How to Understand Food Labels

(Picture Credit - ChKd org)

The best way to be healthy is to eat fresh unprocessed food. But today that’s not always practicable. So, you must read those food labels. Please read on.

From January to May of last year I avoided all processed sugar (including chocolate, cakes etc.). Thus I lost a fair bit of weight. And hopefully delayed the onset of age-related type 2 diabetes. That was the start of a personal drive towards healthier eating. It soon became clear that all processed food is a potential health hazard. Fresh undoctored food is clearly best. But in this day and age fresh food can be hard to come by. Obvious example, cereals. I find I have to eat some processed food. I’m not a doctor, but it is quite clear that there is a real need to read and understand those wretched food labels. I say “wretched” because I hate dealing with lots of numbers and weird “measures”. At least some labels are now colour coded here in the UK, which helps.

My objective when choosing food is of course to avoid high sugar and salt content. The latter is because I’m on 2 lots of medication for high blood pressure. Avoiding saturated fat also seems a good idea as a rule, especially Trans Fats. Foods high in unsaturated fatty acids and Omega 3 are a bonus.

So here is a rough guide to those labels. For the sake of uniformity I focussed on the quantities of sugar etc. per 100 Grams. Just be aware that actual portions will vary from food to food. So what is “high” and what is “low” etc.???

Well our UK National Health Service (NHS) and other website sources advise that High Total Fats (Red) is 17.5 G per 100G and Low (Green) is 3G or less.

Anything in-between is Medium (Orange). 

For Saturated Fats (“Sats”) that is High 5G+ and Low <1.5G.

Sugars is 22.5G+ High, 5 – Low; Salt is 1.5+ High, <0.3 – Low. High Fibre is 6G + and High Protein is 10G+. Some sources claim High Carbs are 60G +.

Another thing to look out for: avoid foods that contain lots of additives etc. – “E Numbers” and unpronounceable chemicals etc.

Having established the above I began to list the nutritional information on the labels of my main foods. Started with these –

For Breakfast and often Tea: Weetabix Oatibix Flakes: (Per 100G) 399 kcals, Sugar 14, Fibre 7.2, Protein 9.3, Salt 0.3. Lots of Vitamins Listed. Wholegrain Oats 64%. 

Comment: Oats are known to be good for the heart etc. Nice low salt. Plenty of fibre and protein. Much better than many kiddie cereals. My only gripe is they are a bit high on sugar, but I can put up with that.

Normal Weetabix: 362 kcals, Sugar 4.4, Fibre 10, Protein 12, Salt 0.28. Comment: Wheat of course, and lower than Oatibix for sugar and salt. More fibre and protein too.

Shredded Wheat (Nestle in UK): 362 kcals, Sugar 0.7, Fibre 12.3, Protein 11.6, Salt 0.05. Comment: Statistically this looks to be at least one of the healthiest cereals. If it was made from oats it would be perfect. See the low salt! Low sugar, high fibre! PS I hear that this is the oldest cereal of them all too!

Needless to say none of these cereals contain animal fats etc. Essentially they contain plant protein, arguably better for you than meat.

That will do for a start. Later I will compile a longer list of my favourite foods with their nutritional values and my comments. Look out for that. Hope you found this useful.

PS See Next Post down here for that follow-up list.

Paul Butters