Which Nutrition Facts Are
Important To You?

Nutrition facts do not need to be complicated, in fact this is a pretty easy subject. Natural food is the best source of healthy nutrition. All processed foods are much less so and many definitely are very unhealthy.

In most grocery stores if you turn left or right once stepping through the front door and make a circle around the outside of the store you will see:

meat
vegetables
fruit
dairy and
bread

If most of your diet consists of these items, you will be eating much healthier than most. I have always called this the “outside diet”.

There are many theories on which of these items are better for you to consume (and I recommend you examine these for yourself), but they are all better for you than processed foods.

Sugar in our Diet!

What has become the Standard American Diet (SAD for short; and it's unfortunately true) is riddled with too much sugar. The processed foods we eat have an unhealthy amount of sugar added to them. The more processed foods you eat, the further away from good health you'll be.

Drinking soda seems to be accepted now as part of our diet, although I do see some schools taking actions regarding kids access to soda at school. Soda has way too much sugar added to it and you will be much better off substituting water instead.

Reading Labels and Packaging

It is recommended by many that a person be a “label reader” so they know what they’re consuming. Since there are so many health destroying chemicals in processed foods, I agree it’s best to know what is in the can, jar, or package.

As I like to point out to my coaching clients, if you are eating “real” food it won't be necessary to read food labels. Ok, at my local grocery store my banana does have a sticker on it that says Chiquita or Dole.

One thing to be careful of is believing the claims written on the packaging of a product. What is said there may not be the truth.

The people that make the products help write the laws on how things may be stated on the package. The nutrition facts you are checking may not be correct on the package (but what's stated is legal). You can read more about this at Transfats.

Programming or Advertising?

One thing that makes it hard for people to find the best diet, is the confusion as to which nutrition facts are true and which are not (ie.. what’s good for you and what’s not). Daily there are reports/studies coming out that contradict one another.

Remember, if the study was paid for by someone who will benefit from the conclusion, it’s best to look at the results at least a little critically.

I read a headline that said “Dark Chocolate is heart healthy”. Wow, I used to be a borderline chocoholic so I thought all right!!. I read the article and their theory was that the flavinoids in the dark chocolate improved the healthy blood vessel function in the study group.

So people are led to believe eating dark chocolate is good for your heart. Well, that may or may not be true, but if you want flavinoids in your diet why not eat a vegetable?

If you look at a list of flavinoid rich food, you will not find dark chocolate mentioned, but that is the food that is on the front page. You can see a list of foods that are highest in flavinoids at:

Nutrition Facts on Flavinoids

Be aware, think for yourself, and take control of your own health!

Nutripoints

If you are confused about all the nutrition facts and information being passed around or don’t have time to do research for yourself; a good resource is Dr. Vartabedian.

He puts foods through 26 different tests in order to determine which ones are the healthiest. I was surprised to learn that cantaloupe was rated more than 6 times higher than apples. You can view his website at:

Nutritional Ratings of Foods

He has:

books
software
journals and more

that will help you eat healthier and keep your nutrition facts straight.

He applies points to food (some foods have negative points) and you eat to make sure have enough positive points.

It gives you a positive mindset.....making sure you have enough positive food points, rather than the deprivation and starvation regimen associated with most diet programs.

One thing lacking in his program is that he doesn't take into account whether or not a food is organic. When I last checked with him (June 2007) this was still the case.

My Recommendation

Educate yourself so you will understand that what you put in your mouth will affect how you feel and your health. Let the foods you eat build you up, instead of tear you down. Eating Natural Foods will best serve you.

"Vitamin Water: Good, Bad, or Ugly?"
Sadly enough, vitamin water is not as healthy as it may sound from commercials (you guessed it: too much sugar). Read this special report for more details!