it’s more than calories

Reading a nutrition label is much more than just looking at calorie content.

Sure, calories can be helpful. But if that is the only thing we are focused on when we read a nutrition label, then we are completely forgetting the importance of QUALITY of nutrition.

You see - 200 calories from fruit gummies compared to 200 calories from actual fruit is NOT the same. Our bodies absorb and use these calories in very different ways.

The fruit gummies have added sugars, manufactured ingredients, and have undergone a whole lot of processing.

The fruit, when eaten in its natural whole form is unprocessed, packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other phytochemicals that boosts the quality of this type of food.

So how can you read food packages and nutrition labels to make sure you are paying attention to nutrition quality as well?

Ingredients - you’ve likely heard this before and it is very true: the shorter the list of ingredients, the less processed the food is. Make sure the ingredients are healthy and ones you recognize. The first ingredient listed is the one that is present in the largest amounts.

Added sugars - while the maximum limit for total added sugars in a day differs for women and men, keeping added sugars to lower than 25g per day is an easy goal to remember!

Bold claims - just beware of some of the claims on the packages. Manufacturers are generally able to make bold claims without having to prove how legitimate they are. One fact that floored me - for something to be considered ‘whole grain’, it actually only has to have at least 15% of its ingredients coming from a whole grain!