All at sea in the aisles?
SUPERMARKETS aren’t just for your bread, milk and eggs any more.
When you walk down the aisles of a supermarket, how many of the thousands of foods you see would you expect to be healthy to eat? To answer that question, researchers from the George Institute for Global Health recently investigated a total of 40,664 common packaged products.
They found only one-third are healthy. Six out of 10 packaged foods are highly or ultra-processed and more than half are discretionary/junk foods.
The following factors can help save your waistline (and time).
HEALTH HALO
The sequence of ingredients is in order of prominence. So, if sugar, vegetable oil or enriched wheat flour is listed first, the product contains that ingredient the most. As always, unpronounceable and unrecognisable ingredients should be a major red flag, likewise an ingredient list so long you don’t even have time to read it.
CHECK SUGAR CONTENT
As a nation we’re consuming an average of 60g of sugars each day, or the equivalent of 14 teaspoons of white sugar.
The World Health Organisation recommends adults and children limit their intake of “free sugars” (sugars added to food, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates) to less than 10 per cent of their total energy intake.
TYPES OF FATS
We might put down a product that’s high in fat, but it’s the quality of fat that makes it a more healthful choice. Choose products with higher amounts of unsaturated fats, and avoid products that contain trans fats or higher amounts of saturated fats.
FOCUS ON FIBRE
Regular consumption of fibre and, in particular, wholegrains (oats, high fibre cereals, brown rice, barley), vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, legumes and seeds has been associated with reduced risk of weight gain by feeling satisfied with fewer calories. If a product contains 3–6g of fibre per serve it is a high-fibre product and helps eliminate refined-carbohydrate, high-sugar food. Kathleen Alleaume is a nutrition and exercise scientist and founder of The Right Balance. @therightbalance