Far 2 Fabulous

Decoding Food Labels: Empowering Healthier Choices for You and Your Family

August 29, 2024 • Julie Clark & Catherine Chapman • Episode 33

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Have you ever wondered if understanding food labels could revolutionize your health? In this solo episode of Far Too Fabulous, Julie unpacks the secrets behind those mysterious labels on your favorite foods. We'll dive into the history of food labels from the 1960s to today, breaking down essential components like the ingredients list, serving sizes, and macronutrients. Learn practical tips for interpreting sugar content and making healthier food choices. By the end of this episode, you'll have the knowledge and confidence to decode any food label you come across, ensuring smarter nutritional decisions for you and your family.

Julie also exposes the hidden ingredients in everyday supermarket bread and the often misleading serving sizes on packaged foods. She demystifies terms like "calorie-free," "excellent source," and "fat-free," revealing how these labels can sometimes deceive consumers. With a focus on promoting natural foods with fewer ingredients, Julie's insights will help you see through marketing tactics and opt for healthier options. Tune in to empower yourself with the skills to scrutinize food labels critically and manage your dietary intake more effectively.

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Thank you for listening.

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For more information about Julie Clark Nutrition, click HERE
For more information about Catherine Chapman, click HERE

We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and Catherine. Join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candy chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered well-being. Let's dive in.

Speaker 2:

Hello, hello, julie here for the Far Too Fabulous podcast, and I am flying solo today. So because it's been the summer holidays and me and Catherine have been trying to juggle all the things work, kids, podcasts, etc. I thought I would come on and do a kind of shortish episode. But we'll see what happens, because last time I said that it was actually way longer than I was expecting. But given that we've been talking about chemicals and toxins, I thought it would be really good for me to tell you how to read food labels, because food labels can give you a hell of a lot of information, but only if you know what you're looking for. And once you know, then you can't unknow that stuff and you'll be able to understand, when you pick up a product, whether it's good or whether it's not, or whether you should buy it or whether you should avoid it. So here we go, cracking the food label code. So I often joke with my clients that yeah, you need a degree in nutrition to actually read food labels. I think they don't make it very easy for us and it's interesting to know where food labeling actually came from. So the history is that it was involved. Well, the creation of food labels was around the mid 1960s and at first manufacturers only required to list the ingredients on the label, and that was quite vague actually. But over time it's evolved. You know, the modern food label has evolved to include a comprehensive breakdown of the macronutrients, your protein, your carbohydrates and your fats, your vitamins, your minerals and more. And then nutrition labels are basically constantly evolving in countries across the world because there's lots of well, I guess because of public health and and the the aim is in some way to try and help you make an informed choice. We have different labels in different countries. In the uk we have a traffic light system which can be helpful or it might not be helpful, but basically the changes in food labeling is really to do about the link between nutrition and health, but this public health effort to enable people to make healthier and more informed decisions. So we know that labeling has changed over the number of years, but in those changes it can be quite complicated because there's various different things.

Speaker 2:

So I think the best thing is if I give you my step-by-step guide, which I will often use with my clients or people in my membership group, to understand how to read food labels and just have that strategy to make it easy. So we've got like a plan of attack when it comes to reading food labels. So when you look at the back of a packet, most of the time we are looking at a table that says typical values for energy, fat of which saturates, carbohydrates, of which sugars, fiber, protein and salt. We have those ones. Then we have figures per 100 grams and then per serving size. That's typically what we have and then we have the list of ingredients. So when we're looking at the labels your kind of checklist I do like a checklist you want to be looking at the ingredients, serving size, the calories and the macros things, and then we're looking at things we want to eat less of nutrients with added benefits and protein and carbohydrates.

Speaker 2:

One of the ones that I will usually pick out when I'm talking to clients is the carbohydrate. Of which sugars. So you'll see there are two figures there. We have one figure for carbohydrate and then of which sugars gives you how much of that carbohydrate is sugar and that's the most important one for you to look at. So if we're looking at a food label on a packet and we're looking per 100 grams, 100 grams can be really useful because 100 can be the same as percentage. So we can easily look and see, for example, example, if something had carbohydrate, of which sugars 49 grams per 100 grams you will know that that is 49 percent. 49 percent of that product is sugar and that gives you a much better indication as opposed to looking at the other figures on the table that you get on the back of the packaging, because really more than 10% sugar in a product is a lot. So when you're looking at labels, have that kind of thought in mind.

