Facilitated

31| Seeing Through Health Halos: Quick Tips to Read Food Labels

• The Facility Denver • Episode 31

Share episode

Kate Daugherty, MS, CNS breaks down how packaging claims blur judgment and teaches a fast, reliable method to read nutrition labels with confidence. By the end, you can spot serving-size traps, translate sugar into teaspoons, and see through “clean,” “plant-based,” and “keto-friendly” halos.

• why front-of-pack language misleads
• gluten-free and plant-based as context, not health
• halo claims like immune-boosting, natural, clean
• keto-friendly math, net carbs, and trade-offs
• serving size realism and per package pitfalls
• added sugar focus and teaspoons conversion
• fiber inflation with chicory root and inulin
• daily values vs personal needs
• the 15-second three-step label test
• real food signals: short ingredients, less hype

Want to take the next step with functional medicine? Learn more about our new patient process and lab testing at www.thefacilitydenver.com

For more insights, tips, and behind-the-scenes content, follow us on Instagram @thefacilitydenver

Join our email list for monthly updates + offers.

Stay curious, stay proactive, and we’ll catch you next time!

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Facilitated, where we bring you real stories, strategies, and science from the world of functional medicine. I'm Dr. Mitchell Rasmussen, a functional medicine practitioner.

SPEAKER_02:

And I'm Kate Darty, a certified nutritionist. We are the owners of the facility, a functional medicine clinic here in Denver, Colorado.

SPEAKER_00:

We help people improve their biology and get out of their own way. In my view, our work is about getting to know the person with the condition much more than it's about understanding which condition the person has. As I always say, diagnose the biology, not the disease.

SPEAKER_02:

