So last weekend we went to town and I popped into a high-street ‘health shop’. I picked up a bunch of stuff from my usual, well-studied list.
Said partner was browsing and eventually picked up a bundle of things including:
– Bombay mix.
– A bag of granola.
– A bag of honey roasted nuts…
I must’ve groaned when he caught up with me…
“What? It’s a health shop right… So it’s gotta be OK?”
Grrrrrr. Really? (We’ve been together a fair few years now and as you probably know, I’m rather vocal in my opinions!)
So no. Not quite.
Just because it’s in a health shop, or has “healthy” or “good” written on it, doesn’t mean it’s good for you…
Similarly the phrases:
- All Natural
- Multigrain
- Light
- Fat free or low fat
- No added sugar
They don’t really mean anything. Many of these terms don’t have a legal definition. Or if they do, it’s pretty loose.
So, start to think of them as a marketing ploy rather than an measure of how healthy or otherwise the product might be…
Look at the nutritional info to get a sense of how healthy or otherwise they might be. Each label will give you a breakdown of carbs, fats and protein per 100g. This is your % breakdown. So a protein bar that has 30-40g carb per 100g is not, in fact, a protein bar at all.
Something that says ‘no added sugars’ but has say 20g of sugar per 100g is actually quite high in sugars (this is a typical granola with added raisins and tropical fruit).
In short, don’t believe the slogans. It’s just marketing hype. Instead, always read the labels!
Do you need help in deciphering nutritional labels? If so, hit reply and let me know. And I’ll be sure to write a more detailed post next time.
Bye for now
Chris
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