READ THE FINE PRINT

What food labels really mean

With an increasing number of food products appearing on the supermarket shelves each week, and many of them covered in nutrition ‘claims’, shopping for a healthy diet isn’t always easy. But by understanding what to look for, selecting the right foods for your diabetes-friendly eating plan doesn’t have to be mission impossible.

Check the ingredients

The ingredient list is an often overlooked but important part of a food label. It lists each of the ingredients in the product, in descending order of quantity. The ingredient list can help you to identify the source of various nutrients in the product. For example, is the sugar content coming from the natural sugars in fruit or dairy, or from added sugars? An important tip: if the ingredient list is full of things you don’t recognise as food, leave it on the shelf!

Serving size

The nutrition information panel provides nutrient details across both per serve and per 100g. The serving size is specified by the manufacturer, but it is important to check whether this is the amount you actually eat. When comparing products, it is best to use the figures in the ‘per 100g’ column so you are always comparing the same amount.

However, if you want to know the amount of a certain nutrient in a serve of the food – for example the grams of carbohydrate – then the per serve column is where you need to look. ➤

Energy

The energy value on a food product measures the number of calories or kilojoules in a food. Your energy needs will depend on a number of factors, including your age, gender, activity levels and whether you are trying to lose, maintain or gain weight. Knowing your energy needs can help you to work out how a particular food fits into your daily eating plan. Your dietitian can help you to determine your individual energy needs.

Fat

When it comes to fat, it’s important to avoid foods high in saturated and trans fats as these worsen insulin resistance (the underlying problem in type 2 diabetes) and increase the risk of heart disease. Instead, choose foods containing mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

These healthier fats are found in foods such as avocado, nuts, seeds, olives and olive oil.

When looking at the nutrition panel on a food label, a food must have 3g/100g or less of total fat to be labelled ‘low fat’ and 1.5g/100g or less of saturated fat to be labelled

‘low saturated fat’. Regardless of the fat content, try to choose foods where saturated fat makes up only a small proportion of the total fat.

Carbohydrate

The value for carbohydrate on a food label tells you the total amount of carbs from both starches and sugars. When you have diabetes, understanding the carb content of foods can help with managing your blood glucose levels. If you take insulin, it’s important to match your insulin to carbohydrate intake, either by adjusting your insulin doses according to the carbs you eat, or by eating a similar amount of carbs from

Most of us are eating more protein than we need

day to day if you are taking fixed doses of insulin. If you don’t take insulin, spreading carbohydrate intake over the day and eating similar amounts from day to day usually helps with managing blood glucose levels. However, it’s important to speak with your dietitian about your individual carbohydrate needs and how to balance carbs with your insulin or medication. The type of carbs you choose are also important for blood glucose management. The best choices are those which are nutrientdense, high in fibre and which have a low glycemic index (GI).

Dietary fibre

Adults should consume at least 25-30g of dietary fibre each day, yet research shows we are only getting about half of this amount, mainly because we don’t eat enough fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Fibre can help with blood glucose and weight management, lowering cholesterol and digestive health. There’s also evidence eating more high-fibre foods results in changes in gut bacteria, which may reduce the risk of type 2.

So, when choosing foods such as breads, cereals, crackers, rice and pasta, compare products and go for those with a higher fibre content. Products containing more than 3g of fibre per serve are considered high fibre. A medium carrot, large apple or 50g of raw oats each provides about 5g of fibre.

Protein

While high protein has become a popular nutrition claim on food products, the truth is that most of us already eat more than we need. What’s more, high intakes of protein, particularly animal protein, are associated with insulin resistance and

an increased risk of type 2 and heart disease. More isn’t better when it comes to this nutrient.

The amount of protein you need each day will depend on a number of factors, including your age, gender and activity levels, however, the average female needs about 46g per day and the average male 64g per day. As an example, a 100g lean steak, 150g chicken breast or 150g of hard tofu each provides about 20g protein. If you are consuming enough energy to meet your needs, and a wide variety of foods, it’s easy to consume these amounts and there’s no need for special high-protein foods, including bars, powders and shakes.

Sodium

Eating too much salt, or sodium, can lead to high blood pressure and increase the risk of heart and kidney disease, both of which are more common in people with diabetes. It’s best to aim for no more than 2300mg per day and even less (1600mg/ day) if you have high blood pressure. While not adding salt to your meals or cooking is a good start, most of the sodium in our diet comes from processed foods, so always check the sodium content when shopping and try to choose products with the lowest sodium. Foods must have less than 120mg of sodium per 100g to be labelled low sodium.