Halloween may have come and gone this year but there is still plenty of trick or treating going on - in the supermarket, that is.
Food is marketed in a way which makes it appear healthy and nutritious when in fact it is quite the opposite.
Take this product for example:
This is a box of Kellogg's Rice Krispies (known as Rice Bubbles in Australia and NZ). What information do you think they are trying to get across? The main messages on this box are:
- helps support your child's immunity
- 25% daily value of antioxidants & nutrients (Vitamins A, B, C & E)
- made from rice
Now let's dig deeper and see what they are NOT trying to get across:
- the actual rice crisps are made of rice and a sugar paste
- no scientific evidence of actually supporting children's immunity
- first 4 ingredients are: rice (white rice, a high GI product), sugar, salt, malt flavouring
- simple carbohydrates which do not provide sustainable energy
- highly processed
Tricks NOT Treats
There are plenty of products on the supermarket shelves labelled as 99% fat free. This is great news for those who are looking to lose a few pounds - but is it really? Yes it may be 99% fat free but how about sugar content, salt and preservatives? Usually a product's nutritional claim to fame is also a cover for something else. So beware!
If that wasn't confusing enough, basic ingredients such as fats, sugar and sodium have multiple names. I guess criminals are not the only ones who go by aliases.
Aliases of fat: Saturated – beef fat, butter fat, shortening, coconut, coconut oil, copha, cream, dripping, lard, sour cream, palm oil; Monounsaturated – canola, olive oils, margarines, peanut oil, avocado, nuts; Polyunsaturated – seeds, sesame, sunflower, safflower, corn, soya bean, grape seed oils, mayonnaise, margarines, fish oils
Aliases of sugar: honey, sucrose, maltose, lactose, fructose, dextrose, glucose, malt, glucose syrup, corn syrup, monosaccharides, xylitol, polysaccarides, manitol, sorbitol, ‘carbohydrates modified’, molasses, disaccharides
Aliases of sodium: salt, monosodium glutamate, meat extract, yeast extract, hydrolysed vegetable protein, meat protein, stock, vegetable salt, baking soda, baking powder
The most nutritious foods are the ones that do not come with a label - these are foods that come straight from the ground or have a mother. They do not need fancy labelling or a catchy slogan, they speak for themselves. But in this day and age convenience seems to take priority.
So try and spend a little extra time at the supermarket and make sure you know what you are ACTUALLY buying and not what the manufacturers want you to think you are buying!
JW
I find the easiest way to keep health (and loose weight) if you need to, is to stick to everything thats natural. I don't mean some wacky weird diet, just natural, i.e. stick to Meat, fruit, vegetables, basic dairy (eggs, milk , butter for cooking instead of polyunsaturated oils) and of course herbs and spices.
ReplyDeleteIts a little more expensive than buying pre packaged pre processed food, and a little more time consuming to cook, however so far I have lost 10kg in 6 months by doing this, and in a few months I expect to have my BMI finally get back into "Normal" range for the first time in many years!