Speaker 2:

Quite often I get my clients to have a card that's about the same size as a credit card that you can slot into your purse, and I put some key numbers on it, things like that 10% or 10 grams per 100 grams of sugar. Anything above that is a lot, anything below that is a little, and then it gives you an idea. So, anyway, we're going to look at some of these sections of the food label to make life easy, and it kind of sounds complicated at first. I'm almost like, as I'm going through this with you, I'm thinking this sounds complicated, but I promise you it's not once you get your head around it. So once you can understand what the table's telling you and you can use that per 100 grams as a bit of a percentage guide so you can look and go oh, this product's got 21% protein. How much fat has it got? Only 3%. How much sugar has it got 50%? Whoa, this is a high sugar, low fat food. So it gives you an indication. And then we've also got to come on to the serving size, which we will do shortly.

Speaker 2:

So the checklist that we're looking for is the ingredient list. I'll go through all these individually in a moment the serving size, calories and macros, things to eat, less of nutrients with added benefits, and the proteins and the carbohydrates. So first of all, let's look at the ingredients. So whenever you see the ingredients on the back of the, the packet, you will find that the ingredient used the most is listed first and then the last ingredients listed is has the least amount. So when we're looking at quantity, we're looking at how much of that first ingredient is in there versus the, the smallest ingredient. So, in order, we're looking at the, the ingredients list, and we will know like if the first ingredient is water, for example, then that product contains mostly water.

Speaker 2:

You will start to see how often sugar appears in the first three and this is where you want to start to get a bit savvy with looking at food labels. So how many ingredients does it contain? This is so important because the more ingredients a food contains, the more processed it is, and if we've got a lot of foods listed or ingredients listed, I should say this pushes you towards ultra processed and we want to stay away from anything ultra processed because we already know it's causing us major health issues. So, yeah, when we're looking at the labels, how many ingredients has it got? And you'll start to notice the difference between certain foods. So the one that I usually do an example of when I'm talking to parents with young children are the fruit strings versus the. Oh, my goodness me, what are they called? The fruit roll-ups? There's a certain brand and, oh, so annoying. I can't remember the name of it, but most of you will know they come in the pink packet, the orange packet, and they're rolled up fruit rolls, and then you've got the other one, which is called fruit strings.

Speaker 2:

Just next time you're in the supermarket, even if you haven't got young kids, and this doesn't apply, but just go and look because it will give you a really good check on the difference between those two products, but they are the way that they're marketed. They're selling the same vision for your child. You want to give them fruit. It's got vitamins in it. They're both giving you that same vision.

Speaker 2:

But when you look at the difference between one versus the other, you will see the in the ingredients that the the one that I'm, that I can't remember the name of, and I'm so sorry that it's not helpful, is it? No one I can't remember the name of is will have maybe three or four ingredients, and really the magic number is no more than five for a natural food. And then, if you look at the fruit strings one, it's got about 12, plus items listed under the ingredients, most of which you won't be able to pronounce, and that's always a telltale sign. So have a look at those next time you go in the supermarket. But any label that you're looking at, look at how many ingredients does it contain? So the more ingredients it contains, the more likely it is that it's highly processed.

Speaker 2:

And if we've got things in there that we cannot create in our own kitchen or ingredients that aren't readily available, then we know that that is a processed food and, like I said, you want to stay away from those as much as possible, then we then we need to know what each ingredient is, and this matters because you want to know where that food is coming from. You know if you make a cake at home actually, a cake is another great one to look at when you go in the supermarket. If you make a cake at home, you know that you put your eggs in your butter, your sugar and your flour, and then whatever flavour. If you're using lemon or cocoa powder for chocolate or vanilla, that is pretty much your cake done Minimal ingredients, chocolate cake or a coffee and walnut cake and you compare it to what you would make at home, you will start to see ingredients there that you couldn't replicate in your own kitchen. So have a look at that.

