Ingredients over Calories

The ingredients list is more important than the nutrition facts. When you pick up a packaged item what do you look at first? How many calories there are or what ingredients it is made up of? 

In my coaching practice I teach my clients about bio-individuality and why yo-yo dieting really isn’t the answer to feeling empowered with health, especially long term health. Bio-individuality is the concept that every single person is different and everyone has different needs. What works for someone could be harmful for someone else which is why it is important to stop looking at what others are doing and look inward to what feels best for you. 

Let’s dive into why the ingredients list is more important than the nutritional facts. Now don't get me wrong, there is a time to look at specific parts of the nutritional facts but ingredients come first. The ingredients in any packaged item are important because there can be a lot of hidden inflammatory oils, added sugars, and harmful chemicals like dyes.

I encourage you to get a packaged item from your pantry or fridge. Now look at the ingredients label, if you see canola oil, vegetable oil, palm oil, sunflower or safflower oil, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, these are all inflammatory oils and hidden sugars. 

By rule of thumb I avoid these as best as I can and look for avocado oil, olive oil, cane sugar, or monk fruit as an alternative. 

I bet if you start to look at the packaged items you’re used to getting they will typically have some of those poor ingredients because they’re everywhere! Now, don't feel bad about this, the more you know the better you can become. 

Why are these ingredients so bad? Inflammatory ingredients can cause the body distress and inflammation is the cause of disease. So if you’re ingesting small amounts throughout the day, everyday you’re setting yourself up for poor gut health, inflammatory responses, and chronic disease later in life. Frustrating right? I really wish that we could follow the lead of other countries and ban a lot of these harmful ingredients because they’re everywhere!! 

Now once you take a look at the ingredients label to determine that you can pronounce and picture the majority of the ingredients listed, it's time to look at the nutritional facts. I am not talking about calories, fat, or carbs either. What is most important is whether or not there are trans fats and added sugar. These are two culprits to making a packaged food item really unhealthy. 

Sugar content is important but if you’re eating a packaged item with fruit as an ingredient, of course there is going to be a higher sugar content. This sugar is more natural and likely has a higher fiber content which will help with blood sugar regulation! The added sugar is the problem, this means on top of the regular sugar in the food item, the company added more sugar on top of that. We already consume way too much sugar, it's important not to consume all the added, hidden sugar. 

So what should you do now? Check your pantry, get rid of the stuff that has a lot of poor ingredients, keep the things that you enjoy with kinda bad ingredients to have as a treat because BALANCE, and start to incorporate more whole, natural, unprocessed foods into your diet. Crowding out is an important part of your health journey. This is something I also talk about with my clients. If you’re interested in learning more or want a pantry makeover, join my program waitlist to be notified when enrollment is open again!