BariatricEating.com Health & Nutrition
Linda’s Recipe & Cooking Forum!
Food labels can be SNEAKY!
Most of us - as morbidly obese people – didn’t count among
our skills the ability to read nutrition labels. We probably didn’t
WANT to know what was in the stuff we ate! But as a responsible post-op
who is working at getting to goal or determined to stay there, it’s
a prerequisite. We need to know what’s going into our bodies, both
to maximize the loss and to keep from accidentally dumping.
Food labels can be sneaky. The serving sizes are sometimes miniscule, compared to what you would normally consume. This is usually done to make the horribly high fat or calorie count seem not quite so bad. A product with mega calories will usually have the smallest serving size imaginable and, come on… who eats 9 potato chips, a teaspoon of mayonnaise, or a third of a giant Costco muffin?
To keep our sanity in this journey we need to be aware of the pit falls and traps that lurk down every aisle of the supermarket. Deciphering the labels isn’t a chore…it’s an obligation. So if you’ve stood for ten minutes staring at the back of a bottle of salad dressing, completely perplexed, there’s hope!
As a bariatric post-op the most important things to keep in check are the sugar grams. These can be hidden so well that it’s scary. Foods that you never suspect to be loaded with sugar are; even foods that are not sweet can contain sugar. Every post-op has a different dumping threshold for sickness, but to avoid any dumping, keeping the grams to an absolute minimum is crucial. Personally, I try to stay between 5-8 grams per serving, unless eating dairy or fruit.
Reading food labels also means understanding the ingredient list! Many people don’t know that ingredients are listed by weight, with the ingredient making up most of the food's weight first, followed by the second most, third most, etc.
For example, if you're trying to cut back on sodium, you should probably avoid foods where salt is the first or second ingredient. For a bariatric patient, a good rule of thumb would be to put the product right back on the shelf if sugar is one of the first 5 ingredients listed.
Names for sugars can get pretty creative though; make sure you know how to identify them in the ingredient list. The list is long, but other names include: sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, and dehydrated cane juice.
If you have allergies (such as for nuts, dairy products, etc.), scan
the ingredient list to make sure none of the allergens are contained in
the food.
You might pick up a carton of plain yogurt and see that there are 12 sugar
grams in a serving and no sugar in the ingredient list. WHAT? Before you
panic, remember that those grams come from lactose, which is the name
for natural sugar contained in milk. It is NOT the same as sucrose, which
is table sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, etc. It does
not enter your bloodstream at the same rate and, therefore, should not
make you sick.
Fruit can be tricky; while fructose is also absorbed slower, it is known to cause dumping when eaten in higher quantities. Ordinarily fruit shouldn’t be a problem, but to be safe, keep your serving sizes reasonable and choose fruits that are tart rather than sweet. Small portions of berries are the best choice.
If the sugar grams listed on the label of a certain product seems higher than you would expect, for example in spaghetti sauce, then look at the ingredient list to see where they are coming from. Tomatoes will have a certain amount of sugar in them naturally, but you need to be on the look-out for hidden sugars, such as corn syrup. Let’s look at a popular name-brand sauce:
Wow, those sugar grams are high! Look in particular at the third ingredient
listed in 'Ingredients'
INGREDIENTS: tomato puree (water, tomato paste), diced tomatoes, corn
syrup, roasted red bell peppers, red bell peppers, onions, vegetable
oil (contains one or more of the following: soybean oil, corn oil), salt,
garlic powder, parsley, spices, natural flavor.
Sugar grams are directly connected to the Carbohydrate grams. Sugar is a carb and is counted on the label in the carb total. Using our new rule for the first five ingredients that jar of spaghetti is a no-no, by the ingredient list alone. No need to read any more of that label!
Carbs are also in anything that is plant based: grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. If these foods were left in their natural states, it would be wonderful, and we wouldn’t have to worry as much about counting them. It’s when they are refined and made into simple carbs that they become unacceptable. Simple carbs include white rice, the above listed sucrose-sugars, and anything made with white flour, such as breads, crackers, pretzels, white pasta, and bakery goods and regular potatoes, in spite of their fiber and other nutrients. All of these are converted to sugar in our bodies very quickly and will cause dumping sickness. (Sweet potatoes or yams are about the same as fruits, so small amounts are fine.)
On the label, the carbs are listed as Total and then sub-divided with Dietary Fiber and Sugars, and sometimes Other Carbs (sugar alcohols). We usually count net carbs. To figure what this is take the total carbs and subtract the fiber and sugar alcohols. This will give you NET carbs. Count these. (The fiber and sugar alcohols aren’t absorbed by the body and do not count for our purposes.) Carbs are NOT found in meat, chicken or fish; eggs and most cheeses are extremely low in carbs.
Carbs are necessary for brain and nerve function, so eliminating them altogether would be a mistake. Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and soy products (which also contain a lot of protein) are all good choices. They should be watched more closely during losing, but in maintenance, are part of a very balanced diet. A suggested 30-35 grams of carbohydrates per day should keep you well within the weight-losing/maintaining limits.
Remember when looking at total calories on a nutrition label to be aware of the serving size. As I mentioned above, some servings can be ridiculously small and even a pouch could hold more than is suggested! Usually if the sugar grams are low and the net carbs are within reason, the calories will be safe…unless it’s loaded with fat.
Fats can cause dumping sickness in many bariatric post ops - so these should be kept on the lower end also. We don’t absorb all fat, so it just slides through our intestines; sometimes rapidly! Fat grams have more than twice as many calories as protein or carbohydrate grams. It’s rare, but if you know the protein, carb or fat grams of a particular item, but not the calorie count, you can still figure it out. Protein and carbs = 4 calories per gram, fat = 9 calories per gram. (And alcohol has 7 calories per gram!)
Don’t let reading labels scare you. It is your best defense in
this war. If you steer clear of prepared or convenience foods and instead
buy the wonderful, fresh ingredients and the packaged products that are
within our dietary limits and cook your own meals using some of our fabulous
recipes, you’ll be safe. Plus you’ll find you’ve never
eaten so well in your life!
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© BE, Inc. 2011 - Susan Maria Leach. All rights reserved.
