We often hear “Don’t eat packaged food it’s not healthy”

But why? let’s decode,

Have you ever checked what’s inside the food package that you’re buying or eating or feeding your child?

if you have done that you can notice so many ingredients and nutrition information on the package like preservatives and fats, sugar, oils etc.

With a little knowledge, you can transform those confusing food labels into your guide for a nutritious diet!

let’s decode this and understand how to read food labels and how to choose good food.

Serving Size & Net Weight: This is crucial! The nutrition information is based on a single serving, but packages often contain multiple servings. Don’t be fooled! Check the net weight and compare it to the serving size to see how much you should actually consume.

Ingredient list: This list shows all the stuff in the package, it starts with the ingredient that they used the most, so it’s batter to avoid those products which has unhealthy ingredient listed as first three.

Avoid to buy if pack shows this ingredient in top three:
Refined floor, palm oil, Added Sugar

Watch out for hidden sugars like sugar, sucrose, or high-fructose corn syrup

Consider food items with less preservatives and additives.

FSSAI Logo & License Number: Look for the FSSAI logo and license number.

This ensures the product is manufactured under the regulations of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Companies are only allowed to add limited fats, sugars, additives & preservatives that is safe to consume by humans.

Nutrition Facts Panel:

• Calories: This tells you the energy you’ll get from one serving. Be mindful of your daily calorie needs and choose accordingly.
• Macronutrients (Fats, Carbs, Protein): Understanding these is key. Focus on healthy fats like those found in nuts and avocados. Limit saturated and trans fats. Choose complex carbohydrates over refined ones (whole grains vs. white bread). Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues.
• Daily Values (%DV): This indicates the percentage of a nutrient a serving provides based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Use this as a guide, but remember, your needs may vary.
• Micronutrients (Vitamins & Minerals): These are vital for various bodily functions. Look for products rich in vitamins and minerals you might be deficient in.

Calories:

It tells you about the calories you’ll get from the pack

Normal working person requires around 2000 calories.

Check for the serving size don’t get fooled. Most of packaging shows calories per serving and one pack has more than one serving. One should consider covering most of the calories from nutritious food.

Nutrition label:

           This is most important and quite easy part to understand on label,

Let’s understand what to avoid,

Avoid High amount of unhealthy fats like saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, high sugar

Also check out for the preservatives,

Class I preservatives are preferred over class II preservatives.

Umm what’s that???

So, class I preservatives are natural preservatives like salt, honey, vinegar, spices, edible oils, sugar etc… (Means less chemicals)

But class II preservatives are chemical derived preservatives which we should avoid in our regular diet.

Sulphurous acid including salts, Benzoic acid, Nitrates or Nitrites and Sodium.

Or any name that seems straight out from chemistry book. (Just jock)

Some common rules that I follow for my shopping,

 · “Fresh is Best!” – I choose foods with shorter shelf lives because they likely have fewer preservatives.

· “Top 3 Tell All!” – I check the first three ingredients to get a sense of what’s mostly in the food.

· “Skip the Instant Stuff” – I avoid instant and frozen foods whenever possible.

· “Preservatives? Pass!” – I skip products with a long list of preservatives on the label.

Shop Smarter, Eat Healthier

That’s it for today. Please share in comments which topic you want me to discuss next.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.