The first thing any good nutritionist will tell you is to understand the labels. Never buy products based on what they say on the cover. A product can be organic and still be filled with unhealthy ingredients. This is even more important when it comes to your kids. The market is filled with products claiming to help kids gain weight, grow in height, become strong etc.
Be skeptical of any claims!
Usually they base their claims and marketing strategies on a limited number of studies. I will not take names of brands here because I am neither pro or against any of them. But I will give a general view of how to read labels and what are the common red-flag ingredients you should watch out for.
Common hidden culprits
1. Maltodextrin
It is a highly processed product made from any kind of starch (rice, corn, potato etc.). So basically it is pure carbohydrate without any nutritive value. It is mainly used as a preservative or a thickener because it is bland. Since it is pure carbs, it causes an immediate spike in blood sugar levels. It also promotes overgrowth of harmful bacteria and disturbs the gut balance.1
2. Soy protein isolates
Soya in general is very harmful because it has a very strong estrogenic action. Also, 95% of the world soy is genetically modified. This is more relevant nowadays when 2 in 5 women have PCOS and so many girls are hitting puberty earlier than the average age. I would recommend keeping girls away from soy products.
3. Gums
Gums are adhesive in nature and act as emulsifiers. The most commonly used ones are xanthum gum, carrageenan, guar gum, and gellan gum. Carrageenan and guar gum are the worst of all. They destroy the microvilli (brush like appendages) in the intestinal walls. This leads to malabsorption and leaky gut over the course of time. A lot of people experience bloating, stomach cramps and diarrhea after consuming products containing gums.
4. Artificial flavouring and food colours
These are the filled with heavy metals and other compounds that are not necessarily natural. There is an entire list of compounds used as flavouring and most of the time they write only numbers (E60, E75 etc.) and not names. Many of these compounds are known carcinogenic. All the medical syrups for pediatric use contain these flavouring substances.
5. MSG
Mono-sodium glutamate is a flavor enhancer because it gives the “umame” taste when added. It is known by many names like yeast extract, aginomoto, di-sodium glutamate, magnesium glutamate, calcium glutamate, glutamic acid, etc. The side effect ranges from mid headache, dizziness, nausea to CNS disorders, obesity, liver damage and reproductive malfunctions.2 This is the one ingredient you should definitely avoid!
6. High Fructose corn syrup
It is also known as invert sugar and it artificially produced. It has an extremely high glycemic index also disrupts the sugar metabolism in general.
7. Vegetable oils
Canola oil, rapeseed oil, blended vegetable oils, hydrogenated vegetable oils are the various names given to highly processed oils. They lose most of their nutritive value in the process and they contain unstable fatty acid structure. They contribute heavily to the rising obesity epidemic that we are witnessing today.
Bear in mind a few things:
The Ingredients are always listed from maximum concentration to minimum concentration. So, the ones at the start have the highest percentage. If you see things like sugar, maltodextrin, vegetable oils in the first few names, then it is junk even if you see all other good ingredients following later.
In some labels, preservatives may be mentioned generally or not mentioned at all. Be aware of that.
If it states organic, it is not necessary that all ingredients are organic.
Each country has a different standard for labeling. India is not very strict when it comes to labels.
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