The Hemp Connection:
food labels

Still another trend I saw at Expo West was an emphasis on new packaging. Companies it seems, have heard the message that we don't want things in plastic bottles. That's the good news. What is frustrating is the learning curve they seem to be going through in order to get to a solution.

Here is Mother Nature's packaging for my argument. Nice, sturdy, recyclable container, holds up well in my computer bag. Probably about 60 calories in that serving size. Mother Nature isn't required to label her goods, but it contains fiber, vitamin C, antioxidants, to name a few.

Here is something I've been using a lot lately, it's especially handy when I travel, or when I eat out in restaurants and want to be sure that what I get has been handled in a sanitary fashion. Zero calories, zero sugar, makes it through airport security, doesn't squash, doesn't rot, recyclable container. Derived from actual fruit so though it is fiber free, it does contain vitamin C. Honestly, I prefer exhibit A but sometimes it just isn't available. This comes in a reasonable second.

And here is what I saw at Expo West. This package is supposedly 2 servings, each 70 calories each. And if I am by myself and I am drinking it on the go, do you really think I'm going to save half? How can I? No, I'll pour the whole thing into my water and turn it into the near caloric equivalent of a soda. That is, if it makes through being squashed by my computer and my iPad and my gym shoes and my product samples, without being squished open and turning everything pink and shorting out the computers in the process. It's supposed to be planet-friendly but nowhere on the website or packaging do I see anything about this packaging being recyclable.

What does this have to do with PCOS you might ask? The fact that the words"organic" and"healthy" are prettily placed on the front of the packaging along with the organic certification logo. The serving size, calorie, and carbohydrate information is around the corner, and in much smaller print. If you check out the ingredients, it's sugar water with organic"flavor"…and even though it's organic, it's still just flavor with some vitamin C thrown in. We all know when Mother Nature designed the original package she put more than one vitamin in hers.

Don't be fooled. Even when it's organic you still have to read the label to be sure it meets your standards.

I was given samples of a snack food at Expo West that caught my attention given how much I am talking about more protein with all of you. It is a good illustration of why so many of you are confused. While this may be a perfectly good snack for someone not prone to insulin resistance, for the readers of this blog, it may be troublesome.
Here is why. (If you click on the photo it will enlarge).
I agree, as stated on the left, lentils are a high protein legume. However, the amount of protein that is in this snack, compared to the amount of carbohydrate, is not so high.
If you analyze your diet using the www.nutritiondata.com website I mentioned a few days ago, by the end of the day, 25-30% of your calories should be protein, and 35-40% of your calories should be carbohydrate. It is not at all possible to look at every food and assign a"eat" or"can't eat" rule based on this…but all the foods you eat over the course of a day should total these percentages. Foods that are a long way away from that are foods that have more potential to throw off your daily total.
Snack foods in general have the greatest potential for throwing off your total, especially if you believe it is good for you and do what many people, eat more of it because that is what you believe.
If a food is truly high protein, it should be comparable to meat and milk. Meat has 7 grams of protein per once, and milk has 8 grams of protein per cup. A serving of these chips has 3 grams. Less than half the protein. Big difference. Multiply the grams of protein by 1.33; that number represents the upper limit of carbohydrate grams you would want to have the ratios I suggest above. Here, if you multiply 3 times 1.33, your carbohydrates should be no higher than 4 grams. They are, in actuality, 17. Working in reverse, if you divide 17 by 1.33, you will need to eat 15 grams of protein with a serving of this chip in order to have the protein ratio be sufficient. Twelve of those grams of protein will need to come from some other source, and if you choose milk, you still have carbohydrates to account for. You will need to include a pure protein source such as 2 ounces of cheese or deli meat to make up the difference, which could add up to 200 calories to that snack.
Yes it contains protein. But not enough to be a therapeutic protein source for managing insulin resistance.
Be a smart consumer. inCYST on transparency and labeling claims that are not confusing.

I'm not surprised at the number of people who choose the"healthy" versions of things they know are normally not so healthy, based solely on an eye-catching blurb on the front of a package. Things like “trans-fat-free” flavored non-dairy creamer, or chocolate chip cookies “made with whole grains.” And are they really trans-fat-free or made with whole grains? Most of us won't even turn the package around to read the ingredients and find out what that means.

