Reading Food Labels is a Must
It's important to know what's in the food you're eating.
One of the things that's VERY important to do with keto is to make sure to read all food labels. I've been shocked at some of the labels I've read and I want to make sure to stress this.
There are SO many products on our grocery shelves today that have added sugar. Things that you wouldn't expect to have sugar in them have tons of sugar. According to Dr. Robert Lustig in the book Metabolical, 74% of foods in the grocery store contain added sugar. What?!? Seventy-four percent!!!
It is no wonder that we are facing such an epidemic of obesity and it’s no wonder so many struggle to lose weight. Unless we learn how to educate ourselves and learn about the food we are eating, we will not be able to beat this and live healthy lives.
Beef jerky is a good example of a product that you’d think you can trust. That's meat right? Should be full of protein and maybe fat but not sugar. Yet if you look at the labels of almost ALL beef jerky brands, you'll find a high carb count with lots of added sugar.
Many condiments, dressings, and lots of items in the cold section of the store - like yogurt, milk, dips, etc. - have added sugar. So don't think you can just see something on the shelf and grab it because it should be great for keto - it might not be.
There is a great app you can use as you shop -especially as you get started and you're new at this - that will help you determine if it's good or not. Carb Manager has a scanner and you can scan the barcode of an item in the store and it will give it a grade and tell you if you should eat it or not. This link is to their website but I highly recommend getting the app. It's also a great way to track what you're eating and it helps you make sure you're hitting the right numbers on your macros each day (carbs, protein, and fats).
So make sure you’re reading the labels of your food before you buy it - better yet, buy as much REAL food as possible. Real food is unprocessed and not shoved full of chemicals and sugars that are bad for us. Real food also doesn’t make marketing claims on the package of being good for you, heart healthy, cholesterol lowering, fiber rich, or any of the other claims you see. If it goes out of the way to tell you that, it’s probably over processed and bad for you.
