Marketing Masters of the Universe Strike Again!

As a marketing communications practitioner myself, I am hypersensitive to being “sold” something based on lingo, hype, or buzz words, and there is enough jargon in the weight loss and nutrition market to make a girl dizzy. It is so easy to fall victim to marketing scams, but this post is all about demystifying these marketing terms—separating fact from fiction so you can make the most informed decision about what you are putting in your body.

Let’s start with the most important rule of thumb!

Everything is relative.
When you read low fat, reduced fat, low sugar, light (or my favorite—lite—marketers misspell this one because they know it isn’t actually light), or reduced calorie it is easy to assume that the item you are about to consume is good for you. When something says it has “half the fat” or “1/3 less sugar,” it probably means the original had WAY too much fat or sugar to begin with. Here are some good examples:

Peanut Butter: Those two little tablespoons per serving have 190 calories and 12 grams of fat. The full fat version has…get this…the SAME number of calories and only 4 more grams of fat. While I am on a pro-peanut butter platform in one-tablespoon increments smeared on a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack, I am NOT fooled by the reduced fat label.

Syrups and Jellies: While sugar-free pancake syrup has very few calories, the lite syrup still has a whopping 100 calories in ¼ cup and 24 grams of sugar! Low sugar jellies and jams typically have about 25 calories per tablespoon, while sugar free ones have about 10. Low, Light or lite does not mean free, so be very careful when you are choosing your syrups, jellies, and jams.

Milk: While 2% reduced fat milk is a heck of a lot better for you than whole milk, it still has more than half the saturated fat of whole milk. Whole milk has 150 calories, 8 grams of fat , and 5 grams saturated fat. Reduced-fat (2%) has 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 3 grams of saturated fat. The clear winner is Skim (nonfat) milk, which has 80 calories and ZERO grams of fat…period! I find that shelling out for organic skim milk helps with the “this tastes like water” feeling skim milk has the potential to give off. I have no idea why, but even my picky fat-free-phobic chef husband will drink it.

Don’t forget that low-fat typically indicates much higher sugar content, while sugar free can still be loaded with fat. I love to read on sugary candy packages: “A naturally fat-free food”—really?! I can’t believe this package of congealed high fructose corn syrup has the nerve to associate itself with any health benefit, especially “natural” or “fat-free.” That sugar will turn into fat quicker than you can say Twizzler! Low-fat yogurt, granola, muffins, and pastries are still not necessarily low in calorie and are typically loaded with sugar.

Light can also mean color!!! Scary but true, there are oils (primarily olive oil) out there that call themselves light that have exactly the same nutritional content as their original versions. They are just lighter in color. TRICKSY HOBITS! Why does this remind me of cigarette companies making “light” cigarettes?

Understand terminology.
Just because something is cage free, free range, organic, locally grown, or all natural DOES NOT mean it is good for you. Most of this terminology has more to do with ethical treatment and environmental impact than actual health benefits (although I’ll take a hormone-free chicken over a steroid pumped bird any day!) Let’s take EGGS for example first:
Cage free—although there is NO legal definition of this phrase (which, HELLO, should probably tell you not to put a lot of stock in this label as a standalone), this simply means that the hens are not kept in cages, though there are no regulations to govern care beyond that.
Free range—chickens are (according to voluntary regulations) supposed to have "access to the outdoors."
Organic—nutritionally probably the most worthwhile to shell out a little extra change for, this term means the chickens must be fed organic feed (grown without commercial fertilizers or pesticides), and not given hormones or antibiotics. The ethical treatment isn’t taken into consideration though.

The same legal rules apply for anything certified ORGANIC, but that certification must appear on the label for the stringent rules to apply. But organic in no way, shape, or form means low-calorie.

Multi-grain means exactly that—more than one grain. It is a label that gets slapped on SO many items these days as fiber content is moving to the forefront of the nutrition-conscious consumer's mind. But don’t let the label fool you. Not all multi-grains are created equal! A lot of multi-grain items are still first and foremost made of nutritionally devoid white flour, so check the label. 100% whole grains should come first on the list of ingredients. And always check the sugar content!

So what is the skinny on Low-sodium? The right amount of sodium maintains our body's fluid balance and keeps our muscles and nerves at optimum performance. But most of us consume WAY more that the 1 teaspoon (or less than 2,400 mg of sodium) a day our bodies actually need, and most of that salt is in many of the foods we buy and not the shaker on the table. Here is a guide to understanding the sodium jargon landscape:
• Sodium-free: Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
• Very low-sodium: 35 mg or less per serving
• Low-sodium: Less than 140 mg per serving
• Reduced sodium: Sodium level reduced by 25%
• Unsalted, no salt added, or without added salt: Made without the salt that's normally used, but still contains the sodium that's a natural part of the food itself.

Avoiding processed foods, frozen dinners, canned vegetables or vegetable drinks, full sodium canned soup, pre-packaged meals, and pre-fab marinades and sauces will curb a lot of unwanted salt from your day. If you must have these types of items, look for the low-sodium versions. Eating less sodium can lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease.

So don’t let the pretty pictures and words fool you. Read and compare labels, because you are what you eat!