Speaker 2:

So some of the ingredients that we might want to look at are fats that are not good for us or damaged. Often on the label they will be called hydrogenated fats or trans fats. And then we're looking at things like sugars. I could do a whole episode on how many different names the manufacturers can come up for sugar. So when we're looking at the top ingredient offenders, here are some of the things that you might want to look out for.

Speaker 2:

So, first of all, artificial dyes and brighteners. These are the things that give food color and we know that some of these colors trigger hyperactivity in children, trigger asthma in those prone. We know that there's an issue with some of these colors, especially the blue, the yellow five, the red, red, 40 and there's a caramel color. That can be a problem, but if we've got artificial dyes and brighteners in the food, we don't really want to be eating that because it is artificial and that cocktail effect that we spoke about on our previous episode has not been tested. So we definitely want to have a look at those.

Speaker 2:

Then we've got artificial flavors and enhancers. So, like caroline was talking about the perfume that when you get perfume added to products and she said that could be made up of you know 200 different chemicals the artificial flavors and enhancers are often the same. So if you see that on a food label artificial flavor you don't know what that is and sometimes it will even be called natural and it's not natural. You have to be careful when you're looking at these. But anything hydrolyzed proteins, monosodium, glutamates they are all artificial flavors and enhancers. Then we've got artificial sweeteners. Now we've got quite a lot of names for artificial sweeteners. Again, we want to avoid those as much as possible because, again, we do know that these do cause us a problem. The body is clever. It knows that you've not put sugar in. It will still signal you to go seek out sugar. We do also know that artificial sweeteners can have an effect on the gut microbiome, which we've spoken about in other episodes, and these artificial sweeteners are incredibly sweet, so they start to mess around with some of the systems in your body, which isn't good.

Speaker 2:

Then we've got sugars. So, like I said, there are a million names that manufacturers give sugars. But anything that has the word syrup or ends in o's you want to be careful of dextrose, fructose corn syrups, fructose syrups a lot of sugars. And you will see that manufacturers try to get around that, that kind of impression that their food is okay, by listing these sugars separately. So they will list glucose or sugar in the ingredient, often on these types of products, in the first three ingredients, and then you'll just see all these other things listed one after another, so you'll get to have an idea of how much sugar is actually in that product when you start looking at all these different names.

Speaker 2:

Then we've got bleached flowers that can be a problem or other processed flowers. We've got refined and processed oils. So we've got things like soybean oil, hydrogenated oils, again canola oil. We've got preservatives. There are many names for preservatives. You will recognize these because they will have names that sound like they come from a science lab, like sodium nitrite or sodium phosphate or benzoate or methylparaben Any of those words there that you immediately look at and think chemistry exam.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, those are the ones that you want to avoid. We've got thickeners and emulsifiers. Now in the book that is called Ultra Processed Foods, there's a lot of talk about the impact of thickeners and emulsifiers on health. So again, we want to avoid those. You will notice on the labeling that these are mostly named gum, something gum. The other thing they will tend to be called is glycerides. So when you see those, those are thickeners and emulsifiers. Sometimes they are just called emulsifiers and thickeners, but again, we don't necessarily want to be consuming those.

Speaker 2:

I made a joke on a couple of the episodes about mayonnaise and wallpaper paste. So wallpaper paste is often used as a thickener in foods and it will be called a thickener on the food label. But anything with a gum. If you think wallpaper paste and then think about that going into your gut and through your entire digestive system. Yeah, we don't really want that going on, do we?

Speaker 2:

Dough conditioners? So, unfortunately, any bread that we get from the supermarket is ultra processed because it contains ingredients like dough conditioners that, again, we don't have in our own kitchens. If we make bread in our kitchens, if you've got a bread machine, even you will put your flour in yeast water and some butter or oil and some salt and then that is it. But when you buy bread from the supermarket, again have a look. You'll see dough conditioners in there, things like calcium peroxide. Again, these names don't sound good, do they? They sound like you should be in a chemistry lab doing some experiments. And then we've got soya protein isolate, which is a high, highly processed, genetically modified protein.

