Natural, Pure, Goodness. How Nutritious is it Really?

As more and more research is carried out and additional information is made available about the nutritional value of different foods, manufacturers are targetting consumers with buzz words and key phrases designed to give the illusion that their foods are nutritious, and will help to keep you healthy. They take advantage of the loopholes in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) policies which allow certain amounts of particular ingredients to be added to a product and still be classified as having zero percent of that ingredient. You have all no doubt seen food labelled as having zero percent trans fat yet it contains hydrogenated fat. If the amount of hydrogenated fat is 0.5 g or less it may not be listed. The other devious tactic used to lure consumers into purchasing a product is that of adding an ingredient that is in fact healthy, but the amount of that ingredient is miniscule and listed towards the end of an inch or two of ingredients, yet the advertisement targets this one ingredient.

With all the confusion regarding what is really nutritious and how much of a particular ingredient one needs to prevent diseases some people have adopted the attitude of it doesn't matter just eat what you like. This certainly does not, and will not help you maintain your health. Let's face it health is wealth. Just make a couple trips to your physician's office and you will quickly find yourself on the flip side of the coin. You can quite quickly become impoverished with all those doctor's bills, so anything that you can do to improve your health, maintain your health and prevent diseases will keep a few more dollars in your pocket!

So back to the question of how to make the right food choices in order to improve or maintain your health. Wouldn't it be great if you could walk into your supermarket and have foods labelled clearly and honestly so that you would know exactly how a particular food fared for a list of key ingredients? Even the most nutrition savvy person does not always have the time it takes to read the labels of several different products to find out which one truly is the most nutritious. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be if you decided to splurge on your favourite snack, even though you know you really don't need it and you are probably going to regret eating it, but you look up and see that it has been accurately scored which enables you to make an informed choice - to purchase it or choose something a little healthier but which will still be enjoyable. Well there is such a system. An independent group of nutrition and medical experts have designed the NuVal Nutritional Scoring Systemthat accurately scores food products based on a list of 30 ingredients.

Based on scores ranging from one to 100 usually this system quickly allows you to see at a glance the foods in any category that are the most nutritious. Scores are determined based on the foods health promoting qualities while taking into account any ingredients within that product that are linked to different disease producing processes. Ingredients within a food that falls into this category will lower the score of that food item. If you prefer to purchase foods that are strictly healthy or the most nutrient dense then you will choose products with the highest numbers. If you are not too concerned with health and prefer to shop for a particular brand or taste you will still have the luxury of seeing how well your favorite product stacks up when compared to others in the same category.

With different categories being added all the time you can now find out how well some of your favorite canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, fruits and fresh vegetables, cookies, breads, cereals, crackers, salty snacks, pasta, egg and egg products, and milk score.

Currently several grocery store chains on the east cost are using the Nuval scoring system, and scores are clearly displayed above the products. Price Chopper has introduced the NuVal™ Scores in all its stores in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Hy-Vee has also introduced NuVal™ Scores in all of its 225 or so stores, so if you live in Iowa or in the Midwest and have a Hy-Vee store near you, you can start enjoying the benefits of this great scoring system.

For those of us who are not so fortunate we need to speak with managers at our local supermarkets and get them on board. If you need more information to share with them or you simply want them to find out about the NuVal Scoring system, simply send them to: www.nuval.com

Choose Health