As a Fatter of Mact

 If you want to get just a little loopy; pop into your local retail grocery establishment that has a well-stocked “low carb”or “health food” section! Talk about ca-razy!
 

Went to my local super-market this morning and visited the “low carb”section. While not that large in comparison to the rest of the market, there was a surprising selection of items. I’d never been in this section of the market before today as there was never any real interest or need to.

 

There were sugar alternatives, flour alternatives, things I’d never seen before, brands I’d never heard of, cookies and sweets and all manner of things. Lots to see and learn. This is where reading the nutritional labels is vital for two reasons: 1) because there’s a wide range of products; each with some claim of using only the best ingredients and promoting some kind of health. -- and 2) because many of these items are several times the cost of the regular brands in the same category and you want to take the time to make sure you’re actually getting what you’re paying for in terms of the kinds of foods we have to eat as diabetics.

 

I love cookies. It’s a weakness, but there it is. I love the sandwich cookies with the creamy filling. To me, these are a little slice of heaven in my mouth. I make room for two cookies a day on my diet and unless I am dying of something that is a direct result of the cookies and have to give them up, I always will make room for two cookies a day.

 

I generally get the cheapest sandwich cookies available. You can get like 50 lemon cream cookies for about $1.99. Today however, I left the cheap ones on the shelf. My recent visit to the certified Dietician has somehow made me just a little more conscious of the foods I’m eating. Instead I picked up some higher priced cookies. The package contained fewer cookies and the ingredients were a little better. It took me about ten agonizing minutes to come to grips with the fact that I would be paying more money (about twice as much) and getting fewer cookies in the package (less than half as many), but the ingredients were just a little healthier. I kept going from one shelf to the other, reading the nutrition information and so on before finally placing the “healthier” cookies in my shopping cart and moving on. That was before I came to the “low carb” section of the market.

 

The “low carb” section had several cookie selections. The sandwich varieties claimed to have the best ingredients and so on. The packaging was upscale and so was the price. In the end, after another ten minutes of reading, I found the “low carb” cookies didn’t seem to be significantly better than the others already in my cart.

 

If you're going to make a visit to your own local “low carb” or “healthy” supermarket section, be prepared to spend time getting used to the products and reading labels. It takes time but having the nutritional facts can really pay off in buying foods that help you avoid the risk of getting fatter.