Speaker 2:

So again, we want to be wary of that, especially if we're looking to eat more protein and we're looking at the labels thinking, oh, this food has got a good amount of protein in it. I've looked at the per 100 grams and I'm looking at the percentages and that sounds good. Then look at the ingredients and if you see that soy protein isolate, then you know that that is the process form. So, again, you might want to stay away from that. So there's quite a few things to look at, which is why it sounds complicated. But, honestly, once you get your head around this, you'll immediately look at a food and if it's got more than five ingredients, then you'll be wary. If you're looking at those ingredients and you can see names that sound very science lab, if you see names that you can't pronounce, if there are lots of syrups and anything ending in O's, you know that you've got a lot of sugar. So once you start to get your head around this, then it makes life easier. Right? So that's dealt with the ingredient list.

Speaker 2:

So now on my checklist, we're on to number two and we're looking at serving size. Now, this can be helpful because the serving size on packets are not the serving size that a normal person would eat. A classic example is breakfast cereal. If you weigh out and again, again, do this because it's just it's funny, um, when you start to see the how ridiculous this is, get some cornflakes or some whatever cereal is. Look at the serving size and measure out the serving size that it, that it tells you in a bowl, and just have a laugh at it because there is is no one who eats cereal and I'm not advocating eating cereal either, because it is literally not the best start for the day but if you are someone who eats cereal, there's no way that you're going to eat the serving size.

Speaker 2:

So when you start looking at how much sugar or fat or whatever you're looking at is in there and you're considering the serving size, most of us will tend to eat twice the the serving size that's given on the packet, and it goes for loads of things. Just start being aware of that because, again, it is funny just going back to that sugar for a moment on, because it's one of the ones that I tend to focus on when you've got the serving size and you've looked at how much percentage of sugar is in there. So you've looked and you've gone okay, this product is 52% sugar because it's got 52 grams per 100 grams. So 52% of the product is sugar and that is the carbohydrates, of which sugars number. You've looked at that, you've gone oh, more than half of this product is classified as sugar.

Speaker 2:

Then have a look at the serving size and have a look and see bearing in mind what I've just said about serving size how many teaspoons of sugar is in one serving, and then consider that you're most likely to eat two. So when we're looking at sugar, five grams is one teaspoon. So if your product has 15 grams per serving size, that's three teaspoons of sugar. Now also consider that your daily intake of sugar doesn't really want to be more than five teaspoons. So if one product and one serving size of that product has got 15 grams in, that's three teaspoons of sugar. Then you are over halfway of reaching your allowance for sugar.

Speaker 2:

It's a tricky one with sugar and it is a big problem. We've got a massive problem with sugar intake. So yeah, I just wanted to mention that because I didn't mention that before and it just it can help if you know that information. So again, you know I spoke about the little card that I would get my clients to put in there, like the credit card size that goes in their purse or their wallet. So we've got how much is a lot or a little for sugar per 100 grams. Then I say five grams equals one teaspoon on there so you can see again how much sugar is in a product and then I think most of us can visualize the sugar teaspoons, can't we? So I think it's really helpful, and the same for salt. So serving size matters because we need to make sure are we eating the serving size or are we eating more without even realizing it? And this happens a lot with the ultra processed foods again. So if you look at something ultra processed, like a classic one to look at again, this will make you laugh. When you, when you start looking at these things, you'll just be thinking this is ridiculous.

Speaker 2:

A tube of pring again. I'm not suggesting that you eat Pringles because they are terrible. They're so terrible Pringles. The serving size on Pringles again, have a look. I mean, if you're going to open Pringles and me and Catherine have spoken about this you can't get round the amount of work that's gone into making that product. You've got no chance. If you open a tube of Pringles because they've already worked out the flavours that work in your mouth, the signals back to the brain, the wanting more. You can't stop. They've already done that. They've worked it out. Very clever people have worked that out. You've got no chance. There is no way that you're going to eat a serving size of pringles. But again, have a look, just to amuse yourself, you know, because it will say something like a serving size is, I don't know, six pringles or something. Yeah, please have a look. It's just, it's very amusing. So yeah, we want to know that we're not kind of unknowingly eating more than we thought we were without realizing. So, yeah, have a look at that serving size aspect.

