Forums: September 2011 Kickstart Forum: Important: Read labels
Created on: 09/23/11 08:28 AM Views: 651 Replies: 4
Betty10 Joined: 09/12/11 Location: Arizona Posts: 10	Important: Read labels Posted Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:28 AM I usually try and buy the no salt or low salt Hunts tomatoes and Bush beans. Well yesterday I read the labels more closely and they have low salt, but High Potassium which a nutritionist said you need to watch too. I look at the cheaper store brands and they have salt that is less then the potassium and salt added together. So it is really important to check salt and the amount of fats in products you are using and also sugar levels. I am going to try and buy fresh tomatoes and make my own from now on and buy dried beans so I can keep the sodium and fats down even more. I read labels before, but I am doing better at comparing products when reading label and watching the the hidden things in them. Well have a great day. Vegetarian Times has a low fat pumpkin pie recipe.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Important: Read labels Posted Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:36 AM Betty10 wrote: I usually try and buy the no salt or low salt Hunts tomatoes and Bush beans. Well yesterday I read the labels more closely and they have low salt, but High Potassium which a nutritionist said you need to watch too. I look at the cheaper store brands and they have salt that is less then the potassium and salt added together. So it is really important to check salt and the amount of fats in products you are using and also sugar levels. I am going to try and buy fresh tomatoes and make my own from now on and buy dried beans so I can keep the sodium and fats down even more. I read labels before, but I am doing better at comparing products when reading label and watching the the hidden things in them. Well have a great day. Vegetarian Times has a low fat pumpkin pie recipe. That's true but what you're looking for is a 3:1 ratio (more or less) of potassium to sodium. You don't want either to be TOO high, out of balance, but you do want to aim for your day to be about 3 times the potassium as sodium intake. That makes a handy rule of thumb for reading labels - look at the sodium level, look at the potassium level. Do either seem unusually out of balance? Is the sodium level more than 1/3 of your target? Is the ratio of potassium to sodium about 3 to 1 (or at least 2 to 1)? And, too, look for the source of those things - are they naturally present (something with banana for instance would have lots of potassium) or are they adding it via the chemistry lab? Working with mostly whole unprocessed ingredients rather than prepared foods makes things a lot easier in many respects. I don't have to get out my reading glasses to know what's in a tomato or an apple or a bunch of kale or even a package of dry beans. It is what it is. Which means that whatever we make from those ingredients is exactly that and nothing more or less. --Deb R
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Betty10 Joined: 09/12/11 Location: Arizona Posts: 10	RE: Important: Read labels Posted Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:44 AM Hunts no salt tomatoes sodium 15 mg and potassium 240m. I don't think this is 3:1 ratio. What do you think?
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mollyhorn Joined: 03/03/10 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582	RE: Important: Read labels Posted Friday, September 23, 2011 at 9:20 AM One other thing I've seen a lot is sugar! Some brands of beans (and other canned foods) add sugar... there's no reason for this and it's not healthy, so I always put those right back on the shelf! Molly Horn
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Important: Read labels Posted Friday, September 23, 2011 at 10:00 AM Betty10 wrote: Hunts no salt tomatoes sodium 15 mg and potassium 240m. I don't think this is 3:1 ratio. What do you think? But are they adding anything or is that the natural ratio of tomatoes? A tomato, average red medium tomato, naturally has about 300 mg of potassium and 6 mgs of sodium - that's picking it off the vine and eating it. There's no 'trick' to it, no processing involved, it is what it is. Remember that it's not so much the individual food, as it is your overall day. If that 240 mg in the Hunts is the ONLY potassium you get in the day, it's probably good thing to include it in your day to offset other sources of sodium. KWIM? --Deb R
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