On this podcast, we break down complex health topics, share real patient cases, anonymized, of course, and explore cutting-edge wellness strategies so you can make informed decisions about your health. A quick heads up before we dive in, this podcast is for education and general information only. We're here to share insights, not to diagnose or treat. So if you're dealing with a health issue, chat with a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes. All right, let's get into it. The bright colors, the buzzwords, what we call health halo claims, they're all crafted just to get you to toss it in your cart. The truth of it lives in the fine print. So today I'm going to walk you through the front-of-the-box promises that don't mean what you think, a quick little math class for the grocery aisle so you don't get duped, and finally what to look for on the label that actually matters. The intention is by the end of this episode, you'll be able to pick up a product, see through the hype in about 15 seconds flat. Alright, let's start with the buzzwords that you see on the front of a package. You know the ones. Gluten-free, immune-boosting, clean, all natural, plant-based, keto-friendly. They're all marketing tricks. They are not nutrition truths. Especially when you see it on the front. Gluten-free, this really frustrates me when I see it on products that never had gluten to begin with, like rice crispies, like gummy bears. This is where it has become a tactic to make you think something is healthier than it is. People associate gluten-free with healthy. Gluten-free does not mean healthy. Ignore the claim unless it is a specific food product that you're looking for a non-wheat-based alternative. So like gluten-free bread. Does it matter if gummy bears are gluten-free? No. Slapping that on the package just makes you feel better about buying candy. Similarly, I see this with plant-based. Plant-based does not mean healthy. I would even argue that plant-based oftentimes means more unhealthy, but that's a whole nother podcast. But here's a perfect example. Oreos are technically plant-based. Does that mean it's a nutrient-dense food? No. Let's move on to what we call in nutrition circles, we call them halo claims. These are, as you can imagine, claims that put a little halo over the product, make it seem a little bit angelic, make it seem a little special, but they mean nothing. One of these is immune boosting. I'm not even gonna try to sugarcoat it. There is no such thing as a food that can single-handedly boost your immune system. The word is completely unregulated. Slap it on tea, slap it on orange juice. Sounds healthy. It means nothing. The other ones are natural or clean. These words have no legal definition. You could grind up a potato chip, dust it with a little fairy dust, and still call it clean. It means nothing. I don't want to necessarily say run from products to say natural or clean because they could be clean. They could have great ingredients, but I always, always really question when I see that posted really loud, really bold on the front, because it feels like they're trying to hide something. Keto-friendly is another one that trips people up. Keto means a very, a ketogenic diet is a very, very low carb diet. So keto-friendly are products that are very low in carbs. A lot of times it's low in net carbs. So net carbs is a calculation that you get from the total carbohydrates in a product product minus the total fiber. That is your net carb number. So the keto-friendly label has taken this over. And a lot of times a keto-friendly product is something that has been packed with sugar alcohols or fake fibers, which I will talk about, that make it low in net carbs, but not necessarily healthy. So I always caution the keto-friendly on the front to flip it over on the back. What are you consuming as a trade-off? These sugar alcohols, these fake fibers, is that important versus having a little bit higher carbohydrate content? The big takeaway with any kind of buzzword on the front of a package is if it's sounds too shiny, sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Don't buy into those buzzwords. They are there to sell you, they are not there to nourish you. So let's flip the package and get into the actual nutrition label. This is where the real fun happens. First thing I look at is probably the serving size. Does it match a realistic serving? If a cookie says 120 calories, is that for half the cookie? Because nobody eats half a cookie. Same thing with granola or cereal. A lot of times a serving is like two tablespoons or a quarter of a cup. Pour that out in a bowl and see if that's what you're actually consuming. You have to choose a realistic serving size first before you can make any assumptions about the ingredients or the levels of macronutrients in it. I also see people get tripped up with per serving versus per package. I see this in energy drinks, I see this in juices a lot of times. It looks like a single serving, but the fine print will say two servings per can or two servings per bottle. Suddenly now you've doubled whatever the caffeine content, the sugar content, the sodium content, the sugar alcohol content. So really watch for that fine print of is this bottle of juice a full serving, or is this two servings or three servings? The next thing I look at when I'm looking at the full label is added sugar. Food labels were changed, I believe, as in 2020. And so now we have a line that says total sugar, and you'll see a number in grams, and then below that you will see in non-bolded text, it will say added sugar, and you'll see a number in gram. I'm not so concerned about total sugar. Total sugar includes natural sugars, fruit sugars, uh, anything that is already inherently in this food product. Uh, honey, for example, will only have a total sugar number, it's not going to have an added sugar number. What I really pay attention to is the added sugar, especially when it's a product that doesn't need to be sweet. So if it is not a dessert, it's not a treat, it's not an indulgence, my general recommendation for most people is six to eight grams of added sugar or less. But again, always in context. If you're eating ice cream, it's gonna have more than that in added sugar. This is not a hard and fast rule, but it's if you're gonna be consuming something, especially if it's a staple breakfast food like yogurt, do we really need to have a ton of added sugar in that? No. The other useful hack with this is if you divide the total grams of sugar or the total grams of added sugar by four, you get teaspoons. It can really help people to visualize. So if your yogurt has 20 grams of sugar, that's five teaspoons. Visualize spooning that into your breakfast. You're gonna think twice every time you see that 20 grams plus of added sugar now. A new one that I've been seeing is fiber inflation. I do like to understand how much fiber a particular food or food product has. Fiber has become very posh. Companies are starting to pump products full of fiber so that it counts on paper, but a lot of the fiber that they're using isn't really the best fit for a lot of people's microbiome. The biggest offenders I see with this are prebiotic fibers, specifically chicory root or inulin. You will see it in some bubbly, sparkly drinks that say they have fiber in them. Okay, sure, it counts on paper. In reality, those particular prebiotic fibers might just give you gas and be uncomfortable. Pay attention, you will start to recognize this in yourself too. Certain people are more sensitive than others. You might say, oh, every time I eat that particular protein bar, I'm pretty gassy. I challenge you, flip it over and check what kind of fiber they're using in it. It could be a chicory root or an inulin, and you you might be one of these people who need to be a little bit more careful with that. And then really paying attention to is this company adding this prebiotic fiber just to help boost that fiber number so it looks better on the front, they can say high fiber, or so that they can subtract it from the total carbohydrates and say low net carb. Pay attention to why the fiber's added, if how you respond to it, and read through that nuance. It will be for certain uh uh micro minerals, minerals, vitamins at the bottom. I don't think it's all that important. Let's look at sodium. You got a product, it says 20% sodium daily value, 20% DV sodium. That's 20% for the average person, the average American, not necessarily you. And remember it's per serving, not per package, so we all have to go all the way back to serving sizes, but 20% for the average American. I really don't see this translate very well, particularly if you are someone who is doing personalized lab information and you know your sodium, your potassium, what your needs actually are, they're probably vastly different than the average American. The other thing is these daily values really haven't been updated in a long, long time. I it's been longer than since the food labels have been updated, so that gives you some context. I really think it's not that important. So, my quick three-step test so far, 15 seconds, check the serving size, is it realistic? Scan for the added sugar and those fiber tricks, and then evaluate the buzzwords or the halo words on the front compared to the ingredient list. Is it justified? Boom. You have just outsmarted the food industry and become a smarter consumer. So let's zoom out. The philosophy is simple: real food doesn't need marketing. If you have to be a PhD nutritionist to interpret the label and read the ingredient list, it's probably not something that your body needs every day. Short, recognizable, ingredientless, and way less hype. That's where the good stuff lives. Food is supposed to nourish you, not trick you. And once you start flipping products over, you'll see how much of the grocery store is built on smoke and mirrors and trying to get your money with claims. So here's your challenge. Next time you're at the grocery store, really evaluate one product you buy often. Do the serving size math, translate the sugar into teaspoons, see if the front of the box promise actually matches what's in the fine print. If you find a label that makes you laugh, send it to me. I love roasting these ridiculous products on Instagram, and I want to help you see through the trickery. So, thanks for hanging out with me today. If this was helpful, please share this episode with a friend who has been duped by immune-boosting cookies or clean energy drinks. We all know someone. Until next time, read the fine print, let the basics set you free.

SPEAKER_01:

For more about what we do at the facility, check out our website at www.thefacilitydenver.com. You can also follow us on Instagram at the facility Denver for extra tips, behind the scenes fun, and updates on new episodes. Thanks for listening. Now go facilitate your own health, and we'll see you next time.