I become increasingly frustrated with producers of supplements and meal replacements as well as producers or manufacturers in general as they tout their wares as health promoting and essential when they can be anything but…
There are dozens of reasons why vitamins and minerals added to products, liquid or otherwise, can be a waste of money. Here are a few:
1) Research often doesn’t support the health claim in THAT form
2) Products don’t have enough of the said ingredient to make a difference
3) The product may have fillers that counteract the positive health effect
4) The label is misleading
5) The product is contaminated or has unclaimed ingredients that cause harm
In many ways, all we get for our dollar is expensive pee.
More so, I want to educate consumers. Labels on our foods can be misleading. Recently I discussed why buying foods with omega three fatty acids was misguided, but many other health claims or label facts can trip you up as well.
Fat free, trans fat free, sugar free, calorie free – most of the time means that there is a trace amount of the item per serving size.. depending on how the nutrient is measured it could be .49 grams of 4 calories.
Serving size is another issue. Recall my ice cream dessert video on you tube… ½ c is the serving size on the box and not only do most of us have a cup.. the weights are different on almost every box.. it is calorie per gram that the consumer would be best to consider.
Recently I wrote that the FDA/USDA did not define the term “natural” and I was mistaken. They do, only in the sense of a policy, not a regulation. Both FDA regulated products and USDA regulated meats and poultry labled "natural" are encouraged to be minimally processed and not contain artificial flavorings, colorings or preservatives.
Many times a product will claim itself to be hormone free when the law prohibits hormones in the first place, i.e. poultry and hog products.
My favorite was when all sorts of things that never ever had carbs began to have labels claiming they were carbohydrate free… like WATER.
Added fiber? Try getting it the old fashioned way.. the way research says is helpful.. in a food that contains it from the beginning.
It will nearly always behoove the consumer to read the ingredient list of baked goods, like bread, to be sure, no matter what the label implies, or screams at you, “multi grain”… that the word before the grain is WHOLE. Did you know that there was something called the Whole Grain Council and that they have a label for whole grain products.. indeed… if the package has their black and yellow stamp you CAN be assured that the serving size has at least 8 grams of whole grains.
Another label to be trusted is the USDAs certified organic. Unfortunately, a recent research study found no health benefit to eating organic foods. I myself do not eat them. BTW, the organic label does NOT apply to any USA raised or caught seafood and according to an article in Runner’s World this month, that label on food sold here would be from another country and may lack any clear and consistent definition or practice. In fact, one would be better off eating wild Alaskan salmon which is apparently regulated here and farmed arctic char which is also supposed to be healthy and safe.
Another trick noted from the same Runner’s World article was putting 100% juice on a label under the drinks name, like pomegranate, but only 20% of the juice is of that type. Anyways, fruit juice is not the best beverage to spend your money on whether it is 100% or not.
Lastly I want to say that you do not have to shop at Whole Foods to eat whole foods and eating whole foods; fruit, vegetables and grains is health promoting.
There are dozens of reasons why vitamins and minerals added to products, liquid or otherwise, can be a waste of money. Here are a few:
1) Research often doesn’t support the health claim in THAT form
2) Products don’t have enough of the said ingredient to make a difference
3) The product may have fillers that counteract the positive health effect
4) The label is misleading
5) The product is contaminated or has unclaimed ingredients that cause harm
In many ways, all we get for our dollar is expensive pee.
More so, I want to educate consumers. Labels on our foods can be misleading. Recently I discussed why buying foods with omega three fatty acids was misguided, but many other health claims or label facts can trip you up as well.
Fat free, trans fat free, sugar free, calorie free – most of the time means that there is a trace amount of the item per serving size.. depending on how the nutrient is measured it could be .49 grams of 4 calories.
Serving size is another issue. Recall my ice cream dessert video on you tube… ½ c is the serving size on the box and not only do most of us have a cup.. the weights are different on almost every box.. it is calorie per gram that the consumer would be best to consider.
Recently I wrote that the FDA/USDA did not define the term “natural” and I was mistaken. They do, only in the sense of a policy, not a regulation. Both FDA regulated products and USDA regulated meats and poultry labled "natural" are encouraged to be minimally processed and not contain artificial flavorings, colorings or preservatives.
Many times a product will claim itself to be hormone free when the law prohibits hormones in the first place, i.e. poultry and hog products.
My favorite was when all sorts of things that never ever had carbs began to have labels claiming they were carbohydrate free… like WATER.
Added fiber? Try getting it the old fashioned way.. the way research says is helpful.. in a food that contains it from the beginning.
It will nearly always behoove the consumer to read the ingredient list of baked goods, like bread, to be sure, no matter what the label implies, or screams at you, “multi grain”… that the word before the grain is WHOLE. Did you know that there was something called the Whole Grain Council and that they have a label for whole grain products.. indeed… if the package has their black and yellow stamp you CAN be assured that the serving size has at least 8 grams of whole grains.
Another label to be trusted is the USDAs certified organic. Unfortunately, a recent research study found no health benefit to eating organic foods. I myself do not eat them. BTW, the organic label does NOT apply to any USA raised or caught seafood and according to an article in Runner’s World this month, that label on food sold here would be from another country and may lack any clear and consistent definition or practice. In fact, one would be better off eating wild Alaskan salmon which is apparently regulated here and farmed arctic char which is also supposed to be healthy and safe.
Another trick noted from the same Runner’s World article was putting 100% juice on a label under the drinks name, like pomegranate, but only 20% of the juice is of that type. Anyways, fruit juice is not the best beverage to spend your money on whether it is 100% or not.
Lastly I want to say that you do not have to shop at Whole Foods to eat whole foods and eating whole foods; fruit, vegetables and grains is health promoting.
