Your name:
RealAge Tip
Rating
3 Ways That Food Labels Fool You
By RealAge
Most of us think that foods labeled "low fat" will help us lose weight.
Not so fast. In fact, they may do the opposite. According to recent research, low-fat labels prompt people to overindulge in not one, not two, but three different ways.
- Food fake-out. People ate 28 percent more M&M's when they were labeled "low fat," not "regular," and overweight people consumed nearly 50 percent more calories. Bottom line: It's all about calories. Find out how many are in your sweet treat with this online tool.
- Portion distortion. People believed that an appropriate serving size for low-fat food was 25 percent larger than the full-fat version. Bottom line: Retrain your eyes. Get the skinny on sensible portion sizes.
- Guilt, schmilt. When people saw low-fat labels on granola, the guilt factor went away. Bottom line: Guilt isn't a bad thing when it helps control your appetite. Here's another example of when listening to your guilt is a good thing.
Reading Lessons
Simply knowing the right way to read a food label can help you make smart choices and maintain a healthy weight. For more on how being food-label savvy can help you stay slim, check out this RealAge article.
RealAge Benefit:
Learning to read labels and avoiding foods with saturated and trans fats, simple sugars, or processed grains as one of the first five ingredients can make your RealAge 3.6 years younger.
Published on 10-09-2008
References
