Carb clever but buyer not ... in far too many cases
“Fat free”, “gluten free”, “low calorie”, “carb clever”, these are just some of the examples of smart advertising used to generate sales by making consumers believe that by eating this snack or meal they are somehow making the healthier choice without the calories.
I have seen it for so many years and continue to see it almost everywhere I look.
Nine times out of 10 these products (which claim to be healthier for you and lower in calories) cost almost double the price of the standard option. But is this the best option? If these products were in fact the far healthier, “magical” products they are so often portrayed to be, I could understand paying more to reap those benefits.
However, I am of the opinion these products do not surpass their opposition, and I would even go as far as to say you are paying a lot extra for a product that (in some cases) could be identical to one at half the price.
Because of all the false advertising and smart sales pitches out there, it has become increasingly more important to be able to read a food label to compare foods and know what to look for when striving to live a healthier lifestyle.
When comparing two different food products you will always look at the ingredients’ “per 100ml/g” column. This is because often when you are comparing products, you are looking at two different masses. By comparing two different masses, you may end up with the conclusion that one is “better” than the other, but this will not always be the case if not compared correctly.
For example, if you are comparing a Bokomo wheetbix 450g box to a Woolies granola 750g, you might come up with the conclusion that the wheetbix is “healthier” and lower in calories than the granola, but that would be because you are comparing the wheetbix to a much larger quantity of granola.
By comparing the two based on their nutrient quantities per 100g you will be able to come to a far more accurate conclusion.
If, however, you are comparing smaller items which you will consume entirely as a snack (for example a packet of chips, snack bar and so on) then you can compare the items per gram that you will consume (usually there is a column at the back next to the ingredients called “per serving” and so on).
I always like to look at these three macronutrients first: carbohydrates, fat and protein.
When I look at carbohydrates I generally like to keep these fairly low. When looking at a protein bar that is labelled “low fat”, this might be true, but to accommodate for the lack of fat they may have added additional carbs to the snack.
This, in turn, will increase the calories in your food and thereby negate the fact that there is less fat in the product. When a product says “low fat”, the fFirst thing I check is the carb content.
It helps me to remember that your standard slice of bread has roughly 15g of carbs in it. So, a protein bar with 60g of carbs essentially equates to about four slices of bread. Now if it is a small bar, that is not going to fill you up. It might be better to just have two slices of toast which would possibly have less calories, carbs and fats than the protein bar (depending on what you put on it), keep you fuller for longer and satisfy that hunger craving better than the protein bar would have.
For fat content, I always try to reach for the product that has 5g or less per 100g/ml. Fat has far more calories in it per gram than protein or carbs. So if you are looking to lose weight, generally reducing your fat content (and thereby calories) will help you to start losing any excess weight.
I also try my best to avoid products that have large amounts of saturated and trans fats in them. Saturated and trans fats are solid at room temperature and can cause fatty deposits in your blood vessels. On the other hand, unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and less likely to clog your arteries. When it comes to snacks, I always prefer something that has more protein in it. I prefer to eat a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Please note that there is nothing wrong with carbohydrates (your body needs these and they are vital for energy levels and building lean muscle, my body just responds better to low carb and high protein).
I aim to get about 1.8g to 2.2g of protein per kilogram of body weight. So if I weigh 100kg, I would want to get 180g to 220g of protein per day. It is also important to note that 100g of chicken does not equate to 100g of protein. Though chicken is predominantly a protein source, it also contains carbs and fat. 100g of chicken only has roughly 30g of protein.
Lastly, it is good to look at the calorie content of a product. A product that is low in carbs and fat and high in protein may still have an extremely high caloric value; in this case it may be a better idea to go with the product that has slightly more carbs and fats, and slightly less protein but that has far less calories in it (that is if your goal is weight loss and you are watching your figure).
If your goal is to eat more nourishing foods and hit certain macronutrient goals, perhaps it would be better to choose the food product with a higher calorie content but which also has the desired amount of carbs, fats, proteins and nutrients you are wanting.