Before the 1960s no foods had any nutrition information labeled. Then by the 1990, the FDA required all packaged and prepared food to have nutrition labels. However they have largely remained unchanged since then. The FDA has made it a priority this year to revamp those labels and eating healthier may soon be much easier.
The previous focus of nutrient labels has been fat count, but calories should be just as important for individuals who are calorie counting. In addition to this, the labels should be much clearer in terms of what types of sugars are being added to our food. Americans may be eating much more sugar than they realize. Currently, it is very difficult to discern between artificial and natural sugars within a product because the FDA allows the two to be grouped together.
Studies have shown that only 42% of adults between 29 and 68 actually look at the labels when shopping. The more people that look at the labels the more informed their decisions will be when purchasing items. This will help aid in the obesity epidemic that currently plagues our nation. Almost a third of all Americans are obese according to the CDC.
Another way to eat healthier is to eat cleaner. Eating cleaner means eating less processed food and eat fresh and natural foods. This includes looking at ingredient labels and making sure they’re not ingredients such as: sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate, tertiary butylhydroquinone etc. These are largely chemical compounds and created artificially for human consumption. If it’s not natural how can it be healthy for us? Instead look for items that contain more recognizable ingredients that read somewhat like a recipe.
In addition to eating healthy, a study that was recently published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism suggest that there could be a new way to lose weight that requires no exercise. By lowering the thermostat in a certain environment an individual will shiver less and become more comfortable in colder temperatures. This helps people burn more calories and brown adipose tissue, otherwise termed as brown fat, plays a large role in this. In short, brown fat takes calories from normal fat and burns it.