There are many positive reasons to eat honey as part of your everyday diet - honey has no fat, no additives and is 100 per cent natural.
Reading food labels allows you to make informed choices when purchasing foods. The two main sources of nutritional information on food labels are:
- Ingredients list
- Nutrition information panel
Nutrition Information Panel
As you can see from the nutrition information panel to the right, the main nutrient in Capilano honey is carbohydrate at 12.5g per 15g serve of which all of the carbohydrate is in the form of sugars (naturally occuring in honey). The amount of sodium present is very low with only one milligram of sodium per serving.
Ingredients List
The ingredient list provides information about the ingredient components that make the product. For example, the ingredient list for Capilano honey states: 100 per cent Pure Australian Honey. As you can see, the only ingredient in Capilano honey is pure honey. There are no artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives and as such it can be stated by law on the food label that Capilano honey is a 100 per cent natural product.
Many weight loss diets unfairly and without basis, restrict or ban sugar and honey. For most people, inactivity and excess fat intake are the major contributors to their weight problems, not their intake of sugar and honey.
Effective weight management is not about going on diets. It is about making life-long changes to a healthier way of eating and a commitment to regular physical activity. For most people, reducing fat in the diet makes the biggest difference. This is because fat is the most kilojoule (calorie) dense nutrient. For a given weight, fat has twice the kilojoules of protein and carbohydrate including sugar and honey. Fat is also linked to many of our major health problems.
The other key aspect of healthy eating is to focus on including more complex carbohydrate foods such as bread, cereals, legumes, fruit and vegetables as well as moderate amounts of simple carbohydrate like honey. The benefits of including honey as part of your daily healthy eating plan include:
- Honey satisfies your natural desire for sweetness
- Honey provides a taste sensation making it a great alternative to high fat foods
- Honey is great for instantly boosting energy supplies due to its carbohydrate content.
- Honey makes overall eating more enjoyable!
- Honey not only tastes great, but it is so versatile that it can replace sugar in most cooking situations. Click on the taste conversion to the right for instructions on how to substitute sugar for honey.