Speaker 2:

So then when we look at the calories and the macros now I'm not someone that ever, to be honest, looks at the calories on products. I don't calorie count. I know me and Catherine did an episode where she was saying about the fact that she had done some calorie counting, but what we actually realized in that episode was that it wasn't necessarily the calories, it was more to do with her awareness about what she was eating, and a food diary would have done that. So I don't worry about calories, but it can help some people because I mean, I don't consider calories to be good or bad, but sometimes it helps to have an idea of the number if you're trying to understand and you're in that awareness phase. So yeah, it can give you an idea, but I much prefer it if you look at the ingredients that you're putting in your body and how much sugar is more important to me than the actual calories.

Speaker 2:

But we might want to look at our macro, so our fats, carbs and protein. Again, I don't tend to worry too much about this unless I'm specifically working with someone to help balance. Again, on the previous episode I said, a good place to start if you're looking to make changes is to just make sure that your carbs and your protein are equal, so they're in balance with each other, because we have a tendency to eat way more carbs than we actually need and carbs will get converted to sugar in our body anyway and then that's going to put a lot of pressure on our system that deals with that and how we make energy and what feeds our microbiome, and oh, the list could go on. So, yeah, we might want to have a look at the proportion of fats, carbs and proteins, but I don't tend to worry too much about it. But I do want you to look at eating less of certain foods, especially when we're looking at damaged I call them damaged fats, but trans fats, trans fats and hydrogenated fats are fats that have been manipulated to be liquid when they're normally hard at room temperature, or at least spreadable when they should be hard at room temperature or the other way around, and we know that trans fats, hydrogenated fats, are linked to having a higher risk of heart disease. We know that eating too much sugar is linked with that insulin sensitivity, diabetes, obesity and metabolic disorders. And when we fill up on sugary foods we don't. It makes us harder. It makes it harder for us to meet our nutrition needs. So, yeah, we just, we just want to be aware and not eat too much of that.

Speaker 2:

And then sodium, which we use as an indication for salt. But sodium is only part of the salt formula is where I was going with that. So so salt itself is sodium chloride, remember from your school days? N-cl is actually salt, but it's only sodium. That's listed on the ingredients, but it can give us an idea, because sodium, again, can cause higher blood pressure.

Speaker 2:

I think I've spoken before previously about the fact that sodium and potassium regulate the pressures in the body. So you've got your millions of cells and you have fluid inside your cell and you have fluid outside of your cell and your body, in order to work properly, needs to have a certain pressure between the inside of the cell and the outside of the cell in order for things to work properly, as in get nutrients into the cell, get waste out. Lots of processes dependent on sodium and potassium being very carefully regulated through the kidneys and there is an impact on pressure because the kidneys regulate that. So one of the easiest ways to lower blood pressure is to drink sufficient water. By the way, a little tip there, but the more sodium we've got, the more we get the imbalance between sodium and potassium and that impacts the pressure between the inside of the cell and the outside of the cell. So keep an eye on that side of things.

Speaker 2:

So when we're looking at food labels, we want to eat less of anything that sounds scientific, any of those damaged fats, hydrolyzed, hydrogenated, trans fats. We want to avoid those. Keep the salt low. Look at the foods that have got the high salt. Again, you can use that. Five grams gives you an idea of a teaspoon, and we don't need a lot of salt again because the amount of regulation through our kidneys. I'll tell you something interesting is that when you eat a lot of sugar, in order for your body to deal with that, it needs to use a lot of water. So you might notice, actually, if you have had a lot of sugar, that you feel really thirsty afterwards. That's your body's natural way of desperately trying to deal with that sugar, it will increase your need for water. We know that the same thing happens when you have a lot of salt, because it pushes up that sodium potassium imbalance. So, again, we need more water for the kidneys to rebalance those two nutrients, which it does a very good job of most of the time, but it certainly helps to support your body in the right way. So watch the amount of salt that you have.

