How to finally know if something is healthy by reading the label.
We live busy lives, and sometimes we need a HEALTHY grab-and-go snack to keep us going and to make life easier!
Argh! But there are so many different convenient packaged snacks out there, how in the world do we know which ones are ACTUALLY healthy?!?!
Well, I have come up with a “Is it Healthy?” packaged snacks checklist. The more checks the food gets the healthier it is.
This site contains affiliate links (See full disclosure here.)
Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN is the owner of Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC and Mindful Vending (a dietitian owned and operated vending company). Ngo, who is one of top experts in faith-based mindfulness and nutrition is the author of several faith-based mindfulness and nutrition books including, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals, The Nourishing Meal Builder, and Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition. Whether it’s through quick snacks in her vending machines, her healthy freezer meal recipes, or her Meal Builder Cards, included in The Nourishing Meal Builder, Ngo is determined to make eating healthy as easy and stress-free as possible for people with busy lives!
Is it Healthy? Checklist
Minimal Refined Grains
Look for whole grain or whole wheat not just multi-grain on the package when you are looking for a healthy grain-based packaged snack. Multi-grain does not mean the same thing as whole grain. (All though sometimes it is.) The take home message is make sure whole grain is one of the first ingredients listed on the back label.
A Whole Grains, fruit, vegetable, protein food, or dairy food is listed as the first ingredient (Ex: Quinoa, Blueberries, Kale, Nuts, Yogurt)
A Note on Whole Grains as the First Ingredient
Sometimes the food item may advertise that they contain whole grains on the front of the package, but when you read the label you find enriched grains listed as the first ingredient. Enriched means that healthy nutrients that were removed during processing were added back into the product. So Enriched grains are better than refined grains, but not as healthy as whole grains. Take Whole Wheat Goldfish as an example… When you read the back label, you find enriched grains listed as the first ingredient. These Whole Wheat goldfish are still healthier than the regular Goldfish, but they are not as healthy as a 100% whole grain snack like say popcorn for example.
Minimal Added Sugar
Fortunately, food labels are required to list the added sugar. When selecting a food, choose foods with no more than 10% of daily calories from added sugar. (No added sugar is best!)
Foods like fruit and dairy are naturally higher in sugar. For these foods, you only need to focus on added sugar. But if the food is not naturally high in sugar, try to keep the sugar content to less than 35% of the weight of the serving. To figure out the percent total sugar by weight, multiply the grams of sugar by four (there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates) to obtain the total number of calories. Divide the number of daily calories from sugar by the total number of calories that you consumed that day.
Simple Ingredients List
The simpler the ingredients list the better! Let’s look at Triscuits as an example. Triscuits get to check off quite a few of the checklist boxes. For one, Triscuits have only 3 simple ingredients and whole wheat happens to be the first ingredient. Triscuits also has zero Trans fat and zero added sugar.
Minimal Trans Fat
Look for snacks that have less than 5% trans fat. (No trans fat is best!)
Look For Lower Sodium Products
Look for snack products that have no more than 200 mg of salt per serving.
Contains Some Good Stuff (Vitamins, Minerals, Fiber, Antioxidants, Omega 3s, Probiotics, etc)
Read the labels to see if the snack contains some of those amazing nutrients that fight diseases, promote health, and boost immunity. Aim for snacks that say 20% or higher percent daily values for these health promoting vitamins and minerals. A food is considered a good source of fiber if it contains at least 5 grams of fiber per serving.
For Weight Loss
I think it is important to focus on nourishing your body more than weight, but you may have decided to lose weight for your own personal reasons. Maybe you want to see if you will have more energy if you lose weight or maybe you want to see if less weight will help with joint pain. If weight loss is a goal, look for filling foods like high fiber and protein foods. When eating a packaged snack for average daily snacking, lower calorie (less than 200 calorie) snacks may be helpful as well.
*When you are eating a packaged snack in place of a meal (like on hectic days) or if you are eating a snack to fuel/replenish for/from a high intensity or long duration activity, you will often need to eat more than 200 calories.
Want More?
Soon you can get soo much more because a book is in the works that is going to provide food lists, recipes, and grocery lists to help you optimize your health, BUT while you wait, I made a simple, easy Meal Plan Checklist you can use to make sure you are getting crucial nutrients into your daily life! And all subscribers can print and start using the Meal Plan Checklist now! You can get the Meal Plan Checklist here!
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