Food Labels...To Read Or Not To Read

Many of us in the African American community were told not to pay attention to food labels. Just eat the food. If it has vegetables in it it is good for you. Bread is good for you if its wheat. Chicken is good....beans are good.....fruit is good.....etc. All of these thoughts are true. However, a lot of the foods that we buy have other things in them that are extremely fattening and actually "bad" for us. For example, wheat bread is good and has fiber in it. However, not all wheat bread is created equal. A lot of the wheat bread at the grocery store does not contain whole grain wheat and has an ingredient in it called HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. To put it bluntly, you might as well be eating white bread.

Canned vegetables, canned soups, prepared foods (lean cuisines, stouffers, etc), contain a lot of sodium and have a lot of the nutritional values "prepared" out of them. This is bad because sodium causes you to retain water which causes you to appear to have more weight. It also causes high blood pressure.

Most fruit juices contain added sugars, high fructose corn syrup, artificial fruit flavors, and more importantly ALMOST NONE OF THE ACTUAL FRUIT JUICE.

I've listed these examples to say, not only is it good to read labels, it is important to read labels. Know what you are eating. Know what to look for. Pay attention to the calories. If you're eating a tv dinner that has 526 calories in it, don't eat it. (We'll talk more about frozen dinners in another article). If your bread has more than 60 calories per slice, contains high fructose corn syrup, does not contain at least 2 grams of fiber per slice and does not contain whole grains, don't eat it. If your fruit juice has added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and the actual fruit is not listed first or second, don't drink it. But you have to read the labels in order to know.

In conclusion, you must be familiar with what you are putting into your body and what you are serving your family. Many foods and drinks have hidden ingredients that are bad for us and adding extra pounds to our waist line. Not paying attention to an ingredient does not make it disappear. Instead, it makes you vulnerable and in danger of eating harmful ingredients that will have a negative long term affect on your size, health and life.