Speaker 2:

Then, when we're looking at what we want more of, we're looking at things like fiber, vitamins and minerals. So we can look at the you know the on the food labels. We can look at the percentage of certain nutrients to see if that's going to help us. And fiber helps with digestion. It gives us that full feeling. It obviously is going to help the bowels. It's also essential for the immune system. So, yeah, we want to make sure that we've got a good amount of fiber. So let's look at our macros and discuss what we actually need. So, like I said, when we're looking at making changes you want to aim to when you're putting the food on the plate, without getting too bogged down in the actual maths of it. I would just start with looking at matching your protein and your carbohydrates on a plate. So I would just basically split my plate into four segments and I would say a quarter is protein, a quarter is carbohydrate, half of it is vegetables because that's going to give you your fiber. But certainly when we're looking at certain wording on labels and the marketing, we want to understand what it's actually saying.

Speaker 2:

So let's start off with organic, organic food. So when we have organic food, it means that crops must be grown on soil that has no chemicals given at all, no chemicals applied for three years. That gives you the organic for produce. In meat and dairy, the animals must be raised in conditions that are natural, like being able to be outside, freely graze, they're not given any hormones and antibiotics, and they must also be fed organic food. So that's your meat and dairy. But packaged and processed foods items must not contain artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Ingredients must be organic.

Speaker 2:

So I'm talking about packaged and processed organic food. So you might see for, for example, that you could buy an organic cake. So the ingredients must be organic, although some non-organic items may be added. So we might have something like baking bicarbonate soda, for example. Baking powder might be added and that that doesn't necessarily need to be organic.

Speaker 2:

So when we're looking at again, we're looking at packaged or processed foods. Even when it's organic on the label, not all of that product is organic, and then there might be the other words there that we definitely know we want to avoid. So that's a good one to start with, but there are some more, I think, terms that you should know and look out for Again. I know in the past we've spoken about avoiding things that are low calorie or light or reduced fat, because it means that the balance between fats and sugars has been messed around with. But when we're looking at the actual labels calorie free and you'll see this this or zero calories means that it's got less than five calories per serving. So if it's got less than five, it can put on the label calorie free, zero calorie, those kind of things. If you, if you've done a lot of dieting, you'll be aware of these things.

Speaker 2:

Excellent source of must provide at least% of the daily value of that particular vitamin or nutrient that they're saying is an excellent source of. So if they're saying it's an excellent source of iron, for example, it has to be 20% of the daily value that you need when we're looking at a good source. So you'll see the difference between these words would say excellent source or a good source. The difference is that a good source so you'll see the difference between these words would say excellent source or a good source. The difference is that a good source has to provide at least 10%. An excellent source has to provide 20%. If it says fat-free or sugar-free, it has to be less than half a gram of fat or sugar per serving.

Speaker 2:

It starts to get quite technical and, like I said, I prefer to just ignore these things and eat foods in their natural state as much as possible and foods that have got less than five ingredients Hyen. So if it says hyen, it's a bit like excellent source of it has to be 20% or more of the specified nutrient. So again it might say high in calcium or it might say an excellent source of calcium. The same thing it needs to be 20%. If it's low calorie, it has to be 40 calories or less per serving and if it's low cholesterol, it has to have less than two grams of saturated fat per serving and low sodium is less than 140 milligrams of saturated fat per serving and low sodium is less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving and then when it says reduced on anything and light is the same, the product needs to contain 25% less of the specified nutrient than the amount found in the regular version. So if you look at something like reduced fat digestive biscuits, then they need to be 25% less of the ingredient that they're saying or they're promoting.

Speaker 2:

So, like I said, a lot of the time when we reduce the fat we're going to push up the sugar. There's quite a lot to consider, I guess, but, like I said, once you get used to it, then you will. It will just become one of those things that you immediately look at and then you'll just find it amusing, like I do. You will literally look at stuff and go that is utterly ridiculous. Just to make things easy, just to explain what we're looking at so when you look at the label on the back and you have your typical values and you have your per 100 grams and then your serving and your list of ingredients, the first thing you want to look at is the ingredients. Have a look at how many are there and then look at how many words that you can't pronounce, how many of those sound like they're chemicals, and look at the amount of different types of sugar in there. So look at the syrups and the oases. That's the first thing that you want to do Most of the time.

