Nutrition Label Facts You May Not Know

Unfortunately, the industrialized food industry cannot be trusted to be honest about what they are feeding us.  It is legal to label something as having no trans fat, for example, if it contains no more than .49% (less than 1/2 of 1 percent).  The industry, with all its lobbying dollars spent, has lawmakers in its corner -and is allowed to do this. 

None of this bodes well for aging folks pursuing a longevity diet.  If you are a person who is aging -and wants to eat right and make the most of what’s left, start reading labels.  The following article by Steven Gillman, cautions and informs about ambiguities and outright lies contained in food labeling.

Nutrition Label Facts You May Not Know

You think you know what those labels are supposed to tell you, but manufacturers probably don’t want you to know these nutrition label facts.

You may think you can read those labels, but there are some nutrition label facts you may not know. The following are just a few of these secrets of the food industry.

Low Fat Means What?

According to FDA rules, a product advertised as "low fat" must have 3 grams or less of fat per serving. The food companies aren’t going to directly lie and get themselves in trouble, of course. If a product says "low fat," you can bet the nutritional label will say there are 3 grams or less of fat.

The FDA rules, however, do not specify what a "serving" is. If the serving size chosen by the manufacturer happens to be a fourth of the amount you typically eat, then you may actually be getting 12 grams of fat per serving. Legally, if they wanted to, they could call pure butter "low fat," just by specifying a small dollop as a "serving." Look at the size per serving listed on the package, and consider what amount you’ll actually eat at once.

Pure Fruit?

Look closely at those fruit spreads that claim to be just fruit. They may be more condensed fruit syrup (essentially sugar) than fruit. For example, some "only fruit" strawberry jams are as little as 30% strawberries. The rest is syrup made from condensed apple juice or other cheap juices. This is fruit? Yeah, and when you drink a cup of corn oil it’s just like eating fresh corn, right?

Now, you may think that if the fruit is the first ingredient on the label it must be mostly fruit. Food manufacturers are required to list ingredients in order of quantity after all. But watch out! By including various forms of sweetening, manufacturers can make hide the fact that it is mostly sugar. For example, sugary syrups from apple, pineapple and grape juice might make up 25%, 25% and 20% of the spread respectively, leaving strawberries at 30%, or first on the list of ingredients, even though the spread is essentially 70% sugary syrup.

Hydrogenated Oil’s Evil Twin

Now that people are becoming aware of the dangers of hydrogenated oil, some manufacturers are replacing it with "interesterified" oils. Unfortunately, scientists have found that these fats seem to cause a serious decrease in HDL or "good" cholesterol. They also cause a 20% increase in blood sugar levels. Both of these can increase the risk of heart disease. Watch for the words "interesterified" or "stearate-rich" on the label to avoid these fats.

Natural?

Natural isn’t automatically better or healthier. Cyanide comes from nature, after all, as do many toxic substances. In other words, even if the label "natural" actually meant natural, it couldn’t automatically mean the food is healthy. But the word doesn’t mean anything anyhow - at least not in the world of food marketing. There is no legal definition of the word "natural." You can sell ground up plastic mixed with sugar and artificial coloring and call it "natural." Many foods with the label have dangerous hydrogenated oils or highly processed (and unnatural) high-fructose corn syrup, for example.

More Subtle Nutrition Label Lies

How do you lie and get away with it? Say nothing. When it comes to nutrition labels, a lie of omission can be just as bad for your health as telling you an untruth outright. The fact is, food makers often let you believe what you want when the truth would have you leaving their product on the shelf.

For example, you may know that Salmon is good for you. It is full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids that protect your heart, right? Well, it might be. Certainly fish processors are happy to have you believe this, but in reality much of what is sold in supermarkets is actually farmed Salmon. Farmed Salmon have 60% to 70% less omega-3 fatty acids. They also contain much higher levels of cancer causing dioxins and PCBs. They also contain antibiotic residue - more than meat or any other domestic animal products.

They are simply not very good for you. They are hatched in plastic trays, crowded in unsanitary cages underwater, unnaturally fattened using soybean pellets, and treated with antibiotics and pesticides. They have to be fed a synthetic pigment to give them their pink color. This pigment contains canthaxanthin, which was used in sunless tanning pills until they were banned for human use. The nutrition label won’t mention you these facts.

