Trying to decipher nutritional labels on foods can be hard to read, tricky and most of all misleading. Between the calories per serve (which is usually in place to trick consumers) and the amounts of carbohydrates from fibre, or fats from saturated fats vs trans etc it really does get quite complicated! A lot of products will have statements like “sugar free” yet taste sweeter than candy, how is that so?
It gets so confusing to discover exactly what you are eating, so I have broken it down a little to help you better understand.
Here are a few things that I personally look for when reading the nutrition panels of packaged foods.
Ingredients list
The higher up the list the more the product contains- ie if there were 70% cashews 10% honey and 20% dates the ingredients list would read: cashews, dates, honey in descending order.
Calories per serve
I always opt to look at the measurements per 100g, that way it is a generic figure, no matter what the product is. A lot of companies try and trick consumers by saying that there is a lot of servings per item, meaning less calories however it would mean only a mouthful per serve- be careful of this as it is the most common thought that catches us out, not the serving size you would ‘actually’ consume per serve
Carbohydrate content-
You may notice that underneath the carbohydrate content, it may contain fibre and sugars within the total figure. Dietary fibre is the indigestible part of plants and does not spike your blood sugar levels.
Sugar content
I would recommend you try and stick to less than 10-15grams of sugar per day. 1 teaspoon of sugar is 4 grams. Remember that next time you make a hot drink or just think how many tea spoons that equates to in a can of Coke!
Sugar alcohols
Typically found in diet bars or low calorie solutions, they are a type of carbohydrate, commonly used sugar alcohols are erythritol, glycerol, malitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, but there are many many more out there! These should be listed under carbohydrates, however a lot of companies try to avoid this as to claim it being the great ‘low carb’ alternative, typically sugar alcohols do not spike insulin like sugar does, therefore a lot of companies argue the fact they do not believe it should be listed under carbohydrates. Their calorie content ranges from 0 to 3 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram for sucrose or other sugars.
Stevia
Words like “sweetened with stevia” fool us into a false sense of security, believing that only stevia is the sweetener used, however often it is used alongside the sugar alcohols to achieve the desired sweet taste.
Fat content
Saturated fat and trans fat will both come underneath the banner of fats. A quick guide to fats- saturated fats are fats that come from eggs, meat and dairy. Trans fats are the bad fats that come from cakes, pastries etc
Sodium content
I aim for no more than 1500-2400mg per day of sodium, typical table salt will hold water, bloat you, increases the risk of high blood pressure etc whereas Himalayan crystals and sea salt is great for your body, nerves and muscles.
Calories per macronutrient
The way that the total calories are calculated is under the basis of:
- 1 gram of Protein contains 4 calories.
- 1 gram of Carbohydrates contains 4 calories.
- 1 gram of Fat contains 9 calories.
Here is a little table you may find handy
I hope this helps!
