ROSIE - It's all about the labels....

The way food is labelled and sold is probably one of the most confusing things in the whole wide world. “Low fat”, “reduced fat”, “no fat”, “reduced sugar”, “sugar free” – and that’s just for starters.

The problem is that there are many different legislations regarding labels and they are not clear cut. For instance, for something to be reduced fat, it has to be at least 30% lower fat than it’s “high fat” contemporary. However, if the original food is really high fat, then the lower fat alternative can still be extremely high fat! Same applies with reduced sugar.

The other problem is that people tend to think “wahey, it’s reduced fat – then I can eat more!”. When you think of what I’ve just said above, that can be fatal.

I think there are some very simple rules regarding food and what’s in it.

1) Remember, if the fat or sugar (it’s usually one or the other) has been taken out of the food, it is usually replaced with the other to make it taste good, so whilst something can be reduced fat, it’s probably packed full of sugar to make up for the taste.

2) I really really tend to shy away from packaged food. If you really can’t avoid it, have a look at the ingredients list. If the first ingredients are fat or sugar (and they can be listed in MANY different forms), then avoid it like the plague. Dextrose, lactose, fructose are ALL types of sugar. If there’s lots of things you can’t pronounce on the label then chances are it’s highly processed.

3) Processed food… it’s a pet hate of mine. It’s processed to make it taste good AND last longer. This usually means taking ALL the goodness out of the food and replacing it with things to taste “nice” (debatable!) and last. Try and go as natural as possible, read the label.

4) The best example of processing food is an orange. Most of us have a glass of orange juice first thing. It’s good for you, right? Well… actually – most of us drink far too much. 100 ml is all you need for your Vitamin C, anything more than that doesn’t add any more benefit. Orange juice also usually has sugar added and preservatives to keep it fresh. By eating an orange instead you only get NATURAL sugars, NO preservatives AND you get the benefit of extra fibre. Surely that’s worth the peeling of the orange!

Remember how much we have evolved. Our ancestors used to eat fresh, natural food. We are now eating processed, rubbish food and we can see who’s losing out in terms of health.

Our body is not designed to have to deal with processed food – there’s too many unnatural elements which our bodies can’t utilise. This means all our organs have to work doubly hard to get rid of toxins and the like processed food provides. Result = feeling tired, heavy, bloated and overweight. If you eat processed food a lot, try and cut down. It makes life so much simpler. Eat fresh, cook from scratch as much as you can and you’ll be amazed the difference it makes.