salt, sugar is often loaded into low-fat items to enhance taste

Are foods tagged “low-fat” very that sensible for you? When they come in the form of fruits and veggies, I say Mangia! But, it might be wise to take a closer look at the prepackaged items in your shopping cart. A recent report from shopper Reports found that lower-fat foods will have pretty steep levels of metal, as well as unlikely things like Kellogg’s cold cereal (350 mg a cup), Friendship 1 Chronicles low-fat pot cheese (360 mg), Twizzlers Black Licorice Twists (four have two hundred mg), aunty Jemima Original cake and Waffle combine (200 mg a pancake), Heart Healthy V8 vegetable juice (480 mg) and even the Caesar salad from McDonald’s has 890 mg of metal.

The high salt content is there mostly to compensate for taste, but simultaneously, it increases our risk for complications from high blood pressure like heart attack, kidney disease, and stroke, as well as the risk of asthma, kidney stones, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer.

Similar to salt, sugar is usually loaded into low-fat things to reinforce style. Not to mention, corn is sponsored by the govt. thus high fruit sugar syrup, the artificial sweetener in most boxed foods, is super cheap to come by, making it an alluring ingredient for big companies.

A recent article in public lavatory Health magazine cited things that prime the charts once it involves sugar content. On the list was Quaker Natural Granola: Oats, Honey & Raisins. Sounds healthy right? One cup has 30 grams of sugar. Yikes! Not good, considering processed sugar, or refined carbohydrates, can cause spikes in blood sugar levels, telling your body to store fat and increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.

So, check your food labels. But beware, sugar can fall under many names, including corn sweetener, corn syrup or corn syrup solids, dehydrated cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, and most other ingredients ending in “ose,” among others.

What can you do?

When it involves salt, The Consumer Reports article offers some good advice: Shop for condiments with no salt added; eat at home more and cook with less salt; eat one serving (instead of the whole can of soup); avoid sodium heavyweights, like soy sauce, chicken bouillon and cured meats (like bacon, ham, and hot dogs) and check your medicine (some drugs can contain sodium). See our article on shaking the salt habit for simpler concepts.

As for sugar? Try to obtain cereals with less than ten grams of sugar; use spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to feature flavor to plain foods like oatmeal; offer bland cereals a pick-me-up by throwing in some contemporary berries; replace extremely processed and refined sugars like syrup with additional natural alternatives like honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup or agave nectar. These items have additional nutrients and so take longer to digest than their processed counterparts, keeping you fuller longer and serving to avoid dangerous spikes in glucose. Learn more about choosing the right carbs.

So, next time you’re in the grocery store, double-check the label before tossing it into the cart; looks can be deceiving.