Here's another great article that was shared by Coreen Reinhart, Certified Clinical Nutritionist.

"Make a habit of reading food labels of products before you buy them. Food labels contain a wealth of information about the healthfulness of the product if you know what to look for and how to interpret them. The Nutrition Facts on food labels give you information on calories, grams of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein in each serving plus some percentages of a few nutrients.

The ingredient list on food labels is the most important bit of information on the package. It is often hidden under a flap of packaging material in very tiny print, just barely visible. This is where you find out what's really in the product and how healthy it is. But in order to understand how healthy or unhealthy a product is, you have to know what each ingredient means. Some are straightforward, like carrots. Some may seem straightforward, but are actually a way of hiding harmful ingredients the manufacturer doesn't want you to know are in the product.

A good example is broth. It seems like a safe ingredient unless you know that broth usually contains MSG and that this is one way that food manufacturers hide MSG in their products. Once you learn to read and interpret the ingredients and nutrition information on food labels, the truth about what's really in the food you buy may shock you. A basic rule for ingredient lists is: the simpler and shorter the list, the healthier the food is.

Thanks for the great tips Coreen. You always have informative material that can be easily implemented into ones lifestyle. I know all my readers enjoy your articles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kevin Moses, BS, CSCS is a San Diego personal trainer and fitness coach specializing in helping individuals with strength training, sports conditioning and weight loss.