Speaker 2:

If you're looking at a label, the chances are it's probably something that you shouldn't be eating anyway, because most natural foods do not need to come in a packet. They're there with a label on. I always joke about this with things like broccoli or apples or something. You don't need a label to tell you what's in those things. So, yeah, have a look at how many there are and again, you're aiming for anything over five. It starts to get processed and you want to avoid those as much as possible or at least choose to eat less of those. Again, it's about a balance. So you want to look at the ingredients. Then the second thing I would always look at is the of which sugars amount, and I would look at the per 100 grams to give myself an idea of the percentage.

Speaker 2:

How much sugar is in this product? Especially if it says it's got loads of health things on the front, it's promoting certain things. It will try to distract you by telling you like the fruit strings high in vitamin C, but it hasn't told you. It's distracting you from. The true fact is that it is full of chemicals and artificial ingredients, so it's going to say those things. So anytime a product is screaming at you saying it's high in this, it's high in that, it's normally not telling you something else. So just be aware of that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so look at the percentage. Give yourself an idea of how much sugar is in that in terms of. You know, half of this product is sugar, or is it 10%? Remember, half of this product is sugar, or is it 10%? Remember, 10 grams per 100 grams is around about okay. Anything more than that is a lot. Anything less than that is really good. So low sugar, less than 10 grams per 100 grams is less than 10% sugar. And then look at the serving size. Think, how much of this am I actually going to eat? And then look at how many grams of sugar is in that. Five grams is one teaspoon.

Speaker 2:

So if you're looking at something like a pasta sauce in a jar, for example, have a look at how much of that pasta sauce are you actually going to use versus the serving size, and then how much sugar is actually in that. One of the ones to look at is something like tomato ketchup. Actually have a look at the salt and sugar in tomato ketchup versus the serving size and then look at how much you actually use or your kids use, because they love those sauces, don't they? So when you're looking at those labels, you've looked at the ingredient list. You've looked at the carbohydrate, of which sugars amount. Then have a glance at the fiber. How much fiber is in there again, is it a good amount? Is it really low?

Speaker 2:

Ideally, aim to have a good amount of fiber and have a look at the salt and see how much salt is in there, remembering that five grams is one teaspoon and then have a bit of fun with the serving size on some of the foods that like, for example, pringles or cereal, because they're the really fun ones, or sharing bag of crisps or most of these things. You're going to know you shouldn't be eating much of them, but there is also going to be a part of you that knows that there is no way. If you've opened this bag of sharing crisps, that one you're going to share it and two you're going to. You know the ones that have the, the seal resealing option. It's laughable. You're not going to reseal that, are you? Because the way that it's been made is going to trigger all those things for you anyway in your brain and your mouth, and so, yeah, your, your body's going to keep wanting more of it. So just be careful of that.

Speaker 2:

So when you're, when you're looking at foods and you're reading food labels on the back of us talking about toxins and things, you start to become aware of the sugars added, like I said, the thickeners, the emulsifiers, the, the dyes, the what else was there?

Speaker 2:

The artificial flavors and enhancers and sweeteners and conditioners for the dough and all those kind of things, and then make the choice to stay away from them as much as possible. I really hope that's been helpful. I know that it can be a little bit complex, especially when you're just listening to this and you've got no visuals, but get a packet up in front of you and just start to have a look, and if you've got any questions, then please head over to the Far Too Fabulous Facebook page and you can ask away, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions about reading food labels. I've also got a little template for the little card that goes in your wallet, so you can get that from the Facebook group as well, which makes life a lot easier. You can use that, put it in your purse and then you've got something to refer to. But, like I said, any questions just ask in the facebook group.

Speaker 1:

I will see you next time thank you for keeping us company today. If you enjoyed the podcast, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us on our mission to reach a thousand women in our first year, so share with your friends and family. You might just change your life. Connect with us on social media and make your life easier by joining our podcast mailing list. You'll find the links in the show notes. Your weekly episode will be delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday morning. Make it a fabulous week and we'll catch you in the next episode.