The Less Ingredients, The Better!
Sound simple? I used to look at fat content, carbohydrates, proteins and everything else on those labels. The easiest way to tell if something is healthy is
to look at the ingredients. I rate my foods based on the 3 tier system below.
Tier 1 - Single Ingredient Items - This one is misleading because MOST of these actually have no nutrition label. (Imagine seeing nutrition information on a tomato. Duh.) If there is a nutrition label, it is easy to read. The only ingredient is what is in the box. This should be the focus of your new lifestyle.
Tier 2 - Two-ingredient items. There are some foods that have two ingredients. Just be sure the other ingredient isn't setting you back. The first ingredient should be the food. The second ingredient should be something that fits into your lifestyle. Stay away from the food if the second ingredient is salt or sugar. Proceed with caution.
Tier 3 - Multi Ingredient items. Stay away. If there are more than 2 ingredients, probably not worth eating unless all of the ingredients are Tier 1 ingredients. Confusing? Maybe. I LOVE salsa. The salsa I buy is jarred. 95% of the ingredients are single ingredients, including tomatoes (Tier 1), other vegetables (tier 1), and salt (I use low sodium salsa, but it make my other veggies and grains palatable, so I call salt Tier 2).
That's really it. The best way to eat is to take alot of Tier 1 foods and mix them together. Sweet Potatoes mashed with bananas is a great dessert recipe. Rice and beans. Fruit and oatmeal with some nuts on it. It's really amazing all the quick and easy plant based meals you can make with Tier 1 foods. Get creative and try it for a week!