First, just because a product says low fat does not mean it's better for you.
"In many cases, they lower the fat by adding sugar and more refined sugar," Lauren Antonucci, registered dietician, said.
Antonucci says low fat peanut butter is the perfect example. There is less fat, but they've doubled the carbs.
"The carbs they've added are not healthy carbs you're much better off with the original peanut butter," she said.
Trap number 2: no sugar added
"No sugar added products means that sugar has not been added at the end in the processing," Antonucci said.
But that does not mean it's sugar free or calorie free. It can still contain natural sugars and carbs.
Trap number 3: beware of any product that says made with real fruit.
The catch is they don't have to tell you how much is in there, and even if there's colorful fruit on the packaging, it doesn't mean it's in the product.
"What you want to do is flip that label over again look for fiber if there's really real fruit in there you will see 2 or 3 grams of fiber per serving," Antonucci said.
When it comes to fruit juice, the label may say fruit juice, but check the percentage. Some have only 7% juice. The ideal is 100% juice
Trap number 4 is "lightly sweetened." That phrase is not defined by the FDA and can mean just about anything.
Trap number 5 is multi-grain. When shopping for bread or crackers you see that a lot, but multi-grain does not mean there's fiber in there.
To make sure it's healthy, do 2 things. First, look for 100% whole wheat. The word "whole" is important. Second, check the label. You want about 3 grams of fiber per slice of bread.
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