For the love of nutrition, please read your labels

Description

I think it is pretty obvious to those who pay attention that we live in a time when staying consistent and eating the highest-quality foods to achieve optimal health requires more than just basic due diligence. 

Let’s face it, new companies and products pop up out of the woodwork every day, and some of them go out of business as fast as they started. We in America love something new and often pretend it is better than something that has been around for 30 years. 

So, to navigate these times, we have to take extra steps to make sure we are getting what we pay for. One essential step is to read labels to ensure the products we buy maintain the same quality standards and don’t change their ingredients. 

Therefore, in today’s article, I will discuss the following: 

• The two kinds of label readers: macronutrients vs ingredients
• The pitfalls of being obsessed with macronutrients
• The importance and value of reading labels correctly and what to focus on
• Make the argument that ingredients matter more than macros, and why all good macro profiles don’t mean a good quality product.
• Why these small differences matter and their effect on your long-term health or athletic performance.

Ah yes, label reading. We will get to that in a moment. 

But first, let me present a scenario most people can relate to. 

Imagine you are in a big-box store (yes, we love our big-box stores) and you find a product you have never seen before, minimally processed with three ingredients, all of which are “clean.” 

Yes, it is okay to have a handful of these items on hand to make your life a bit easier and stay compliant and consistent. While it may be easy to make them, we don’t all need to make our own salad dressing, nut butter, and mayonnaise to be healthy. 

Naturally, you're excited because you have another tool in your arsenal. 

Every month, you go back to your favorite big-box store and stock up on this item along with all the other items you have found over the years. However, you made the crucial mistake of not checking the ingredients on the label since you first bought it. Then one day, you pick it off the shelf, decide to take a quick read, and drop to the floor in awe and surprise. Hey, this is my pretend scenario, so if I say you drop to the floor, then you just do it. 

Anyways, you drop to the floor in a dramatic, theatrical way and see that this once “clean” and minimally processed item now has 3 more ingredients, or they swapped the original three for cheaper and lower-quality ones, and the macronutrient profile barely changed. 

As you continue reading this article, you'll learn the dangers of that swap. The high-quality extra virgin olive oil in your salad dressing or mayo may now be canola or soybean oil, or it may include gums and thickening agents that weren't in the original formula. 

Perhaps the pistachio butter that used to be just pistachios and salt now includes sugar, palm oil, and cashews to cut the cost of expensive pistachios. Now you are getting around 50% pistachios instead of the original 100%, and you're paying as if you are getting 100% pistachios. 

This is why food science is a complex term. 

It is not just about the science of food; it's also about the “science” of how food companies mess with your food by changing ingredients with little change to texture, flavor, or the macronutrient profile, making you think you are getting the same when you clearly aren't. 

The expression “clean food" has very little to do with macronutrients. 

Here is a quick reminder of the various levels of processed foods from some of my previous articles. 

There are four primary categories for classifying processed food: 

• Unprocessed: Single-ingredient foods and beverages that have undergone no modification, where the beneficial nutrients are still intact. In simple terms, think of an orange, an apple, or a banana.
• Minimally processed: A single-ingredient food that has undergone some form of processing. However, the form or processing does not compromise the food's overall nutritional integrity. For example, cooking a whole egg is a form of processing. Although cooking denatures the protein, the egg remains nutritionally intact, providing a complete protein source and a rich micronutrient profile. In this case, cooking is necessary to prevent Salmonella. 
• Moderately processed: In this situation, other ingredients, such as salt and sugar, are added to the mix, as in bread and pasta. It seems universally agreed that no more than five ingredients go into creating this food. Some people believe that an above-average amount of the nourishing qualities remains intact. However, with a few exceptions, such as fresh bread and pasta, I disagree.  
• Ultra-processed: These products are so far removed from their original, wholesome state that they should no longer be considered food. They contain a long list of ingredients used to preserve, stabilize, and enhance their taste, creating an addiction to those foods. While highly processed foods may provide some nutrients, they offer little nourishing value compared to whole, wholesome foods. 

