I Asked A Dietitian To Translate 9 Food Terms And I Finally Understand Why They're Important

So, to ensure I got the most credible info (and to stop myself disappearing into a Google-sized rabbit hole), I called upon dietitian, Tayla Daniel, to clarify a few food terms I've been a little foggy on. 

Tayla is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian, completing her Masters of Dietetics at Deakin University in Victoria. Plus, she's worked in a variety of roles including food marketing, clinical dietetics and health promotion. She's currently a Senior Dietitian in the Sanitarium Nutrition team and is super passionate about promoting healthy food choices using evidence-based science.

So, without further adieu, here's the knowledge you need, parent friends — pass it on:

Glycaemic Index — often shortened to GI — does sound sort of confusing. But at a basic level — which suits me well — it is a measure of how quickly our bodies get energy from carbohydrates. 

"The Glycaemic Index is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale of 0-100," explains Tayla. "It relates to how much that food raises our blood sugar levels after we eat it."

"Low GI foods have a GI less than 55; medium GI foods, between 55-70; and high GI foods have a GI rating greater than 70."

Which, let's face it, most of us are — often. 

The Health Star Rating system (the star-based score you see on lots of packaged foods) is clearly there to help us when we need to make snap decisions, but it does raise questions. Mainly, how does it work?

"The labelling system rates the overall nutritional profile of a packaged food. The more stars, the healthier the choice. The score is determined via a calculator that weighs up positive versus 'risk' nutrients in food," explains Tayla. 

Serving sizes puzzle me. Why are they often different, depending on the food product?

"A serving size is determined by the manufacturer and will often vary among products," Tayla explains. "It is important to note that there are variations in the composition of foods within the same category, for example when comparing cereal puffs to muesli. They may not always reflect the amount you may eat in one sitting, but can be useful to understand nutritional information of that particular quantity."

"The nutritional information panel on products always includes a 100g/mL column, to help us compare various nutrients for like foods, so it’s useful to refer to that, too."

"The term whole grain is used to describe a grain food that contains all three parts of the grain," says Tayla. "These are the bran, endosperm and the germ. And the ratios of these components are important, too.

"Whole grains are important for our diets because it's where we get a lot of vitamins, minerals, protein, dietary fibre, and cholesterol-lowering phytochemicals."

Good sources include whole grain cereals, whole or mixed-grain rolls, wraps and flatbreads, rolled oats, wholemeal pasta and brown rice.

"The term 'Best before' relates to the quality of a food, so within that date the item should've retained a certain quality of flavour and texture, as per its claims.

This means it's more of a judgement call on your part, as to whether the food appears good enough to eat.

The 'use by' date, on the other hand, will appear on highly perishable food products and should be consumed within the date, for health and safety reasons."

Gotcha.

"RDI stands for 'Recommended Dietary Intake' and represents the amount of a nutrient recommended to meet our bodies requirement for everyday health.

It's useful to take note of the RDI when checking food labels, as it can help you understand where you and your family are at in terms of meeting nutritional goals," says Tayla. 

The energy in our diet should come from the following: 45-65% from carbohydrates, 15-25% from protein and 20-35% fat with no more than 10% of this coming from saturated fat. (You can check out eatforhealth.gov.au for more details around guidelines.)

Plenty of snack foods claim to be "high protein" or "high energy", which we know are vital for growing kids. But how these levels are defined is less well known.

"High protein would refer to a food that contains at least 10g of protein per serve," explains Tayla. "Protein is crucial for kids' development because it's needed for building, maintaining and repairing body tissue.

High energy refers to the calories in our food and drink. The amount of energy a food gives us will depend on which nutrient it comes from — so whether it's derived from protein, carbohydrates, or fats."

They get mentioned a heck of a lot, but specifics are often vague.

"The 10 essential vitamins and minerals added to food products like UP&GO, for example, are: Vitamin A, Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), B6, Folate, B12, vitamin C, and minerals calcium and phosphorus.

Together they perform hundreds of roles in the body, such as repairing cellular damage, bolstering your immune system and converting food into energy."

This is why they're so important to include in growing kids' bodies, as they contribute to normal growth and development, support regular mental function and help maintain healthy bones and teeth.

Sounds like something I need.