Episode 13 - Reading Labels

Hello.

Hello.

How are you?

Fine, and you?

Good, thank you.

Good.

So welcome to BBHC's lucky number 13 podcast. Yeah. So today our podcast is all about the importance of reading labels on foods and supplements.

Yeah.

So why is it so important? Why can't we just believe them when they say it's keto-friendly or Organic or no sugar added?

Well, keto-friendly is not necessarily keto-friendly. Firstly, it's usually not. If it says keto-friendly, be suspicious. Yeah, I'm your friend, yeah, with a knife behind your back. Yeah, so it's like very misleading because they put all sorts of things into these keto-friendly or sugar-free or these kinds of foods that are possibly not classified as sugars, or they have other kinds of things in there. Like, if you're going to do keto properly, you're going to— you have to do it the healthy way. So they put things in these that are not healthy, you know, like preservatives and sulfites and other kinds of sugars that spike your insulin, and then they call it keto-friendly, you know, because they think— That's not keto. I mean, I often read those labels and I'm like, it's not keto-friendly.

I know, that's the first thing I'm like, oxymoron. But didn't— tell us about the story. Didn't you just the other day got caught with organic?

Yeah, yeah, like I bought this lion's mane, which is like expensive. It's like so expensive. And me being the cheapskate, went for the cheapest one on the shelf, where I always— actually, I normally go for the, for the, the good ones, but I went for the cheapest one because it was so expensive. Let me try it out first, you know. And I saw organic and it was organic lion's mane. I was like, okay, great, I've got it. And I bought it and I got home and then I looked on the label before I took it and it's organic lion's mane extract and organic maltodextrin. I don't even know what organic maltodextrin is because it's synthetically made. What is that? How do you get organic? So that's a lie in itself. So anyway, so tell us, how would one read a label then?

Okay, yes, so you'd obviously first of all look at the nutritional value and see how many carbs are in the product. You want it not to be more than 50 grams. On our program we usually want them to take about 20 grams of carbs per day, not per meal.

And they must also look at the per serving on the food.

Yes, well that was my next point, but before that Also, what I was going to say was you have to deduct the fibre off the carbs so that you get the net carbs.

Yes.

Because the fibre obviously— How would you do that?

I mean, how do you work it out?

So on the nutritional value it will have carbs and then it will have fibre. So you just deduct the amount of fibre from the carbs and then you get your net carbs and you know, okay, so this product is only this.

It's like 10 grams of net carbs, 5 grams of dietary fibre. 10 minus 5 is 5, so it's 5 grams of net carbs.

Exactly, yes, yes. And then of course, like you mentioned, you look at the serving size because sometimes they say, oh, it's only got 5 grams of net carbs per serving, but the serving is only 10 grams and the whole packet is 100 grams. So if you're going to have the whole packet, you've got to multiply that times Yeah. You know, whatever the size of the serving is, otherwise, or the whole packet, otherwise, you know. So you've got to take note of that.

Yeah, that's interesting.

And then of course it's actually more important to look at the actual listed ingredients.

Yeah.

Because sometimes it says, oh, no sugar is in there, but if you look at the listed ingredients, then there's stuff in there that acts as a sugar but doesn't get classified as a sugar, and then you get caught. So The first thing that's listed on the ingredients is the most amount. The highest amount. The highest amount in the product. And then of course you've got to look and see, you know, that it's non-GMO products as well. That's part of the ingredients. So maybe you can give us an example of common GMO products and also fillers and preservatives, that kind of thing?

Yeah, so I mean, firstly, just to explain what GMO is, it's genetically modified organisms. So it's basically been changed, and it's normally been changed to create a better yield when they're growing it in the field, you know, because they want to get more profit. So they want to spend less money on pesticides, they want to spend less money on farming. So they actually, a lot of the time, put the pesticide into the plant itself, so they don't actually have to go and spray it often. So it has a pesticide in the plant and the bugs just don't eat it. You know, because it has, but you do. But you eat it. Yeah, so I mean, these kinds of products are soy, like you will, 99.9% of soy on planet Earth is GMO. So, and the problem with the GMO soy is it acts like estrogen in the body, so it creates all kinds of hormone disruptions. Canola oil, it's like, it's literally just fake, you know, and it's deadly for you.