Continuing on with my point…..

I am not one of those people who will sit here and tell you that you have no responsibility in this problem. Yes, there is no doubt that the companies that do this are immoral, unethical, and don’t believe in transparency. 

Because these companies don’t have to inform you of these changes, it's YOUR responsibility to stay vigilant and do your due diligence. Lord knows, especially today, most people don’t do things just because it is the right thing to do. 

Therefore, I say, trust no one and question everything. Maybe I am a bit old-fashioned, but I also say beware of big food companies (let alone small ones) that you can’t contact by phone to speak to a human being. The bottom line is that every time I go to the store (whether a box store or WF’s), for the few items I buy that have multiple ingredients, I check the label EVERY TIME, and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I've had to find a replacement for what I was using. 

Finding a replacement product may take time, but due diligence takes ten seconds, so there are NO excuses. I know you are thinking, “What's the big deal? It is only a small amount of these bad ingredients.” 

If it is no big deal, then why do they have such negative effects over time?

However, if it makes you feel better, even someone as vigilant as myself has been taken from time to time, too. 

Most recently, I bought what I thought was beef protein isolate powder, but it turned out to be falsely advertised. 

The product was beef collagen powder. If you looked at the ingredient label, it said the only ingredient was “beef protein isolate.” Even the nutrition facts label listed the protein percentage per serving. These facts indicate it comes from muscle meat and is a quality protein source that contributes to the RDI. 

If the protein source is missing an essential amino acid, it gets a quality protein score of zero. This means it contributes nothing to the RDI for protein. 

It also indicates that collagen cannot support all basic human nutritional needs on its own and should not be relied on as your sole or primary dietary protein source. 

However, after receiving the product, I knew something was fishy that I should have caught right away. The amino acid profile on the label told the whole story. The profile had two telltale signs: 

• It was missing L-Tryptophan, one of the nine essential amino acids, and should not have had an RDI percentage on the label.  
• The vast majority of the amino acid profile came from Glycine, Proline, and hydroxyproline, all of which are the amino acid building blocks for collagen. 

So this was collagen, not beef isolate protein. 

Buyer beware: some companies mix collagen with whey protein to complete the amino acid profile, which raises its protein quality score. However, it still isn't beef protein isolate and doesn't have a high biological value. For clarity, this company didn’t do that. 

Interestingly, when I called the company, an answering service told me they only communicate by email.    

Macros vs Ingredients: The two types of label readers

In simple terms, there are two types of label readers: 

• Macro counters: Those who focus on the macronutrients protein, fats, and carbohydrates and are less concerned about the source and quality of them.
• Ingredient watchers: Those who focus less on the macro ratios and more on the quality and source of ingredients.  

The pitfalls of being obsessed with counting macros

In my opinion, focusing on whole-food ingredients and micro-phytocompounds is the better choice. If I hear the phrases “track your macros” or “fit your macros,” or read one more article defining a healthy food product solely by its macronutrient profile, I am going to projectile vomit all over my computer screen. 

I know that in the fast-paced world we live in, a quick scan of the macros is easy; however, there is much more to a food than its macronutrients. In fact, we have been a macro-obsessed country since the low-fat scam. Or should I call it the "replace fat with sugar" scam? 

Remember all of those low-fat foods that made you afraid to eat fat (even though the low-fat foods were making you fat) and made you believe the stupid idea that all fats are the enemy. Yeah, let's trust those people again; that was a great idea. Can you believe there are still people today who say things like “I thought low fat was healthy”? 

Oh, how we look back and laugh. 

However, today, we do the same thing with protein and carbs, focusing on the number, not the quality or ingredients. Here is a little secret, folks: not all protein is created equal, as I mentioned in the example above and in my many protein articles. 

Also, in the carb-crazy world we live in, we understand better than ever the value of fatty acids and the role of fiber, prebiotics, and resistant starches in making better carbohydrate choices. 

