Episode 9: Your Nutrition in Avoiding the Junk

You are what you eat! How to make more mindful decision about what you eat. Avoid the junk! Using the nutrition facts label on packages is your best tool for helping you make the best decision when it comes to your health. It provides information about the things you should try to limit, like calories, saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol and added sugars as well the things you should try to get more of in your diet: unsaturated fat, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. This tool can help you in a side-by-side comparison to choose products that have more of the good stuff and avoid the ones with the not-so-good stuff. When going out to eat, you may not have a nutrition facts label to utilize when making decisions. However, you can still make healthy choices by looking for key words in the description of the dish. If something is smothered, battered, fried, breaded, creamy, loaded, homestyle, crispy or supreme, it is most likely high in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Instead, when you are checking out the menu, look for words like sautéed, skinny, grilled, light, baked, or vinaigrette. Many things that come fried on the menu can be grilled if you just ask! Another thing to be conscious of when eating out is portion size. Restaurants often serve portions that are much larger than recommended and can lead to double the calories by eating the entire serving. A tip is to ask for a carryout container when your meal comes so you can go ahead and split your portion and save the rest for later. Or you can always split with a friend! Access to restaurant menus online make it convenient for you to scope out your options before you go. Taking the time away from the pressure of sitting at the table when you’re starving before you arrive can help you make sticking to your goals much easier. People consume much of their added sugar intake in the way of sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages, like coffee drinks, energy drinks, or sweet tea. These are empty calories, meaning that they provide no other nutritional benefit. The American Heart Association Recommends that women and children consume no more than 6 teaspoons (24 grams) and men no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) of added sugar a day. The average 12 oz. soda contains 35 grams of added sugar meaning that one canned soda alone has more than the recommended added sugar intake for your entire day! It is also important to be cautious of flavored milks, juice drinks and sports drinks. These may be labeled or marketed as “healthy” but often have loads of added sugar, which may outweigh their perceived benefits. While we are looking to limit our added sugar intake, you 100% juices and plain milk does still have naturally occurring sugar, which makes it already sweet, keeping us from needing to add more! For information on the amount of natural vs. added sugar in your drink, check out the nutrition facts label where it says “total sugar” and directly underneath it you will see added sugar. If sugar has been added but it is less than the total sugar amount, it means there is some natural sugar, but it just is not listen on the label, as is the case with many fruit drinks. If you are purchasing a fruit drink, check to make sure it has no added sugar and says it is 100% juice! Making healthy decisions can be made simple using the tools available. The nutrition facts label and a little bit of background research can help you avoid the junk!