Read Your Labels

I think that often we look at the front of the package too much and the back not enough.  It is so much faster to go through the store and grab the stuff that says "35% less fat" or "1/3 less sugar", but that information never seems to be all it cracks up to be...

The important information is the nutrition label, if you aren't familiar with it, or its just too much information to process, here is a quick guide:

As adults, we're often concerned about Fat and Calories, and more recently, Trans Fats and Carbs.

Our kids are a little different, depending on their age.  (Now please realize, that I am not a nutritionist, nor do I pretend to be, I'm just a mom and this is what I practice for my own family.) I think there are some things, that no matter what age are important to think about:

SUGAR

One thing I ALWAYS look out for is SUGAR.  Products are so packed with extra sugar be it high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or whatever other name for sugar the companies have thought up.  I try not to buy something if some form of sugar is listed in the first 5 ingredients (thank you Dr. Oz).  I'm careful with my son's sugar thanks to my mom...her premise about children and sugar from years ago (when products weren't so packed with it) I think has proven itself true today.  The quick version is that my half brother was behind in school and in special ed classes because of his behavior.  My mother pulled him off of sugar, no more soda, slurpies or sugary treats.  He made up his years of school and was in regular classes in a year.  I think that says something.  I don't pretend to be a doctor but I wonder if all the cute little packaged products we're passing to our kids weren't so full of sugar if the rates of ADHD would be lower.  I don't want to diminish that disorder, but doesn't it seem that there is a correlation between the sugar in our food and increases of kids being diagnosed with these type of behavior disorders?  I certainly don't believe in giving artificial sweeteners to children, I won't consume those myself, if it is going to be sugar, be real sugar, but there are other alternatives.  Next time try sweetening things with honey, or maple syrup, or even try Stevia.


SODIUM
Another one to watch out for is sodium, sometimes it is shocking the amount of sodium in a product.  There seems to be a corrilation between how much a product is processed and the amount of sodium, but even between brands of the same food it is shocking.  I was buying chili sauce for a recipe and of three different brands (none of them touting "low sodium") the sodium content ranged from just over 400mg per serving to over 900mg per serving!

SERVING SIZE

I think one of the other things that we often overlook is the serving size.  A salad dressing may have a reasonable 70 calories, be low in sugar and fat per serving, but if you put 4-5 tablespoons on your very healthy salad, you've just increased your salads calorie count by 140-175 calories, not a mere 70.  I was once addicted to soda, Pepsi specifically, but when most people down that oh-so-delicious 20oz thirst quenching cola-of-goodness, you're not consuming the 100 calorie serving, you're actually consuming 2.5 servings.  A lot of labels now carry not just the serving size, but "per container" for some as well, but it is still important to

READ THOSE LABELS.