Nutrional readings

[Taffy67]

Hi there! This is mine first time. I have been type 2 for three years now. Here is my question, is Bertolli butter olive oil good? Secondly I don't understand the nutrional readings on food. For example fats got red light but it is only 4.5g? On other products it would be green light?

 

[Robin]

Hi there! This is mine first time. I have been type 2 for three years now. Here is my question, is Bertolli butter olive oil good? Secondly I don't understand the nutrional readings on food. For example fats got red light but it is only 4.5g? On other products it would be green light?

That’s the trouble with the traffic light system, it compares everything per 100g. Bertolli is 59g per 100g fat, which puts it in the red light category, even though you’d never ever eat 100g of it at once, and a 10g serving spread on a slice of bread would only be 5.9g.

 

[Taffy67]

That’s the trouble with the traffic light system, it compares everything per 100g. Bertolli is 59g per 100g fat, which puts it in the red light category, even though you’d never ever eat 100g of it at once, and a 10g serving spread on a slice of bread would only be 5.9g.

So that is even more confusing! Ok just have to work out by g instead of the traffic light system.

 

[Robin]

So that is even more confusing! Ok just have to work out by g instead of the traffic light system.

I always ignore the traffic light system, because it assumes that fat is the enemy (whereas for most people with diabetes, carbs are the thing to watch) and ignores portion size. I always turn the packet straight over to look at the actual nutritional info on the back, and make up my own mind if it’s suitable for me or not.

 

[rebrascora]

Your best bet is to totally ignore the traffic light system and the only nutrient that you need to worry about for your diabetes is the total carbohydrate content which will be in the main Nutritional information table usually in tiny writing on the back or side of the packaging.
All carbohydrates are broken down into glucose by our digestive tract and absorbed into the blood stream causing our blood glucose levels to rise. Eating less carbs in general will therefore stop our BG levels going so high and give our body a better chance of processing them, especially if you can also factor in some gentle exercise like walking or cycling or swimming as that causes the muscles to such the glucose out of the blood stream, so less going in and more coming out will have a significant effect on improving your diabetes management.

As regards fat, many of us who follow a low carbohydrate way of eating, actually increase the amount of fat in our diet and feel fittier and healthier for it. The low fat, dietary wholemeal/grain advice which the NHS promotes for diabetics is considered by many of us to be very out of date and in fact the low fat advice we have been following for most of our lives may even in part have lead to the obesity and diabetes epidemic we are now seeing (and part of). Fat takes longer to digest and therefore keeps you feeling full for longer, so you don't suffer with the munchies 2 hours after a meal if you eat fat like many people do with a carb heavy diet. I often just have breakfast and evening meal and don't feel hungry in between, because the fat and protein from my food keeps me going and stabilizes my BG levels.

It is important to reduce the amount of carbs you eat though and that means cutting down on bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and breakfast cereals and exotic fruits as well as the obvious sugar and cakes, biscuits and sweets. The trade off is that you get to have double cream in your morning coffee and cheese and nuts and lots of other lovely foods without worrying about the fat content. I am currently as fit and slim as I was 30 years ago (in my 20s... currently fast approaching 57) from eating a low carb, higher fat diet and many other people find similar benefits.

 

[Taffy67]

Thanks for the info! Will digest this!

 

[danielmg]

Thanks for the info! Will digest this!

No pun intended 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Taffy67

Traffic light labelling was such a wasted opportunity. It is crazy to me that something as potentially disruptive BG-wise as breakfast cereal can be labelled green for sucrose, but be made almost entirely of carbohydrate that absorbs (on average) faster than table sugar!

As others have said - stick to the full nutritional panel 🙂

 

[DaveB]

Hi. Ignore the Traffic light system as it's based on bad science for everyone not just diabetics. Look at the three main food groups on the back of the packing and take it from there.