Do you trust nutritional information ?

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  • narspips
    narspips Posts: 48 Member
    I trust them. They're not going to be 100% accurate but the odds of them being off by 250 (my daily deficit) are pretty slim. Where there's any doubt, I'll try to find the highest calorie database entry and log from that.

    Weights printed on packaging, on the other hand...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Your question would only make sense if the calorie satiation level was the same for every food.. which is definitely not the case.
  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
    I trust them to be what they are, an estimated count of the average calorie per serving size. But no, I don't trust them to be accurate because they aren't. Though I expect the highs and lows to work themselves out in the long haul and my weightloss shows it works.

    As far as intuitive eating? Nah. My body craves sugar. Sugar (in any form) offers a HIGH calorie count for a small size of food. So while my 3oo cal breakfast of eggs, veggies and whole wheat toast makes me feel satisfied, that 300 calorie candy bar does not.

    Rather, I rely on forming good eating habits. I learned to listen to my entire body (not hunger cues) to figure out what type of meals and when work best for making me feel good and energized so I can be active all day long without eating too many calories.
  • okohjacinda
    okohjacinda Posts: 329 Member
    When in doubt, use a food scale.
  • Lois_1989
    Lois_1989 Posts: 6,410 Member
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    JustDoIt987 wrote: »
    Do you guys actually trust nutritional labels on packets etc? Or do you listen to your body and just stop eating when you are full? Asking this because sometimes companies change the nutritional values of their products . So Can we really be accurate with counting calories?

    I honestly don't understand what one--trusting nutritional information on food labels, has to do with the other--eating intuitively.

    I think they mean the portion guidelines? So one portion of rice is Xgrams according to the nutritional info.

    In which case, one portion of cereal is NEVER enough.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    No, you can't accurately calorie count.

    In the US calories on labels are allowed a margin of error. If I remember correctly it's 20%. So that 200 calorie item could be anywhere from 180 - 200 calories. Expand that to a 1500 calorie diet and your looking at actually eating 1200 - 1800.

    And with whole foods that don't have a label the margin of error is likely to be just as great. If you took 12 apples of the same weight and type from different areas the calories, sugar and fiber content would vary.

    Throw in the margin of error on your food scale and you have a very fuzzy number at best. But it may be a lot closer than you what you would guess without the tools.

    Or not, depending on how much you already know about calories and portions.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    Calories in food are not perfect.
    My calorie burn estimates are not perfect.
    Both get me in the ballpark and I am down54 lbs since February
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    fbchick51 wrote: »
    I trust them to be what they are, an estimated count of the average calorie per serving size. But no, I don't trust them to be accurate because they aren't. Though I expect the highs and lows to work themselves out in the long haul and my weightloss shows it works.

    As far as intuitive eating? Nah. My body craves sugar. Sugar (in any form) offers a HIGH calorie count for a small size of food. So while my 3oo cal breakfast of eggs, veggies and whole wheat toast makes me feel satisfied, that 300 calorie candy bar does not.

    Rather, I rely on forming good eating habits. I learned to listen to my entire body (not hunger cues) to figure out what type of meals and when work best for making me feel good and energized so I can be active all day long without eating too many calories.

    I'm not sure you understand what intuitive eating is. It is not eating everything you crave.

    And sugar does not offer "a HIGH calorie count for a small size of food". It has exactly the same calories per weight as protein and less than 1/2 that of fat. You are talking satiety not calories.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm407036.htm
    I found this ^^ when I was trying to figure out why I stopped losing weight. The product I introduced to my diet was Julian Bakery's Pegan Thin Bars (Paleo + Vegan = Pegan) Chocolate Lava.

    I had a remarkably linear weight loss for nine months, then a stall when I started eating Quest Bars, Pegan Bars and Halo Ice Cream. I'm consuming the same calories, but carbs and fiber are higher because of the bars. Even still, weight loss should have continued.

    Anyway, because of Julian Bakery's previous labeling violations on their low carb breads, I'm thinking the bars might be mislabeled too.

    This website (2012) claims to have independent lab test results that show huge miscalculations on Julian Bakery's Protein Bars. http://low-carb-scams.com/julian-bakery-is-falsely-labeling-new-paleo-protein-bars-2/

    I can't find any 2017 info on this, but with such a bad track record, it's hard to trust this company. So the lesson is, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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