The grocery store can be confusing and exhausting these days, particularly when straying from the produce department or the health-conscious co-op. To help navigate the aisles, I’ll give you my pick each week on a different type of food that might be purchased in a standard grocery store. Keep in mind, a healthy diet is based predominantly on whole, natural foods. My pick is your best bet among brand-name products, not necessarily the best thing to eat. Also, review the ingredients list periodically on these foods because brands frequently change their recipes without notification.
Amy’s picks from tub butters/margarines:
Smart Balance Omega Light, Smart Balance HeartRight Light, and Smart Balance Light
Olivio Light, and Olivio
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Fat Free
Promise Fat Free, Promise Light, Promise active Light
Why: Tub butters and margarines can wallop you with heart-damaging saturated and trans fats. So, when choosing a tub spread, you want to pick on one without trans fat and that is low in saturated fat. The
saturated fat content can be found on the food label. The food label will also report the trans fat content but you can’t rely on this information. The Food and Drug Administration allows a label to say “0 grams” if it contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Read the ingredients list to make sure there isn’t any “partially hydrogenated” oil in the spread. That is the way to find out if the spread is free from added trans fat.