Quick tip: 5 things to look for on the label
Posted on Feb 21st 2008 11:47PM by Martha EdwardsFiled Under: Nutrition & Supplements
You've heard it before and you'll hear it again: Read the labels at the supermarket. But unless you're well-versed in all things healthy, it can be hard to know what to look for. So next time you're shopping around, take a quick glance and look for these five things:
- Bad fats. If it has any trans fat or over a few grams of saturated fat per serving, skip it.
- Sugar. Has it got more than 10 g of sugar per serving? If the answer's yes, skip it.
- Fiber. Fiber is good for curbing hunger, among many other things. Particularly when choosing breads and cereals, look for items that are high in fiber -- think 4 g or more.
- Ingredients. Does it have a list of ingredients as big as the dictionary?Are most of them unpronounceable? Think: Do you want to put all those chemicals in your body? Yeah, didn't think so.
- Servings size. Pay attention to just what constitutes a serving. For instance, you might think 5 g of sugar isn't that bad, but if there's 5g of sugar in a two tablespoon serving? That's a lot.