And it's highly processed as well.

It's highly processed and it's deadly. So, and then also, canola oil comes sunflower oil. You've got the same kind of thing there. You've got cottonseed oil, so if you see that, it's normally GMO. Corn oil is normally GMO.

Yes.

So there's all of these products that are GMO products, and you know, you've really got to watch out for that because the thing with GMO is this, is that if you're consuming GMOs, it'll take 15 to 25 years before they give you cancer or something similar.

Oh wow.

So you can't now go back and say, oh, but you know, this, your product made me sick.

Yeah.

You know, so you have no recourse. You just literally get sick and you have no defense on, you know, what it was. But now that you know, you can check the label and you don't have to eat the GMO products.

Exactly, yes. And then there's things like fillers and preservatives. Give me an example of one of each.

Well, so a filler, you would get like maltodextrin.

Oh wow.

In actual fact, that's the most common one and the most deadly one. And then, you know, as far as preservatives go, you've got sulfites. So sulfites are a preservative, you know, and it does increase shelf life so it can stand on your shelf longer, but They have all sorts of other repercussions, you know, all sorts of other things that happen in the body. It does stop fungus from growing. It basically kills living organisms. That's what it does.

Which is what it will do inside you.

Yeah, because you're a living organism. And also, you know, it stops you from digesting it. So you don't digest those foods, and it also lines the walls of your intestines so that you don't digest any other food that you eat that doesn't even have preservatives in it. So those are the kinds of things that happen, and unless you're in America and Australia, they don't have to mark it on the label. So you don't even know you're getting it. Although I do notice here in South Africa, they do mark it on the label.

And the sulfites are quite common in bacon.

Yes, in bacon and cured meat. It's common, and it's common in canned food like tomato paste, ketchup. Pickles, any kinds of sauces, lime concentrate, vinegar, bacon, or like you said, all those things. Yeah, so be careful of the preservatives, but as far as the sugars go or the fillets, so you've got this maltodextrin and maltodextrin is— well, you first give us some examples of the sugars.

Okay, yeah, so I've got a whole list and you just need to, you know, because sometimes it doesn't sound like sugar but it is sugar and it will spike your blood levels.

If it sounds like it's got a complicated name, then it's not organic.

Yeah, so you've got sucrose, fructose, you've got high fructose corn syrup, of course.

That's definitely GMO and definitely deadly and processed.

You've got aspartame, or aspartame, depending on where you live. Beet sugar, blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, cane sugar, caramel they call it, or caramel in South Africa.

Yeah.

Carob syrup, caster sugar, coconut sugar, confectioner's sugar, date sugar, fruit juice concentrate, inverted sugar, barley malt, brown rice syrup, Dextrin, dextrose, glucose, lactose.

So the O's is sugar.

All the O's, yeah. Malt syrup, maltitol, maltodextrin, and maltose. So those are all examples of sugars. Polydextrose, rice syrup, saccharin, sucralose, and yeah, the list goes on and on. They, they create new names all the time.

Oh no, it's got sucralose! Yeah.

Yeah, so maltodextrin is one of those that doesn't get classified as a sugar, but it spikes your blood sugar higher than sugar does.

Yeah.

The highest on the glycemic index.

It's higher than sugar on the glycemic index. So it spikes— the glycemic index is between 85 and 135, which is out of the roof. So that's maltodextrin. So now you've got this thing that's not classified as a sugar.

Why?

because it's man-made and it doesn't have the same chemical makeup as the sugar. So they put it in keto-friendly products.

Yeah.

So these guys are having these keto bars and keto shakes and all these things, and then they get fatter. They get fatter and fatter and fatter because it's spiking their insulin more than sugar is. And it not only spikes your insulin more, and it has other health Like side effects. Side effects, yeah.

But that's why you need to read the ingredients and not the nutritional value, because on the nutritional value it will say zero sugar, but in the ingredient you'll see, ah, it's got maltodextrin.

Yes, exactly, that's what I'm saying. And the other thing as well is, you know, you've also got to look out for no added sugar.

Oh yeah.

