One Snarky Chica with Issues

In the current issue of Women’s Health magazine there is a story on the 100 best packaged foods for women. When I saw the article I got excited as I am still trying to eat a low sodium diet and sometimes it is hard to do that if you do not have time to cook something from scratch so that you can control the amount of sodium that is in it. However, as I started reading the list of 100 foods I thought “wow, a nutritionist made this list?!?”

#4 is Quaker Nutrition Instant Oatmeal for Women that comes in at a whopping 330 mg of sodium for one little packet. Now, I eat the one-minute oats that you cook on the stove and they really do not take any longer than microwaving a little packet. I can eat the entire canister of one-minute oats and have 0 mg of sodium. And there’s less calories in it too.

#6, Pepperidge Farms 100% Whole Wheat Natural Whole Grain Bread comes in at 110 calories per slice and 150 mg of sodium per slice. I know for a fact that there are better options than this in your local grocery store. The brand that I buy has 35 calories per slice, is whole wheat and has 80 mg of sodium. Another local brand I buy is flaxseed bread that is also way better than this.

#18 Alpine Lace Reduced Fat Swiss for best swiss cheese comes in at 110 calories per slice and 140 mg off sodium per slice. I am looking right now at my package of Sargento Baby Swiss Deli Slices swiss cheese that comes in at 70 calories per slice and only 40 mg of sodium per slice.

The point of my rant? Only you know what are the best foods for you. You cannot count on an article in a magazine to tell you what items are the best ones for you to eat. Clearly I can make better food choices by myself as opposed to following the recommendations of the article in Women’s Health. They key is actually reading those labels on the back of food containers.

Now, I do agree with some of their choices in the article, such as Eggland’s Best omega-3 righ eggs as the best egg option. So, you should take a look at the list and see if you can find anything on it that is better that something you are currently eating. Then you can substitute it with the new healthier options. It’s never too late to start being healthier.