Science Sound Bite: 6 Tips for Reading Nutrition Labels

When it comes to SANE eating, nutrition label reading isn’t critical. Non-starchy vegetables, seafood, lean meat, protein powders with no added sugar, low-fat or fat free plain Greek yogurt, low-fat or fat free cottage cheese, berries, citrus fruits, nuts, or seeds are SANE. Starches and sweets are inSANE. No nutrition label needed.

For everything else, here are six simple tips to keep in mind when reading nutrition labels.

1. The more fiber the better.
2. The more protein the better.
3. The less sugar the better.
4. The fewer ingredients the better.
5. The more vitamins and minerals per serving relative to calories per serving the better.
6. If the ingredients include added sweeteners that contains calories (list below), hydrogenated anything, or starch (flour, corn, rice, barley, etc.) try to avoid it.

List of Sweeteners That Contain Calories

1. Agave Nectar
2. Barley Malt
3. Beet Sugar
4. Brown Sugar
5. Buttered Syrup
6. Cane Crystals
7. Cane Juice Crystals
8. Cane Sugar
9. Caramel
10. Carob Syrup
11. Castor Sugar
12. Confectioner’s Sugar
13. Corn Sweetener
14. Corn Syrup
15. Corn Syrup Solids
16. Crystalline Fructose
17. Date Sugar
18. Demerara Sugar
19. Dextran                Dextrose
20. Diastatic Malt
21. Diatase
22. Ethyl Maltol
23. Evaporated Cane Juice
24. Fructose
25. Fruit Juice
26. Fruit Juice Concentrates
27. Galactose
28. Glucose
29. Glucose Solids
30. Golden Sugar
31. Golden Syrup
32. Granulated Sugar
33. Grape Sugar
34. High-Fructose Corn Syrup
35. Honey
36. Icing Sugar
37. Invert Sugar
38. Lactose
39. Malt Syrup
40. Maltodextrin
41. Maltose
42. Maple Syrup
43. Molasses
44. Muscovado Sugar
45. Panocha
46. Raw Sugar
47. Refiner’s Syrup
48. Rice Syrup
49. Sorbitol
50. Sorghum Syrup
51. Sucrose
52. Sugar
53. Syrup
54. Treacle
55. Turbinado Sugar
56. Yellow Sugar