Some Packaged Foods are not so “Kind”

How much sugar can I give thee? Let me count the “kinds”

Do the sexy money shots on the fronts of food packages swoon you into stacking them up in your grocery cart? Do you ever look at the back of the packages? Have you ever really read the labels on the foods you buy? The back of the package is where the information is required to be accurate, but can still be deceptive in many ways. Let’s break down reading labels.

First let’s take a look at the Nutrition Facts label, in particular, the serving size, and servings per container. Typically a serving is much smaller than what we actually consume, this is to make us perceive the food is actually healthier, less calories and more nutritious. If a bag of chips, for example, claims to contain 7 servings, and each serving is 290 calories, and you eat half of the bag, you’ll need to multiply the 290 calories by 3.5X. (and proportionally, other “nutrients” sugars, added sugars, fats, carbohydrates, etc). Do the math. And after eating half of the bag, why is it that you’re still hungry? We will get back to that.

The ingredients list is where you will find all of the ingredients in that product, listed by weight. Which means, the ingredient that weighs the most must be listed first. In many cases the first ingredient may be sugar. But this is where it gets tricky, because some ingredients have many names. There are a few loopholes that food manufacturers take advantage of to make their products look healthier than in actuality. “Sugar” for example, has over 60 specific names, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, dextrose, Sucralose (anything ending in “ose” is a sugar) and many others. Using different types of sugars as ingredients decreases the weight of each, so they can be pushed further down the ingredient listing, making them seem less significant.

My favorite example of this is the Kind Bar. Sure, you think, they’re marketed as a healthy snack. All of those nuts, a little dark chocolate, some dried fruits. Yum. And it’s good for you? Think again. The Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate bar contains 5 types of sugars:

Cane sugar, semi-sweet chocolate (which contains sugar as the first ingredient), honey, tapioca syrup and brown rice syrup. If the Kind Bar company was required to only use the generic term “sugar” instead of all of these specific names, then wouldn’t sugar be the first ingredient? This Kind Bar contains 14% added sugars, or 7 grams. Depending on where you search, the recommended daily allowance of total sugars is somewhere between 6 and 12 grams. Typically 9 grams for women. This Kind Bar is nearly your entire daily allowance. Not so kind if you ask me.

So let’s get back to why you’re still hungry after you stuff yourself with that half of a bag of chips, or a sleeve of Oreos, or a Kind Bar. There is next to no nutritional value in any of these processed foods. Here’s how it works. Biologically, when you eat, the nutrients in your food send satiety signals to your brain, basically your stomach is telling your brain you’ve absorbed enough nutrients to sustain you until you burn it off, then your hunger signals kick in, telling you it’s time for more nutrients. Simple concept. But these processed “Franken-Foods” which contain no nutrition are specifically created in food laboratories to be “hyper-palatable” (that’s an industry term) so that you’ll want more, in fact, so you’ll crave them. And you’ll buy them again and again. It’s called “stomach share”, yes, another industry term. Even frozen French fries contain dextrose, as well as table salt, as an anti-caking agent. Sugar is everywhere.

Which is why Home Cooking is such an important factor in lifestyle. Oh, I know. Cooking, ugh, the drudgery, the prep, the leftovers, the time in the kitchen and worst of all, the clean up! Consider this: Cooking gives you a creative outlet and more reign over what you eat. Start by learning a few simple techniques. Meals can be quick and don’t require complicated recipes. Most of our “empty-nest” meals these days consist of a grilled or roasted protein and an air-fried veggie. That’s it. No complicated recipes, no fancy ingredients. Some simple seasonings like good quality salt, freshly ground pepper, single origin olive oil. It’s certainly not boring, for sure. I can cook virtually any vegetable in the air fryer for a delish roasted finish, or, if the oven is already on for roast chicken thighs, I just throw the veggies in on a separate pan. (I think sheet pan dinners are a breeding ground for bacterial cross-contamination, more on that in a different blog post.) When you cook at home you know everything that goes into your food. You’re more conscientious of making healthy choices, and you overall feel better with your finished dish.

To simplify, when shopping, look for clean ingredients. I challenge anyone reading this to start by buying products that do not have added sugars. Next, try to avoid any processed oils like canola, soy, and vegetable. There are now salad dressings and mayonnaise products on the market now that contain avocado oil, a much healthier choice. Just start with that and see how much better you feel not only physically, but for being aware of what you eat. And don’t let those fancy packages lure you in any longer.