Weight Management: Consumers Rate Food Label High, Low-Energy Density Grabs Eyeballs

by Basant K. Global Market Research Reports

It is no rocket science that proliferation in obesity occurred around the same time highly processed food become prevalent. Though highly processed foods are convenient, they are low in nutrients, packed with calories and increase the risk of many diseases. Undeniably, the soaring urbanization, westernization, and mechanization observed in most of the countries globally is linked with changes in the diet towards high energy-dense foods, high fat and a sedentary lifestyle. Even low-income countries have not been aloof of with obesity as it has begun to co-exist in the same demography with acute-under nutrition.

A drastic plunge in the cost of sugar and vegetables allude they are in direct competition with cereals as the cheapest food ingredients. The reduction in custom duty and providing exemption on the excise duty with respect to sugar and vegetables have not gone well with weight management market. Unique traditional food habits and ethnic cuisine are being replaced by soft drinks and westernized fast foods and surged meat consumption.

Weight Management

When it comes to achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, a person is expected to sustain a prudent and rationale balance between energy expended and calories consumed. Developed countries such as America which are plagued with obesity, have used different dietary strategies to intake fewer calories, including limiting food groups, portion sizes or specific macronutrients such as carbohydrates or fats. Though in short-term it might be help in moderating calorie intake, they do possess draw backs.

These approaches may not go well with diet quality and feeling of hunger, which can confine their sustainability, acceptability and long-term effectiveness.

What is Energy Density?

Energy density is the amount of calories or energy in a specific weight of food and is normally offered as the number of calories in a gram. It is worth mentioning that foods with lower energy density provide fewer calories per gram as compared with foods with a higher energy density. Incredibly, an individual can consume a larger portion of a food that is lower in energy density compared to food that is higher in energy density.

Low-energy-dense diets aid in reducing caloric intake and at the same time controlling feelings of hunger and maintaining feelings of satiety. Consuming a low-energy dense diet—rich in vegetables, fruits, lean meats, low-fat dairy products tend to aid to lowering calorie intake.

Packaged Food Propels Weight Loss

In a competition with conventional diet, individual who were hell bent with a diet of portion-controlled packaged foods tend to lose weight. Essentially, packaging is second to none when it comes to preserving food and extending the shelf life of the food products.

Meanwhile, American Heart Association recommends following guidelines to enhance overall diet pattern to reduce weight:

Eat nuts, poultry, fish and limit red meat;
Eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains;
Limit the amount of trans and trans fats, sodium and added sugars that are added in the food;
Limit intake of foods and beverages high in calories and low in nutrition;
Select low fat and fat-free dairy products
Choose and prepare foods with no or little salt.
At the time of feeling hungry between meals, drinking a glass of water or eating a small piece of fruit would be viable

Importance of Food Label

In order to control weight, it becomes imperative to assimilate food label. The food label contains useful information that not only enlightens us the amount of calories individual is consuming when the particular food is eaten, it can also offer insights on food’s nutritional value. American Heart Association vouches for following steps to comprehend and utilize the information found on nutrition labels.

Decide the serving size: Food serving size is normally found at the top of the nutrition label which also contains information on number of servings in each package. The American Heart Association deduces that this information can be used to calculate the approximate number of servings that are consumed at one time.
Calculate the calories that are consumed: Number of total calories and calories from fat in each serving is found under the serving size.
Assess cholesterol, fat and sodium: The daily intake of cholesterol, fat and sodium need to be limited. Evaluate the amount of these nutrients that will be consumed based on the information offered on the label. The label tends to list the amount of each nutrient per serving along with the percentage of the daily recommended intake contained in each serving. For instance, if the label reads “Total Fat 9grams; 9%,” a single serving of the food possesses 9 grams of fat that is 9 % of the daily recommended fat intake.
Assess vitamins, fiber, calcium and iron: Consuming adequate vitamins, fiber, calcium and iron per day is highly recommended. Calculating how much of these nutrients the packaged food contains on the basis of label’s information becomes imperative.