Therefore, the quality and consistency of good ingredients and micronutrient phytocompounds like polyphenols should be the primary focus. 

Furthermore, macronutrient profiling can have some pretty interesting pitfalls.

• A perfect profile does not mean a healthy food, because the body doesn't use all protein, fats, and carbohydrates the same way. 
• Ingredient quality should matter most, especially with fats and carbohydrates, because most common negative ingredient swaps happen there. 

However, food companies know exactly what they are doing and play a dirty little game called the “old switcheroo,” which means switching to lower-quality ingredients that create very little change to the macro profile, so the macro counters never really notice. 

Hopefully, whether you are an athlete or focused on body and mind optimization, anyone in tune with their body will notice changes in health parameters like sleep, recovery, focus, mood, and anger issues because small changes in your food over time can make a big difference. 

However, you may not see those differences right away, which is why most people give up; if it doesn’t happen right away, most people don’t associate the two. 

So be vigilant: check the ingredients, and if they change, dump it. For the love of god, call the company and say something. Change will never happen when you are silent. 

My favorite example is how every little detail counts with bodybuilders, especially as they get closer to the show. One mistake can change how they look on show day. 

Here is a fun fact: NO athlete looking to optimize performance, or individuals looking to optimize well-being, can achieve their true potential by focusing only on macro counting. 

Don’t get me wrong, being committed and consistent with macro counting will get you far. However, to reach your true potential, you must focus on the intrinsic details. This is the difference between a champion and a chumpion. 

The reality is that macro counting is for lazy people who don’t want to commit to the intrinsic details. 

My argument for why the Micro-phytocompounds matter most

For 100% clarity and transparency, I am not saying that macronutrients don’t matter. Of course they do, and each one serves many important functions. In simple terms: 

• Protein: Acts as enzymes to catalyze and speed up the vital chemical reactions required for life, because almost all metabolic processes, energy production, and cellular functions would happen too slowly to sustain life without them.
• Carbohydrates: Provide the body with a fast and efficient source of energy for ATP creation and energy storage. 
• Fats (Essential Fatty acids): Act as structural components of cell membranes and serve as vital precursors for signaling molecules that regulate inflammation, blood clotting, and brain function.

However (I know how much you love my “howevers”), this is what I like to call surface nutrition. If you choose a variety of good-quality whole-food sources of protein, carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids, and keep your plate well balanced, you will be well nourished. They are essential for sustaining life and keeping you strong. 

However, deep nutrition comes from micro-phytocompounds like polyphenols, which nourish and balance our signaling compounds that support healthy inflammation and immune responses. 

Unfortunately, macro-counters often assume they're not essential, but these potent compounds are key to thriving. They are the missing link to complete the puzzle. 

Essentially, they act as "air traffic controllers," dictating how efficiently our calories are processed because a sudden influx of macronutrients can overwhelm your cellular machinery, leading to inflammation, erratic blood sugar spikes, and inefficient energy conversion. 

In simple terms, they make your macros work more efficiently.

In conclusion, I will keep this short and semi-sweet. For the love of all that is right, be vigilant and READ YOUR LABELS. It doesn't take any time, and it is your responsibility to control what goes into your body.  

Go here  to review our premium Organic Grass-Fed Whey Protein Concentrate—clean, creamy protein from certified organic dairy: Organic Grass-Fed Whey Protein Concentrate 

The Author’s Bio
Michael Stuchiner is a Master Herbalist and proud graduate of The School of Natural Healing, with over 25 years of experience in various aspects of the field. He is a retired elite-level powerlifter who competed for 27 years. As an avid international traveler, he is passionate about the use of medicinal and tonic herbs, as well as foods traditionally found in local markets across the 35 countries he has visited. Michael shares his experience as a Master Herbalist, traveler, and athlete through the hundreds of articles he has written and on his YouTube channel, "A Master Herbalist Perspective." He is widely regarded as a true educator in this field. For more articles written by Mike, go here: Master Herbalist.