It's like no added sugar, oh, you know, and you take it home and then you have a look at it and it's got— but it says you have 4 grams of sugar per 10 grams or something, you know, and you're like But it said no added sugar. It's like, yes, we didn't add any sugar to this. Yeah, but the fruit juice concentrate has it. But the sugar that was already in there is still in. So, you know, you've got maltodextrin hiding in a lot of foods, like a lot of foods. And here's some of the foods that you will find it in. So you'll find it in a lot of foods, drinks, and especially supplements.

Yes.

Especially powders. So you'll have like natural natural flavourings. Oh, this is healthy, love, let's get this, it's got natural flavourings. So maltodextrin is in that. Herbal extracts— extracts are full of it. So not all, but generally extracts have maltodextrin in them because it's used as a drying agent. It keeps it in a powder form, which comes to the next thing: stevia powders.

Oh wow.

So people are going, oh, but I drink stevia, I'm keto, you know. And I never lost weight on keto. Keto didn't work for me. But they were having stevia or xylitol and they're having the powder form of it, which means it's probably got maltodextrin in it. And then MCT powders, again powder. So the MCT oil powder that, you know, so you're like, MCT oil powder, oil powder, that doesn't— like, they kind of don't go together, which they don't, because it has maltodextrin in it, which makes it into a powder. It's like a filler, drying agent, And then you've got fish oil powders, so you have like capsules with fish oil powders in, so, oh look, we've got lovely fish oil here for our vitamin A, but it's got maltodextrin in it. Protein powders, I mean protein powders anyway should be avoided because I mean the maltodextrin is just one of the 100 dangerous ingredients. And electrolyte powders.

Oh wow.

Often electrolyte powders, so you get sugar-free I found these sugar-free electrolyte powders. Oh, lovely, you know, I've been looking for this. And then, you know, like, one of our clients will send us a photograph of their, you know, electrolyte powders, and it's like—

Malted dextrin.

Malted dextrin, you know. And then you've got weight gain formulas, obviously. And then you have like lots of keto-friendly products, like 90%. If it's got a little, a big badge on it, like a flashing badge on it that says keto-friendly, you know, or keto, You can be pretty sure that it's not keto. Keto is when it's been plucked out of the ground on an organic farm and comes straight to your kitchen.

Yeah, you can see what it is.

Yeah, that's keto. And diet products, like loads and loads of weight loss type products, soups are full of maltodextrin, sauces full of maltodextrin, and even some medications have maltodextrin in. I see these even Even natural health products, you know, like you'll get your vitamin C with maltodextrin in, or you'll get your B complex with maltodextrin, or the little child's little chewy jelly sweeties that have vitamin C in them apparently, and they put maltodextrin in that to make it sweet for the little kid to eat. Meantime, the little kid's going off his head and you don't understand why, and it's because his blood sugar's out of the roof.

Yes, exactly.

So that's the deal with the with the maltodextrin, you know, and all those kinds of things. It's terrible stuff.

Yeah. So, so if you find any of these types of ingredients on a label, what do you do?

It's like, you know me, I was like, I'm like, I walk to the shelf, I'm like, no, no, next, no. And I put it back. And I— and it's like almost like, you know, I even go into apathy when I even walk to any shelf these days, you know, for a product. Oh, that looks nice. I'll It says keto, a friend, let me have a look, you know, and then I have a look.

Ah, but I must say I'm happy to see more and more people in the shop reading labels.

I love it.

That's good.

And you always look at them and they're usually in shape.

Yes.

You know, they're usually people who are in shape and they look healthy.

Yeah.

And you pick another one. Yeah, I'm not feeding my kids that.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, cool. So yeah, that's What you should look out for and be more vigilant.

Yeah, all right. So then what's our next episode going to be about?

Well, that's going to be exciting. It's going to be an interview with one of our clients who's actually lost like more than 70 pounds by now. Yes, so I'm excited to do that, and you should definitely subscribe to the BBHC Podcast channel so that you don't miss out on our podcast.

Yeah, and then you can get some more data on, you know, practical things to do.

Yeah.

You know, to stay healthy and lose weight.

Yeah, thanks for joining us.

Yeah, thanks for joining us.

See you next time. Yep.