Advice on Choosing Health Food and Healthy Foods and Reading Nutrition Labels

Health food doesn't need a definition, does it? We all
know what health food is it's yogurt and granola,You'll find the same situation with other foods that
whole-grain cereal and organically grown vegetablesoriginally made their debut as health foods in the
and fruit. It's 100% natural, no preservatives or dyes,seventies. Granola has become granola bars with
unadulterated, pure. When you put all that together, youchocolate chips and gooey caramel. Whole wheat
should have healthy food, yet all too often, what'sflour is bleached and denuded of its flavorful kernels.
marketed as health food these days barely classifiesSunflower seeds are roasted in oil and salted. Even
as food, let alone health food.brown rice comes in the instant variety.
Take a look at one of our favorite health foodHealthy food not health food
choices - yogurt. It hit supermarket shelves in the earlyThe secret to feeding your family (and yourself) a
seventies, though it had been available before that inhealthful diet of healthy food is to read the labels. The
health food stores and restaurants. Real yogurt hasUnited States Food & Drug Administration has laid out
two ingredients: milk (whole, skim or low fat) and livestrict guidelines for nutritional labeling of all food
yogurt cultures. That's health food - calcium, vitamin D,products. The nutrition label will tell you all you need to
vitamin A, protein. Next time you're at the supermarket,know to choose real health foods. Some things to
take a look at the dairy case. You'll find row after rowkeep in mind when reading nutrition labels for health
of hyper-sweetened brightly colored rainbow swirledfoods:
and candy-sprinkled yogurt packaged in ways that
appeal to our littlest consumers - children. Millions of* In the ingredient's portion of the nutrition label,
parents buy the enticing packages, secure thatingredients are listed in order by amount. The ingredient
because it's yogurt, they're buying food that's healthythat's listed first is the main ingredient, followed by the
for their children.next largest amount, etc.
* The nutrition facts label must list each of the
One look at the label, though, and it's clear that theserequired nutrients even if the food provides 0% of the
kiddy yogurts (as well as most of the yogurt that'srecommended daily value.
marketed to adults) are a far cry from heath food.* The nutrition facts label must list what portion of the
Some of the most popular yogurts for children containfood's calories is derived from fat, from sugar, from
anywhere from 3 to 10 added teaspoons of sugar.protein and from carbohydrates. It will also break down
Considering how many teaspoons of yogurt are in athe fat into saturated and unsaturated fat.
single serving, you might as well hand your child the
sugar bowl. In addition, most yogurts include "natural"Reading labels on everything you feed your family is
ingredients that have little to do with health food.the best way to tell whether a food is really a health
Ingredients like pectin (to thicken yogurt), carrageenanfood - or just masquerading as one.Chris Robertson is
(a seafood extract that gives some yogurts their body,an author of Majon International, one of the worlds
and annatto (for color) add little nutritionally to yogurt.MOST popular internet marketing companies on the
They're in the mix to serve one main purpose: to helpweb.
yogurt survive its trip from the factory to your table.Visit this Food Website and Majon's Food directory.