Become a Label Detective: How to Read Food Labels to Reduce Inflammation and Support Whole-Body Wellness
- Gwen Krehbiel
- Jan 3
- 4 min read
Becoming a Label Detective is one of the most powerful skills you can develop to protect your body from hidden food dangers.
I often joke that it turns you into the Sherlock Holmes of the grocery store — scanning labels, spotting red flags, and refusing to be fooled by clever marketing.
This Sherlock doesn’t need a pipe or a magnifying glass (though sometimes it helps), but they do need one thing: the ability to read past the front of the package and uncover what’s really inside.
Food labels are designed to sell products—not necessarily to protect your health.
Phrases like “natural,” “low-fat,” “sugar-free,” or “heart healthy” can sound reassuring, yet they often distract from what matters most: what’s actually in the food.
Learning how to read product labeling is one of the most empowering skills you can develop to support digestion, inflammation balance, metabolic health, and long-term wellness. I often call this becoming a Label Detective—because once you know what to look for, you start spotting red flags everywhere.
Marketing Claims vs. Reality: Why Labels Can Be Misleading
Food packaging is full of bold claims, including:
Fat-free
Sugar-free
Low-carb
All-natural
Organic
Supports heart health
These claims are not regulated in a way that guarantees the food is supportive to your body. A product can technically meet one of these criteria while still containing inflammatory oils, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or hidden sugars.
That’s why real clarity starts elsewhere.
Ingredients List vs. Nutrition Facts: What Matters Most?
If you only check one thing on a label, make it the ingredients list.
By law, ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, meaning the first ingredient is what the product contains the most of. This tells you far more than calorie counts or front-of-package marketing ever will.
General rule of thumb:
If the ingredient list is long
If you can’t recognize or pronounce most of the ingredients
If the ingredients don’t resemble real food
…it’s usually a sign the product may not support an anti-inflammatory wellness approach.
The exception? Technical names for vitamins and minerals (like riboflavin or calcium lactate), which are normal.
🚫 Common Ingredients That Can Disrupt Inflammation Balance
Many individuals experience symptom relief simply by reducing exposure to the following categories of ingredients:
Added Sugars
Often listed under dozens of names, including syrups, concentrates, and “natural” sweeteners.
Artificial Sweeteners
Such as aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, and acesulfame potassium, which may affect gut and blood sugar regulation.
Artificial Colors
FD&C Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, caramel coloring, and related dyes used for appearance—not nutrition.
Preservatives
Including nitrates, nitrites, benzoates, sulfites, BHA, BHT, and calcium propionate.
Hydrogenated Oils
Partially or fully hydrogenated oils are sources of trans fats, even when labels say “0g trans fat” due to rounding laws.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Often hidden under names like autolyzed yeast extract or hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
These ingredients are commonly found in foods marketed as “convenient,” “diet,” or “healthy.”
Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label (Without Overthinking It)
The Nutrition Facts panel can be helpful after you’ve reviewed the ingredients.
Key points to know:
Serving sizes are now more realistic, but still may not reflect how people actually eat.
Calories reflect energy, but quality matters more than quantity.
Added sugars are now required to be listed separately—an important improvement.
Total fat can be misleading when hydrogenated oils are present in small amounts.
Net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber) can help assess blood sugar impact.
Protein content is helpful when aiming for blood sugar stability.
Numbers alone don’t tell the full story—context matters.
How to Read a Food Label: The Label Detective Method
Find the ingredients list first
Scan for added sugars, artificial additives, or inflammatory oils
Ask: Can I picture this ingredient as a real food?
Look up anything unfamiliar
Decide if the product supports your health goals
When in doubt, leave it out
With practice, your eye will start catching problematic ingredients automatically.
Why Label Literacy Matters for Anti-Inflammatory Wellness
Chronic inflammation rarely comes from one source—it’s cumulative.
Food choices, especially packaged foods consumed daily, can quietly:
Increase inflammatory load
Disrupt digestion and gut balance
Affect energy, mood, and metabolic stability
Reading labels isn’t about perfection or fear. It’s about reducing unnecessary stress on the body so healing efforts can actually work.
Ready to Go Beyond Label Reading?
If you’re eating “pretty well” but still dealing with inflammation, fatigue, digestive discomfort, or stalled progress, food labels may only be one piece of the puzzle.
Book a Self-Sabotage Breakthrough Session
The Self-Sabotage Breakthrough Session is a one-on-one appointment designed to:
Identify dietary and lifestyle patterns contributing to inflammation
Clarify which changes will matter most for your body
Determine whether a structured anti-inflammatory wellness program is appropriate
This session provides clarity, education, and direction—without rigid rules or guesswork.
Hope to connect with you soon! ❤️
To your thriving health,
Gwen Krehbiel
Certified Natural Health Professional
Certified SHAPE ReClaimed Practitioner
Certified Facial Analysis Practitioner
Certified ZYTO Practitioner
Citation:
Public Health Analysis (Ed.). (n.d.). 50 jawdroppingly Toxic Food Ingredients & artificial additives to avoid. MPHProgramsList.com 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://mphprogramslist.com/50-jawdroppingly-toxic-food-additives-to-avoid/
Medical disclaimer: This information is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment. Medical conditions require medical care.
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