Read It Before You Eat It

My activities on 3/14/11. (Blog posted on 3/17/11)
NEW VOCAB: furcelleran-an edible gum that is ued to thicken foods
discretionary calories- the remaining amount of calories
in a food intae pattern after
accounting for all the calories
needed for all the food groups

Today, I started reading Read It Before You Eat It, by Bonnie Taub-Dix (D). Reading this book and writing a review about it is one of my projects this semester. This book helps te average consumer to decode food labels and make the healthiest food choices when they are at the store (D). I was very surprised and frustrated at the many wys that manufacturers can market their products that deceive people into thinking they are eating healthy food when hey are really not (F). I learned that the serving sizes that are on food packages are often misleading to the consumer. For example, the nurition facts listed on a giant muffin package are usually for only half the muffin, not the whole one. So if you ate the whole muffin, you would have to double all the nutrition facts listed on the package! Threfore, it is important to see exactly what the serving size of a food is, or you may end up eating more than you think you are (A)! omething interesting I learned that was on page 30 in this book is that in general, the closer the number of grams of sugar is to the total carbohydrates in each serving of a food, the less nutritious it is.I also learned that 7 grams of protein is equal to 1 oz. from the protein group (so a veggie burger with 14g of protein is equal to2 ounces from the protein group) (D). I am learning so much by reading this book, and can't wait to continue reading it the rest of this week!