One of the talents that you will have to develop when you shop is the scrupulous reading of labels. With the information provided on food-labels is either insufficient or misleading, or both. Following are some guidelines that will help you to decide individual purchases:
1.Listing of ingredients. Usually, the shorter the list of ingredients, the better.
Look for proper food-combining, especially with cereals and desserts. Remember that combining grains with sweets creates alcohol and that combining proteins with starches creates indigestion and bloating.
Find items that are free of the following known :health=bandits”: Meat, fish, chicken, wheat, dairy, eggs, refined sugar (any ingredient ending in “ose”) salt, vinegar, yeast, heated oils, and preservatives.
Eliminate or limit the use of products that contain refined sugar-substitutes such as barley malt, brown-rice syrup, date-sugar, honey, and Succanat (“raw sugar”). Replace sugar with stevia.
Tofu and most other soybean products are difficult to digest; therefore, use them sparingly.
Added vitamins and minerals that are listed separately are of questionable value at best. They are currently under investigation as possible agents of disease and immune dysfunction. Avoid them whenever possible.
2. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Comparison-shopping is imperative vis-à-vis three foods components. Most products offer a profile of these three elements, and new labeling-regulations will eventually make such listings mandatory in the near future.
Here are our suggestions for a 1 –oz (28 grams) servings:
a) Fat and protein should be less than 3 grams (10%) – the lower, the better.
The carbohydrates – number should be at least five times greater than both the fat and protein numbers. For example, if the label indicates that there are 2 grams of fat and 3 grams of protein in a single serving, you want to see at least 15 grams of carbohydrates.
If the labels give the percentages of saturated fat, look for the lowest numbers. Saturated fat has been identified as a factor in coronary disease and some cancers.
3. Method of preparation. Try to determine how the food was prepared, which is sometimes difficult to do, given the limited information available on labels. However, the situation is improving, because consumers are demanding more – and more complete – information on labels.
Best: Sprouting, dehydrating, freeze-drying, steaming, and freezing.
Questionable: Baking and boiling
Most dangerous: microwaving, frying and broiling
** article from AliveRaw.com**
You can also check out Luvbenet’s Coily World post here. It's a great informative post on additives & preservatives in your food!
Post Title → READING LABELS
