Newswise — Polyunsaturated, saturated, trans-fat, natural sugar, added sugar, low fat, light, no fat—it can all lead to confusion when we shop the aisles of our local grocery store. Holly Scherer, a registered dietitian from the University of Michigan Health System, has some suggestions on how to shop healthier in the new year by simply knowing what to look for on food labels.
When trying to manage your weight or a chronic disease, such as heart disease or diabetes, label reading can help you make informed, healthier choices.
"Many people would be surprised at the nutrients [or lack of] that are in the products they're eating," says Scherer.
How to get started?
Look for the Nutrition Facts label on the food product. Begin your reading at the top of the label with the serving size and number of servings per package. Compare the serving size to how much you eat. If you eat double the serving size, then you need to double the calories and other nutrient numbers, including the percent daily value. The daily values tell you if the nutrients in a serving of food contribute a lot or a little to the recommended daily intake.
Continue down the label to calories and calories from fat. Calories measure how much energy you get from a serving of the food. Compare the amount of calories in how much you will eat of the food to the total calories you need for a day. If you are trying to manage your weight, choosing foods that are lower in calories will help. Even small differences in calories per serving can add up over the course of making healthier choices all day long, says Scherer.
The nutrients on a label are ordered from what we should limit, such as fat, cholesterol, and sodium, to those nutrients we need to make sure we get enough of, such as dietary fiber, vitamin A & C, calcium and iron.
Americans generally eat adequate amounts if not too much of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Eating too much of these nutrients may increase your risk of heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure.
Saturated fat and trans-fat
These are known as the "bad fats" because of their ability to raise cholesterol and increase risk for heart disease Saturated fat is found in greater amounts in butter, cheese, whole milk, whole milk products, meat and poultry.
By 2006, all manufacturers will be required to list the amount of trans-fat in foods.
"Trans-fatty acids are formed during processing to help make products stay on the shelf longer," says Scherer.
Foods high in trans-fat include stick margarine, vegetable shortening, cookies, crackers, snack foods, fried foods and other processed foods. If the amount of trans-fat is not listed, look in the ingredients list for words such as "partially hydrogenated oils." This indicates trans-fats are probably in the product.
How do you know how much is too much? Based on a 2,000 calorie diet your total fat should not go over 65 grams and saturated or trans-fat should not be more than a combined 20 grams. How much is that?
-Homemade hamburger (3 ounces): 15 grams of total fat, six grams of saturated fat-Cheddar cheese (1 ounce): 9 grams of total fat, six grams of saturated fat-Fast food French fries (medium): 18 grams of total fat, five grams of saturated fat, five grams of trans-fat
How to choose the best oils, margarines and cheeses
Since many of the foods we eat or cook with tend to have higher levels of saturated fat and trans-fat, we need to be aware of how to limit these foods.
"The better types of fat are mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated as found in vegetable oils, nuts, fatty fish, avocados and olives. The bottom line when choosing oil is to choose one that's highest in mono-unsaturated fat and canola oil and olive are going to be your best choices," says Scherer.
Scherer also suggests choosing the squeeze or spray margarines or even a light version in a tub because stick margarines have more trans-fat than the other types.
"Margarine that has less trans-fat is still a better choice than butter because butter is so high in saturated fat which increases our cholesterol and increases our risk for heart disease," says Scherer.
Cheese follows the same rules: Choose one that is lower in total fat and saturated fat such as mozzarella part-skimmed.
How to choose a healthier cereal
Scherer recommends looking first at dietary fiber when choosing a cereal.
"You want to choose one that has at least two-and-a-half grams of fiber per serving," says Scherer. "Fiber is important because it helps prevent diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and helps keep our digestive tract healthy."
Looking at the sugar level in cereal can also be confusing since the grams of sugar represent added sugar as well as the natural sugar found in fruit and milk. Scherer suggests looking at the ingredients list to see where the sugar is coming from.
"If sugar or other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup are among the first three ingredients, that food product is probably pretty high in added sugar," says Scherer.
Snack Foods: Friend or Foe?
Snacks don't have to mean junk food. Healthy snacks include fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads or even a few bites from last night's well-balanced dinner. When eating snacks think about the serving size and how much you are actually consuming and also be aware of marketing ploys, such as a "low-calorie cookie."
"There really isn't anything such as a low-calorie cookie. Often times when manufacturers take the fat out of cookies, they add some sugar. And sometimes when they take sugar out, they add some fat. You really need to look at the label," says Scherer.
Cookies are not the only culprit. Crackers and chips—especially those with partially hydrogenated oil—contain higher levels of trans-fat, which is bad for the heart. A better choice would be the reduced-fat version of the cracker because it will have 25 percent less fat and therefore, less trans-fat, says Scherer.
Try these healthier grab-and-go snacks-Salsa and baked corn chips-Make your own mix of pretzels, whole grain cereal, nuts, and dried fruit-Bananas, apples, oranges and grapes-Cut-up vegetables and low fat dip-Peanut butter sandwich-Low fat cheese stick-Fat free yogurt
Reading nutrition labels is an excellent way to get you on track towards a healthier lifestyle.
"Reading nutrition labels is only one thing that you can do to eat healthier," says Scherer. "Eating foods from all of the food groups and moderating your portion sizes will go a long way in helping you to be healthy and prevent disease."
For more information, visit the following Web sites:
UMHS Health Topics A-Z: The Healthy Diethttp://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_healthy_crs.htm
UMHS Health Topics A-Z: Nutrient Content Claims and Definitionhttp://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/primry/nutri08.htm
Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition: Understand and use Nutrition Facts Panel on Food Labelshttp://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodlab.html
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Read Food Labelshttp://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/Tipsheets/readthelabel.htm
Written by Erin Block
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