Many people may remember that there was a time when nutritional facts of a product were not required to be labeled on the packages of processed food. In fact, not only were they not labeled, they were often lied about through advertisements in magazines, on television, on billboards, and such. I clearly remember ads for Coca-Cola and Pepsi basically saying they would help you lose weight and feel energized. For a very long time after requirements were adhered to by most manufacturers, the marketing departments went crazy with misleading innuendo, lies, flat slander, and libelous accusations! It was crazy! War of the words really, but words have power!
Today, every consumable product is supposed to be labeled with the now very recognized label(s) which state the amount of sugar, fats, carbs, and proteins, not to mention the daily values of said product. Candy bars and such may have these types of details in very very fine print inside the wrapper folds (intentionally) and they may not be in label form, but simply written out so as to be in compliance. Good luck trying to find a magnifying glass to read those labels. Most people who would read them don't need them, we only want them. There is a difference.
Since I began thinking about what it would be like to live like and eat like a diabetic, I have been purposely reading and scanning labels not only in my own kitchen of course, but at the grocery stores, and I've even taken to calling restaurants or looking their menus up online to see what nutritional facts they may be concealing or boasting! To my surprise, there are a lot of restaurants that are in compliance and a lot that still are not. I think they have handouts at the register if you want it, or you can go to their app and find it, but the ones that don't want you to know what is in their food don't make it that easy for you to find out what is in their food. This can be devastating to anyone who has the real need to eat with restrictions such as sodium, sugar, fats, proteins, or carbs.
This morning I thought I would grab a breakfast bar before I head out for the day. I typically did that with either a couple of raspberry fig bars or maybe a Clif bar. I like them thicker more "meaty" type bars so I feel like I've eaten something. Those crunchy air-type oat cakes don't do it for me. If I'm going to eat something, I want to eat something. I want my belly to know it has been fed! I grabbed the package of raspberry figs when I decided first to look at the label. Just in case. I said to myself, I bet it's awesome. I bet it's low in everything. WAS I WRONG? OMG....the two labels I'm discussing today will be posted down below so you can see them for yourself.
All I can say is I am glad I picked up the boxes of Advance snacks at Aldi the other day. I've been eating them here and there for snacks because while I was in the store I saw that they had a new shipment of a flavor I hadn't tried. I checked the labels, and they were good to go, so I bought two or three boxes since I live with Laura and know she would want to try them as well. CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENCE!! One pack of 2 figs has 19 sugars. Can you freakin' believe that? There is ONE in the Advance bar. ONE sugar. There are 200 calories in just two tiny cakes! There is 140 calories in the breakfast bar that has great scrumptious chocolate all over it. There are 38 carbohydrates (38!!) in the figs, and only 19 in the bar. WOW....just WOW!! Then there are the other facts such as there are only three (3) grams of protein in the fig cakes and 11 grams of protein in the breakfast bar. It's a no-brainer.
Neither of these bars/figs is going to make me feel as if I've had a full-blown big breakfast. The point of these types of food is to basically carry me through until such a time that I can sit down and eat lunch, or dinner. I don't typically eat a big breakfast, I fast from about 8:00 p.m. to about 10 a.m. so the little snack thing is just for the tiding over the period until I can have a good lunch. Still, to think that I would be so ignorant for so long about how many sugars and carbs I'm stuffing into my head just because it comes packaged in what appears to be a healthy fun snack is really a sad statement! I really dropped the ball on that one! It really does pay to read the labels, folks. It really really matters (ESPECIALLY, if it really mattered).
Eating is the one thing we basically (most of us) have some control over. When I go to the store and see what families are putting into their grocery baskets I'm so tempted to just stop them and go all MOM on them, and I don't even know them. What I can see with my eyes is that they are obese, sluggish, rolling around rather than being there in the moment. One by one, two by two, three by three, I see them just stashing soft drinks, chips, candy, sugary cereals, cookies, and more into their baskets. This way of eating is killing people. I know people have been screaming this for years, and I was one of those people who routinely, every single time, put bad food into my cart! I made those mistakes and it has dearly cost me!
How many years do we have left on this Earth? We don't know. We like to tease and joke and say we can eat all the chocolate cake we want in Heaven and we can all the french fries we want, dipped in cheese and chili!! That may be true, but here on Earth in the bodies, we were given, that's not really an option we should be considering on a frequent basis. There's nothing wrong with treating oneself to something really good, but then again, if your body isn't used to it, it may not be the best decision to even indulge for the sake of reward! Be careful. Knowing your body could save your life!
Not trying to be a kill-joy here, I just want you to know that there are options in this world now, and the real and concrete facts are that if you are living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, it may be best for you to consider reading the labels, and doing exactly what your doctors tell you to do. Read books, read magazine articles, go online, and find the truth. It's not hard these days. I just bought a great little book that will help me with preparing meals, making menus, knowing the portions, and such. It's a game changer in that I never took this much time to love myself the way I am loving myself now. I don't have to do this, but I think I like that I'm taking an extra few moments a day to consider what is really and truly best for my body and myself. When the body feels good the mind feels better, and the spirit is apt to be happy too. We host the Spirit of God inside of us if we are Christians. This body we walk around with is bought with a price, and it does not belong to us! We owe it to ourselves and to our Creator to be in the best health possible.
Please do yourself the favor and courtesy of reading all the labels. You may think what you're eating is OK, when really, it may not be...and you may be really surprised to find out that heavy whipping cream has zero sugar in it while regular milk has something like 12-15 grams! WHAT? Yep! Facts.
I'm not a proponent for KETO either, but these Advance bars are supported by those who are doing that diet as well.
Photo Credit: Me
No comments:
Post a Comment