Learn more in 99 Lies, part of the "Secrets Package," and go get your free "secrets" course at: http://www.TheSecretInformationSite.com

Industrial Food: The Billion Dollar Club

Did you know that the Top 50 Food Manufacturers/Processors all have revenues north of $1,000,000,000 (2007 data)?

Vital Reading » Blog Archive » Understanding food labelling.

So a food product cannot claim to be low in salt if it is high in both fat and sugar. Foods that make a nutrition claim –for example, that they are low in salt – have to make it clear.

Healthy Foods And Supplements For Longevity

Include dark green leafy green vegetables in your daily diet as these are known to reduce the risk of heart disease and can also save your eyesight. Try to include three cups or more of green veggies in your diet every week.

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Diets and Cancer: Some things to stay away from for health damage control.

Cancers don’t appear for no good reason. Cancers develop if you follow an unhealthy diet full of cancer causing food over an extended period of time. Some of the food we eat have high amounts of cancer promoters (carcinogens) that cause cancers. In this article, we will discover the 3 common types of carcinogens most people are exposed to on a daily basis, what types of food we should and should not consume to prevent cancer.

Good rule of thumb:  If your Great-Grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, it probably isn’t.  The American Industrialized Diet contains many substances which have no nutritious benefit and actually could (and often do) cause harm.  Some things most people would typically consider to be FOOD are really no more than "Food-Like Substances."  Another thing:  Beware of food-like substances  emblazoned with labels that shout health claims at you from the center aisle.  Don’t mistake the "Silence of the Yams" (over in the produce section) as evidence that they are not nutritious.

Acrylamide In Food: Bad, Bad.

Acrylamide has been used in industries that specialize in the treatment of contaminated water, creation of plastic, and manufacturing of food packaging. Scientists recently found traces of acrylamide in food that was cooked with high temperature cooking methods such as microwaving, frying, baking and roasting. Even though acrylamide has been attested to cause cancer in animals, doctors have not found absolute evidence that is causes cancer in humans even though it is toxic to our bodies. French fries top the charts of food that contain the highest levels of acrylamide, followed by certain brands of potato chips, breakfast cereals, cookies, brewed coffee and toast bread according to the US FDA/CFSAN 2006 Exposure Assessment for Acrylamide.

The Harmful Effects Of Sodium Nitrate

Sodium nitrate is a common food additive found in processed meat. It is used to conserve the reddish color of meat to make it look more appetizing to eat at the neglection of your health. Sodium nitrate on it’s own is pretty harmless but it changes into a carcinogenic substance called nitrosamine during the digestion process, thus promoting the growth of cancer cells. Almost all forms of processed meat like bacon, hot dogs, bologna, pepperoni, lunch meat and ham contain sodium nitrate.

Trans Fat (or Hydrogenated Oil): What Is It And Why It Is Unhealthy

Trans fat or trans-fatty acids (TFAs) are the most terrible kind of fat you can consume. Trans fat is created by a hydrogenation process that transforms unsaturated vegetable oils to a semi-solid state. Food companies do this to save money, to improve flavor stability and to extend the shelf life of their products. Due to it’s processed nature, it is considered unnatural in our bodies and it is very tough to digest, therefore it easily clogs our arteries if we don’t exercise often. What’s worse, trans fat promotes the development of bad cholesterol and reduces the levels of good cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease. Trans fat can be found in pastries, hydrogenated oils, commercially deep-fried food, food with vegetable shortening and partially hydrogenated oils.

There is no known safe level of consumption.

Foods that will help avoid Cancer

It is ideal for all of us to restrict or eliminate our consumption of processed food that contain the 3 carcinogens above and other toxins such as cigarettes, alcohol, sugar and salt.  The decision is up to you to decide which is more important to you.

At the very least, choose natural food like organic vegetables, fruit and meat as much as possible. Having a diet made of nutrients, antioxidants and fiber from raw veggies and fruits should help you steer clear from cancer. As a general rule, eat what mother nature intended us to eat and avoid man-made food.  Keep up with your fiber intake on a daily basis.  Your colon will thank you.

Bottom line:  Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants .

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