Hi All,Please find following, information with regard to what you should look for on nutritional labels while on the TF Program -
As a general rule when looking at nutritional labels, there are 3 main things to focus on, these are:
1. The total carbohydrates and sugars
2. The energy content
3. Fat content
You could also focus on a 4th particularly for those with hypertension (high blood pressure) and that is sodium content. For the general public, the Australian guidelines recommend limiting sodium to no more than 3000mg per day and for those with hypertension no more than 2300mg per day. So TFer’s can check product labels for the amount of sodium contained in the serving size they will be consuming.
- For protein serves we’re looking at the following:
· Total Carbs need to be <5g/100g
· Per 100 – 120g protein, energy should be roughly between 800 – 1200kJ, preferably as low as possible
· Product needs to be lean/low fat, skin removed and fat trimmed prior to cooking.
- For Sauces, Gravies, Dressings
· Total Carbs need to be <5g/100g
· Energy from Sauces, Gravies and Dressings should be no more than 420kJ/100 Calories per day (give or take 100kJ/24 Calories). Note this is a per day value not per serve. TFer’s should check the serving size that the nutrition panel specifies e.g. most dressings will say ‘serving size: 20ml’ or gravies will say ‘serving size: 60ml’, then look at the energy per serving size (usually 1st column on nutrition panel), this value needs to be less than 420kJ or very close to it (if slightly higher, this is ok, as long as it’s not too high). If this energy works out to be:
- close to 420kJ e.g. 350 – 420kJ, then this is all of the Sauce, Gravy or Dressing you can have that day unless you want to ½ the serving size
- less than 420kj e.g. 200kj and the carbs aren’t too high (<5g/100g) you can have this amount twice that day or have this and another similar energy Sauce, Gravy or Dressing option
- less than 420kj and around 20kJ per serving size - as long as carbs aren’t getting too high you can have several servings of this dressing (i.e. 20ml = 20kJ energy, 0.64g Carbs (carbs may be 3.2g per 100ml), you can have 4 – 5 20ml servings)
- energy is 420 – 500kJ per serving size, perhaps halve or decrease serving size or if serving is already small, have this option no more than 3-4 times per week, note this will be the only option you can have that day.
Tfer’s can use herbs, spices, lemon juice etc for flavour.
· Fat - generally it is preferable that the product chosen is as low fat as possible or at least low in saturated fat. However since we are limiting the amount of Sauces, Gravies, Dressings that you can have by the energy content and the fact that the TF program is already low fat, we do not have to worry about fat so much at this stage. It is something we focus more on when a TFer goes on maintenance and needs to structure their own meal plans. As a general rule we advise TFer’s to choose suitable low cab and low fat dressings and sauces for the majority of the time and limit creamy ones to a maximum of 3 times per week. Most of the higher fat options will also be limited by their higher energy content.
I hope this clears a few things up for you all and helps you when deciding what to and not to have.