How to understand the nutritional levels of packet foods

One should understand the nutitional levels of sugar in food items

Yes, in our busy urban lifestyle we need to buy packet food items from super market. Super market stacks look rather loaded with packaged foods, each looking better than the other and having various claims such as goodness of different grains, more calcium, low fat, making it confusing to decide. Generally we choose to buy all these products either because it comes from a reputed company, or after reading words like low fat, diet version on package or any of our "food expert" friend recommended it.

“As a Nutritionist, I felt people need help or rather education on how to identify nutritional effectiveness and suitability of packaged food in our daily life” says our Nutritionist

One should remember always Balance is the Key of all. You can’t expect to see a product with all benefits and goodness of health. Among all category of foods as some type of food may have the requirement of adding food additives either to give the shelf life or taste expected of these foods.

So here we have some guide line for you on understanding Sugar level of packet foods by our Nutritionist.

Is nutrition level high in sugar?

Sugar is not fat but it is a source of instant energy which if not used mainly by muscles, is stored as fat. So, no need to go to other extreme and drop sugar completely from your diet. Just limit it.

Some food products use hidden sugar by using multiple forms of sugar and avoid displaying sugar as one of the first ingredient. By reading the ingredient list, one can know the position of sugar and its forms, which can give an indication of the amount of 'Added Sugar'.

One should understand that the body cannot distinguish between natural and added sugar, so notice the Total Sugar in the Nutritional Fact label. These are different sources of sugar which includes Dextrose, Invert Syrup, Maltodextrin, Honey etc., Maltodextrin is mostly used as sugar substitute, thickener which gives fat-like body to food products and increases their shelf life.

It is produced from starch by a process called partial hydrolysis of grain starch primarily corn or rice starch. Because of its slow metabolism, many sports drinks use maltodextrin to ensure sustained energy during endurance training. Mainl,y it’s a non-digestible carbohydrate and water-soluble dietary fiber. It offers prebiotic effects, resulting in favorable fermentation in large bowl, thus providing many health benefits such as reduced transit time, more frequent bowel movements, help in softer stools.

“Sugar free” or “Low in Sugar” tag does not mean Low in Calories

A product labeled as "Sugar Free" or "Low in Sugar" or "No Added Sugar" can be used daily without care as it will not add kilos?

Sometimes products that claim to be low in sugar may have some Fat or Carbohydrate Content, which might give you the same amount of calories as the original variant of the product. Read the Calories, Fat and Carbohydrate Content in the nutrition label of the product and consume accordingly.

Be aware of the controversies around the artificial sweeteners that these cause gastric discomfort, laxative effect as well as destroy some beneficial micro-organisms present in the stomach. So just controlling your taste bud is a smart option.