Shopping for Groceries
One of the important parts in planning a meal is going to get the groceries, and buying the ingredients that you would eat. It does not mean that because you have been doing this for quite a long time, there is no problem for diabetics. Have you turned to the back of the package and read the food label? Or if you have, have you ever read beyond the calorie count?
Most of the shoppers do not look at the label of the products they are buying. The FDA standardized and redesigned the labels so that manufacturers of prepared foods follow the same format. The new law also applies to the imported foods. Every label must show total carbohydrates including sugar and dietary fibres, cholesterol, fat contained by the products, mineral, proteins, vitamins, total calories, and total calories from fat.
Let's go through the major elements of a food label:
Content versus percent of daily value: It can be found on the top part of the label that lists nutrients that is based on two thousand calorie diet required per person, which should be a general guide for diabetics. The bottom part contains the actual amount of nutrient in a package, and considered as an essential part of a diabetic food plan.
Serving size: Note of the serving size, it is described on the label on how many servings a container has. The nutrient in the label refers to the servings.
Total carbohydrates: A diabetic person should focus their attention on this. It is the total amount of carbohydrates consumed. Carbohydrates affect the blood glucose.
Types of fat: Choose foods that have the lowest percentage and total amount of saturated fat.
Ingredients: These are found listed in descending order by weight in the label of a package. The major items can be the first four or five items, the rest could be chemical used and preservatives. It is important before buying prepared foods such as frozen dinners, to see what they actually contain so that you can match it to your meal plan. You will have an idea of what the content is by the picture in the package. It would not taste as good as it looks, though.