Making Healthy FOOD CHOICES FOOD LABELS Making Healthy FOOD CHOICES

Part of Reading Food labels is looking at the ingredients

Even Similar products may have different ingredients

US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health Gellan gum is a water-soluble anionic polysaccharide produced by the bacterium Sphingomonas elodea (formerly Pseudomonas elodea). The gellan-producing bacterium was discovered and isolated by the former Kelco Division of Merck & Company, Inc. in 1978 from the lily plant tissue from a natural pond in Pennsylvania, USA. Carrageenans or carrageenins (/ˌkærəˈɡiːnənz/ karr-ə-gee-nənz, from Irish carraigín, "little rock") are a family of linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. They are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. Their main application is in dairy and meat products, due to their strong binding to food proteins. There are three main varieties of carrageenan, which differ in their degree of sulphation. Kappa-carrageenan has one sulphate group per disaccharide, Iota-carrageenan has two, and Lambda-carrageenan has three. Gelatinous extracts of the Chondrus crispus (Irish moss) seaweed have been used as food additives since approximately the fifteenth century.[1] Carrageenan is a vegetarian and vegan alternative to gelatin in some applications or may be used to replace gelatin in confectionery. Review of harmful gastrointestinal effects of carrageenan in animal experiments. US National Library of Medicine  National Institutes of Health Search database

For good health, It is best to stick with products that have fewer ingredients, less chemicals and more fresh natural foods that you recognize. Watch out for added sugar, which has many names and a negative impact on various body systems.

Can you believe that even SALT has added sugar and chemicals some places? Dextrose is a type of simple sugar derived from corn.

Some tricks to reading the NUTRITION FACTS on a label include using the 5/20 Rule and Comparing the %DV of a food item with the nutrients it provides

How to calculate the %DV of a food item Divide: CALORIES per serving of the food by total calories the average person should have a day.( 2000) Then multiply by 100 to make it a percent. Then compare that percent to %DV of all nutrients on label. If it is nutrient dense, there should be many vitamins above that percent %DV you calculated to make it worth eating.

How to calculate the %DV of a food item review…so you can write out the equation today  Divide CALORIES per serving by total calories the average person should have a day. For example: 100 calories for about an ounce of pretzels 2000 calories for average American = .5 x 100 (to make a %) = 5 % of an average persons calories for the day

Now you need to use the %DV for calories of a food item And the 5/20 Rule to determine if your food is nutrient dense or not. SHOW YOUR MATH IN THE LEFT SIDE WHERE IT REMINDS YOU HOW TO DO IT. You must write %DV for the item.