Mid-life for many women is a constant struggle to salvage what is left
of a waistline that seems to be gradually morphing into a shapeless
belly. Diet and exercise are the standard advice. But what really works?
One recent study indicates that exercising alone will not do the trick
but keeping a sharp eye on food labels is effective for weight loss.
The study, published in the
Journal of Consumer Affairs,
concludes that people who make it a habit to read food labels and to
exercise lose more weight than those who merely exercise. Even more
interesting is that those who only read food labels and are sedentary
lose more than those who exercise but ignore the food labels.
Not
surprisingly, the study found that women between the ages of 37 and 50
years are more likely to read food labels than their male counterparts
and are therefore more likely to lose weight.
The study`s author,
Bidisha Mandal, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the School of Economic
Sciences at Washington State University, looked at four years` worth of
data drawn from a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth which had
12,000 original participants born from 1957 to 1964. Over fifty percent
of the study`s participants were trying to lose weight and of these less
than fifty percent were reading food labels on their first time
purchase of a product.
Americans have been reading food labels
since 1994 when the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was passed
requiring food manufactures to disclose nutrient and ingredient
information on their packages. Recently states and the federal
government have extended the disclosure requirements to chain
restaurants and vending machines.
What should you be looking for when you are reading the small print on
food labels? Here are six simple tips to reading a food label for weight loss:
1.
Claims on the front, back, and sides of the box, except for the small
print of the nutrition facts panel and the ingredient list, are
advertising. Don`t rely on those claims.
2. Remember that the first ingredient listed on the label is the largest by
weight.
If the first or second ingredient is sugar, the product is mostly sugar
and it`s best to pass on it. Sugar goes by many names, so keep an eye
out for maltose, sucrose, dextrose and evaporated cane juice, just to
name a few.
3. Check the ingredient list for anything that says
"hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated." This indicates the presence
of trans fats. Even if the nutrition fact panel or the box claims "Zero
Trans Fat," the product can contain up to one half gram and still make
the claim of no trans fats. Avoid any product with those unhealthy fats
in the small print ingredient list.
4. Check the ingredient list for "high fructose corn syrup," and avoid any products containing it.
5.
If the ingredient list is really, really long with words you don`t
know, pass on that product. In general, the fewer the ingredients, the
better the product is for you.
6. For breads, cereals and
crackers, the first ingredient better say whole grain or whole wheat,
not refined or enriched wheat or flour, and there should be at least 2
grams of fiber for each serving of 100 calories.
Source material:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100908122040.htmhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01181.x/a...http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Reading+food+labels+better+weight+...
