Is your nutrition label lying to you?

March 5, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

Ever get so bored, you start reading the nutrition label while eating?

And do you ever, as a result, wonder exactly how they get those calorie counts for food?

(“Real talk… TF is in these things?”)

Me too. So I looked it up.

And, it turns out, it’s this process called bomb calorimetry.

Yes. It’s every bit as cool as it sounds. See, what they (“they” – meaning scientists – which I imagine looking like some diabolical duo) do, is take the same food you buy off the shelf, plop it in a water filled container, and… blow it up. Okay, not exactly “blow it up”. But they do torch your fork fodder ’til it’s all burned up. Why? Well, because the heat your food gives off as it’s immolated, sends up the temp of the water it’s in. And why’s that matter? Well, by measuring that, the aforementioned scientists can measure the difference in the water temp. And, voila. That’s what tells us all how many calories were in the snack they just sacrificed.

The problem with this?

It’s not effing accurate. That’s the problem.

How do we figure? Well, it’s not the scientists’ fault. Even though we’ve painted them evil for storytelling purposes, they can’t help it. Sure, they’re recording the actual amount of energy one can use. Thing is, once the provender’s in our bodies, the rules change. Why? Well, the rates nutrients get absorbed and digested differ from one of us bags of flesh to the next. (Especially if you factor in other matters – like how much sleep or exercise you’ve been getting.) But you wanna know who is evil when it comes to nutrition labels? Clearly, whoever gets the final say on fibbing on the figures that actually end up on the label. In fact, per a study that “The Journal of the American Medical Association” published, it was shown that:

“(…) the actual caloric content in packaged foods differed by as much as 25 percent from what was on the label.1 To add to that, a study out of Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, investigated the food-label accuracy of restaurant foods and frozen meals. Researchers reported that some restaurant foods contained up to two times the stated calories, and the average calorie content of frozen meals was 8 percent higher than what was on the label. More recently, a report from the National Institute of Health demonstrated that the caloric content in the most commonly consumed energy-dense snack foods in the U.S. is overall slightly higher than stated on the nutrition label.”

Geez. Point taken. But what are you meant to do? Starve?

Nope.

Lemme ask you something though. When you read the above quote, did you notice a common theme? Frozen meals. Stuff from the shelf. Takeaway food. All the stuff they say’s inaccurate is processed. It’s food that’s not natural – and if it is, it’s been basted in butter or some other sauce, pumped full’ve lawd knows what. So, what is the answer? Easy. The answer’s more plants. See, unlike that package of mystery munchies, produce produces the same, favorable results every time. I don’t have to sit and wonder how many calories a banana actually has in it, each time I reach for one. It’s the same as the one I had this morning. And last night. Also, because I know it’ll fill me up, keep me satiated, and not awaken my blood sugar, only to murder it imminently after, I don’t even have to worry about counting calories later. Life isn’t about keeping score against corpulence anymore. It’s about enjoying my food, minus any mental backflips spent trying to figure out if it’s going to destroy my figure when I reach for another. (Protip: you don’t crave excess when the first round satiates you. Which means you don’t hafta calculate if you can “afford” another with your body bank’s current caloric balance.)

(And if you are still ravenous, like this poor fellow apparently is, try drinking more water through the day.
Also, try balancing your macros better. Could be your body saying some other nutrient level’s running low.)

Compare that to the inaccurate calorie counts, high refined sugar levels (that peak, drop, and have you starving soon while drowning in a monsoon of fatigue), and it doesn’t compare. There’s no apples to apples comparison. Not when one style of snacking on apples (or bananas… or oranges) hacks the whole caloric worry in the first place. Do you really wanna know how many calories are in what you’re eating? Do you wanna spend your life calculating? Or do you wanna live it, reveling in the pleasure of savory, fabulous fuel – before moving on to the next life-task, totally energized? See, when you do start eating more plants, you have the energy to exercise. And when you have the energy to exercise, you’re less stressed later – and more likely to sleep easier. Boom. Two major factors (mentioned at the start of this article) that can either translate to you hanging onto more weight or not. And when it’s the former, it renders the caloric numbers kinda useless. (Plus it could just make for horrible cravings for bad stuff later.) But you needn’t fear, even if veganism isn’t something you could see yourself doing indefinitely. No worries there. Because it’ll still help tremendously to simply add more flora to your plate on a daily basis. Really, the only work you need to do after managing that, is balancing your minerals and macros. In other words, you wanna get enough variety to fit in all your nutritive needs. And you’ll also wanna even out your protein, carb, and fat consumption, so that your body’s never hungry when it shouldn’t be. But all’ve that’s stuff that you’d wanna do anyway on any kind’ve diet. Problem is, with all those fable labels lying to ya, you can’t. You’re working with false figures.

The takeaway? Take away more label laden foods from your life.

’cause a macro balanced, plant based diet’s likely your most honest and best bet.

In fact, it’s better than the bomb (calorimetry).