Being able to understand and correctly read the labels on food items is vitally important to be able to make good food choices and prepare healthy food in your kitchen.
Whether you’re new to keto or have been following a ketogenic diet for years, it’s incredibly important to always read the label.
Food labels not only help consumers to make informed decisions, compare products, and understand what ingredients they’re digesting but also have better visibility on the nutritional content of said products.
In the case of a keto diet, food labels and packaging make it easier to keep a close eye on carbohydrates to stay within the recommended 20-gram daily limit, but there are other considerations too.
Including packaged foods in a healthful diet is trickier. But it isn’t impossible if you learn how to use the Nutrition Facts on the package to judge the quality of the food inside. The vitamin or mineral content is less important for buying a product unless everything else adds up to a healthy choice.
Here are our top 5 tips for reading labels on a keto diet.
Tip 1: Focus on the back label
Brands use a lot of buzzwords and claims on their packaging. You’ll be very familiar with claims like low-fat, high in fibre, sugar-free, low-carb, etc.
It probably comes as no surprise that consumers are more likely to buy keto products with claims on their packaging and will remain loyal to a particular brand or product as a result.
The same goes for products aimed at keto followers. However, a lot of these claims cannot be backed up with science, and often the ingredients and nutritional content contradict any claims.
It’s therefore safer to ignore what’s on the front of the packet and focus on the back.
Tip 2: Size matters.
Serving size is always the first item on the label. All other information is based on that serving size. The servings per container tell you how many portions are in the whole box, package, or can. Beware: many packages contain more than one serving.
For instance look at Sugar Swap Atta pack for example. Here the label says 50.5 calories per 15g serving and a 1kg pack has 67 servings.
Tip 3: Ingredients to avoid
It goes without saying that carbohydrates and sugars need to be avoided or limited on a keto diet, but there are other ingredients to avoid.
Maintaining a healthy, balanced diet whilst on keto may be difficult if you aren’t checking the label every time. For example, certain soft cheeses, like cottage cheese, are great sources of protein but can have an elevated level of carbohydrates. Foods like this should be avoided on a keto diet, but you’d only know that if you read the label.
Here are four ingredients to avoid so keep an eye out for them on labels:
- Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been linked to adverse health conditions including migraines, muscle spasms, and even strokes
- Maltitol is another artificial sweetener to avoid. Despite it being sugar-free your bloody glucose will still rise and slow/stop nutritional ketosis
- Partially hydrogenated oil, also known as trans-fat, increases the amount of bad cholesterol in your body
- Sodium nitrite is a preservative found in processed meats to extend shelf life, one to avoid
Tip 4: Sugar comes in many shapes and sizes
Did you know that there are over 50 different names of sugar?
If you don’t know what to look for on labels and nutritional information, then how can you be sure that the products you’re purchasing are actually keto-friendly or not?
Stay away from added sugars:
Sugar, no matter what it’s called, contains almost no nutrients other than pure carbohydrates. A heavy sugar intake fills you up with empty calories, keeps you from eating healthy foods, and stresses your body’s ability to maintain a healthy blood sugar level. Steer clear of foods that have sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, corn sugar, fructose, or high-fructose corn syrup among the first three ingredients. Other names for sugar include agave nectar, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn sweetener, dextrose, maltose, fruit juice concentrate, and glucose.
Here at Sugar Swap, we recommend avoiding any sugars or sweeteners that are not erythritol, stevia, xylitol and monk fruit.
Net carbs vs. total carbs
One of the most hotly debated topics in the keto community is how to count carbs. Total carbs or net carbs?
This can make a huge difference to your diet, especially if you don’t know how to calculate your carbohydrate intake or read this on food labels.
Let’s start with the basic equations…
Total carbs = sugars + starches + fibre
Net carbs = total carbs – fibre
So now you know how to calculate your carbs, the next step is to understand how to find this info on the foods and beverages you’re buying.
What makes this difficult is the fact that many brands represent these nutritional values differently and depending on the country you’re buying your products from also impacts how easy it is to find the right information on your labels.
Nutritional information in India shows total carbs.
Our best guidance would be to first decide on how you’re going to measure your carbs and then get into the habit of checking for the right numbers on the back of all your favourite treats.
Figure out the fiber. Aim for foods that have 5 g of fiber per serving, or at least one gram of fiber for every 10 grams of carbohydrate
Tip 5: Look for fat: the good, the bad, and the really bad.
Check the saturated fat and trans fat content of the food. Keep saturated fat and cholesterol low and avoid trans fats altogether. Look for foods that have 0 grams (g) of trans fat and are lowest in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Stay away from foods that have the words “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” in the ingredients list. Foods made with healthy unsaturated oils are better bets.
Here at Sugar Swap, we recommend using Extra virgin Coconut oil, Butter, Ghee, Extra light olive oil, Cheese, Cream, and Cream Cheese.
Please don’t eat any fats other than these suggested ones if you are on keto.
Summary:
While the macronutrient requirements are almost the same among people, calorie or energy requirements vary largely, so your daily value requirement will have to be adjusted accordingly.
The nutrition label only serves as a guide for how a certain food fits your daily nutrition needs. Read the ingredients label to make sure you’re eating as wholesome ingredients as possible.
And there we have it! Five tips for reading food and beverage packaging whilst following a keto diet. We hope this practical advice helps you make the most informed decisions on your next supermarket shopping.
Happy Sugar Swapping!