If there's a big graphic on the front with the words"0 grams trans fat per serving" most people will see that and think,"Perfect. I know trans fats are a bad thing, not sure what it is but I'm glad my favorite hazelnut flavored creamer doesn't have it!" And off they go. What they didn’t notice is that the second ingredient on the back was “partially hygrogenated oil” which is – you guessed it – trans fat. The serving size is a teaspoon. Can most of you who use flavored creamers honestly say that you take out a measuring teaspoon and put just that much into your coffee? If you’re like most people I know, you either pour some into your coffee until the color is right (definitely more than a teaspoon), or you use multiple single-serve packets wherever you get your coffee. The loophole is that if it’s less than 0.5g per serving, they can claim it’s got 0 trans fat. So the serving is tiny, not true to what most people actually use.

Same goes with other things like Goldfish crackers. Ooooh! It peeves me so! I was at Target doing some shopping and they have monster-sized bags of Goldfish crackers on sale. And not just any Goldfish crackers. The ones that are"made with whole grains". So here you are, trying to make small changes, since that is what you keep hearing is the easiest to do. A small change might be to find a healthier alternative to the little Goldfish you snack on mindlessly after work every evening. And holy crap! Here’s a “whole grain” version – that’s healthy! Right? Wrong.

Yes. the ingredient panel on the back lists"100% whole grain flour" as the first ingredient, but I took one down the aisle to where the regular Goldfish crackers were to compare. There really wasn't much of a difference – marginal at best. The “healthier” version has about 10 calories less per serving (1 serving is 55 Goldfish for both kinds). It also has 1 gram more of fiber per serving, so from 1 gram in the original, up to a whopping 2 grams in the healthier version. Though it has less fat, it has more saturated fat. And the “healthier” version also has more sodium. So really, is it any better, cumulatively? Not really, though I can hear Goldfish fanatics justifying that extra gram of fiber and 10 less calories to death. It’s still a highly-processed junky food, trying to weasel its way back into your home since chances are if you’re like many Americans, you’re trying to eat healthier.

Food labels are a tricky little business, and if you think the label is there to help you, the consumer, you’re in for a rude awakening. That's just what the food companies want you to believe. At the end of the day, everything they put on a label is carefully thought out, with their bottom line at the top of the priority list. International Delights and Pepperidge Farms (and soooo many others) don’t want to lose you as a customer so they figure, if you’re wising (wisening?) up about nutrition, they’ll play to your new level of nutrition knowledge and keep you around with misleading serving size loopholes and a trivial amount of whole grains in some of their junk products.

Here are some terms to keep in mind when you’re at the store:

• “Zero Grams Trans Fat Per Serving” – hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils – of any kind – are trans fats. If these words appear on an ingredient list, feel free to call B.S. on the “zero grams” claim. Also look at your serving size and see if that is truly what you use.

  This goes for “Fat Free” as well. Remember if it’s less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving they can get away with saying it’s fat free. But if you use multiple times what the recommended serving size is, you’re gonna have to accept that it’s not truly fat-free – this is huge for people trying to lose weight, as the calories will add up faster than you think!

• “Made with Whole Grains” – First ask yourself is it really made with 100% whole grains? Then compare to the original and see if they’re BS-ing you with trivial differences that add up to nothing other than money in the bank for the company.
• “All Natural” – this is not a regulated claim, and any company can use this phrase and interpret their own meaning of what is “natural”. If you find ingredients on the nutrition panel that sure as heck don’t sound natural, well then…
• “No added sugar” – look for other sources of sugar that aren’t literally “sugar” like brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, and also keep an eye out for artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols (aspartame, sucralose, sorbitol, maltitol, lactitol… etc.
• “Made with natural sugar” – Hey, that’s great. But you know what? Sugar is sugar, and too much of it, “natural” or otherwise is not going to add up to anything good in the long run. All your body knows when you put the food in your mouth is, “HEY!!!! Sugar!!! Now it’s a party!” Sugar in moderation won’t kill most people, but somehow, telling someone that it’s “natural” sugar or “raw” sugar, suddenly makes it ok to eat more. And that won’t necessarily save lives, either. Be smart about it.
• “Zero Calories / Calorie-Free” – Like with fats, if it has less than 5 calories per serving, the food company can get away with saying it has zero calories per serving. Rule of thumb is to consider all those zero-calorie items to have 4 calories. And as you might have heard, calories can add up rather quickly. Knowing that, if you’re drinking quite a bit of these zero-calorie beverages, or using multiple servings of zero-calorie salad dressing, you may be motivated to change your ways, if you’re actively counting calories (which I would hope would be the only reason you’re eating and drinking those kinds of things!).

  A special note about Splenda – “The Zero Calorie Sweetener” It’s about 2 calories per little yellow packet. And they can add up very quickly if you’re putting Splenda into everything.