If healthy longevity and vitality are part of your 100 Year LifestyleⓇ, and they should be, then learning to read food labels is a necessary skill that you must use every time you go shopping.
The Sneaky Language of Ingredients
One of the biggest challenges with food labels is that unhealthy ingredients are often disguised under unfamiliar names. Here are some common culprits:
Hidden Sugars
Sugar is often added to processed foods under many different names. Here are just a few to watch for:
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Cane juice or cane syrup
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Maltose
- Rice syrup
- Evaporated cane sugar
- Agave nectar
- Sorbitol, maltitol (sugar alcohols)
Hidden Sodium
Too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure and other health issues. Even if something doesn’t taste salty, it might contain high levels of hidden sodium under these names:
- Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- Disodium phosphate
- Sodium benzoate
- Sodium nitrate/nitrite
- Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
- Sodium caseinate
How To
If all this is news to you, then learning more about how to read a label would be time well spent. Here are some basics to help you get started:
- First, the fewer ingredients the better, always. If there are 20 or 30 ingredients in a small jar of food, chances are good the majority are preservatives or coloring that you don’t want.
- If you can’t pronounce it, it’s a safe bet it’s a chemical and not real food.
- Be sure to look at the number of servings in each package. Just because a package is small doesn’t mean it’s single serving. The ingredients might check all the right boxes, but if you’re eating 3, or 4, or more servings at a time, that’s probably not good or healthy.
- Know that if something says “low fat” it usually means there is a lot of added sugar.
- Remember that the best foods are fresh, whole, and don’t have labels!
- Lastly, begin to educate yourself by visiting websites or watching videos made by qualified nutritionists (not merely social media influencers). Here’s one to get you started.
Becoming Label Literate
As you become label literate, you move from being a passive consumer to someone who is truly taking charge of your health and the health of your family. Consistently reading labels will lead to making smarter choices, in food, in clothing, in everything you buy.
By making smarter choices, you are voting for healthy longevity of both people and planet, telling producers and manufacturers what you want and what you don’t want with every dollar you spend. It’s an important part of living at 100% for 100 years or more!
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