Food manufacturers are crafty with how they label their products to garner attention as well as with the perception that their food is healthy for you. Very often these food products contain labels that say "natural", "organic", "enriched", "gluten-free", "multi-grain" and other phrases to give the impression of healthfulness. Which may or may not be true. Because a food is organic or it is natural doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you to eat. For example, natural granola. Yup, I'm sorry.. at least the store bought brands are 95% of the time not good for you. Why? Food manufacturers add sugar and a decent amount of sugar to every serving. The key is to understand the full label of the food your eating, it may contain one or two nutritious ingredients but it may also include ingredients that are not so good for you. Here's what to look for:
1. Watch out for labels that say "Multi-Grain". Keep in mind grains are very good for you, but food manufacturers don't always tell you if the multiple grains (i.e. Multi-Grain) are whole grains. Multi-grains in their healthiest form are always whole grains. Once you strip down the whole grain it becomes refined grains (processed) which is not as healthy, it could actually be unhealthy depending on the processing.
2. Fruit juice could be one of the biggest culprits of misperception. Again it comes down to added sugar. Make sure the fruit juice you buy does not contain added sugar. Also bear in mind that sugar has approximately one hundred different names like evaporated can juice, fructose sweetener, crystal dextrose, maltodextrin and much more. It doesn't always say "sugar".
3. Labels that say "No Cholesterol". The food may never had cholesterol to begin with, but by saying it has no cholesterol it may catch your attention. For example, plant products naturally do not contain cholesterol.
4. Foods that say made with "Whole Grains". Whole grains are good for you, make no mistake. But watch for everything else in the food product. Make sure you are not eating something with a few whole grains but plenty of other refined grains. You want "100% Whole Grains".
5. When a label says "Natural" just look a little harder to make sure you are getting quality healthy food. All "Natural" means is it was not man-made. Moreover, there is no governing body that oversees these claims of "Natural" by food companies.
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