subject: Healthy Weight Loss For Moms - How Low Fat Products Can Deceive Us [print this page] Healthy Weight Loss For Moms - How Low Fat Products Can Deceive Us
When trying to follow a healthy weight loss diet, it is sensible to make use of the labels, to check what is in the foods we buy. This is particularly important in the case of processed foods, such as chips etc. But, it is really not all that simple to understand what these labels actually mean, as the following example will show.
The first thing to be aware of, is that the aim of the labels is to encourage us to buy; it is not the job of the food manufacturers to educate us. They honestly do not care about our diet and it makes sense for them that we are overweight and continue to purchase their products.
The law does not allow them to lie on the labels, but when it comes to figures, percentages and statistics, it is not easy for the ordinary person to fully understand what the nutritional information really means.
Let us take one example: we are told that no more than about 30 percent of the calories we eat should be in the form of fat. No problem, because there are many other healthy sources of the carbohydrates we need for energy.
This would suggest that it would always be a good idea to go for the 'low fat' versions of foods we eat regularly. What about something labelled 5 percent fat? Only 5 percent must mean it can not be bad for us?
Well, 5 percent means that no more than 5 grams weight per 100 grams weight is fat - ok so far. What if the product as a whole contains 170 calories in each 100 grams? The 5 grams of fat actually contains 9 calories for each gram weight of fat - honestly, 9 calories for every gram weight of fat.
So, the fat in the food actually contains 5 x 9 equals 45 calories. It is now easy to see that 45 calories out of 170 (the total calories for 100 grams weight) is very much more than 5 percent of the total. It is truly 5 percent fat, but that fat is 45 out of 170 calories.
When I first tried to understand this, I gave up after the first two tries. What I am actually trying to explain, is that food labels can be helpful in some ways. That being said, it is all too easy to be confused into believing that a product is 'less fattening' than it actually is. Please do not let the '5 percent fat' lull you into thinking it is healthier than it is.
The only way through this maze of information is to continue learning what you can and get guidance and help where more knowledge is necessary.
It is definitely not the job of those who sell us our food to help at all. We are each responsible for what we and our families eat, so let us find out all we can about healthy weight loss, to keep ahead of the clever sales and marketing we come across every day.
There is so so much to learn about healthy weight loss for moms why not try the Free E course?
This has also been published athttp://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Vine
