Decoding the Diet: Margaret Of Eat Smart On How to Read Food Labels to Truly Understand What Is In Your Food

An Interview With Wanda Malhotra

Sugar free, or zero calorie labeling is your sign to stay away. Sugar free, or zero calorie products contain artificial sweeteners, which are known to cause tumors in rats, slow down your metabolism, and desensitize you to the taste of sweet things. Some artificial sweeteners can be 10,000 times sweeter than real sugar. And your so called more natural sweeteners, you know, the one with the green leaf, those aren’t doing you any favors and can cause bloating, diarrhea and disrupt your gut.

In a world brimming with dietary choices and food products, the ability to read and comprehend food labels is more critical than ever. Consumers are bombarded with terms like “natural,” “organic,” “free-range,” and “non-GMO,” but the true meaning of these labels and their impact on health can often be elusive and misunderstood. How can one correctly read food labels to truly understand what is in their food? As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Margaret.

Margaret is the founder of Eat Smart, a food wellness company aimed at helping people love their bodies by ditching diets for good and reclaiming their health through clean eating. Eat Smart was born out of a decade-long journey of Margaret struggling with chronic health conditions. After much trial and error, Margaret was able to resolve her health problems, without medication, through clean eating. Margaret is a testament to the healing power of eating simple, whole foods, while focusing on eliminating additives and toxins found in food to help our bodies bring themselves to heal naturally.

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

It’s important to know that I used to know nothing about what labels really meant or anything about what foods were good and bad for you. I would even go as far to say that I would laugh at people that cared about things like artificial colors but the jokes on me because after years of having different medical issues: joint pain, cystic acne, fatigue, heart palpitations, caring about food labels and good and bad foods is what healed me.

Before my awakening I leaned in on the medical community because that’s what you’re supposed to do. We go to doctors to fix problems. I would go to all of these medical appointments and the tests and blood work were always normal. But at the same time no one could ever help me fix my symptoms. I was fed up and knew there had to be a better way. It was in my 20s after I’d been on my second round of Accutane for cystic acne that I read an article suggesting that dairy could cause acne, and I said to myself, what do I have to lose? I’m going to try cutting out dairy and see what happens. I think it was probably a good three weeks before I noticed a difference, but my skin cleared up! Something else that I noticed was that my joint pain that I had all my life went away, and from there I said, you know there’s something to this! So, I continued to pay attention to what I put in my body and how I felt afterward. Along the way I would do my own research and learn exactly how certain foods affect our body. It’s crazy because when you really think about it, probably 50%, if not more of what we eat doesn’t come from nature. So it’s not even actual food, it’s manmade, in a lab. For me, step one for healing my body was about sticking to real food.

And so, over the course of a few years as my symptoms and physical complaints disappeared, I realized that I was able to heal myself with food. Then I became hyper aware when someone around me would mention what we think of as a common complaint: “Oh, my aching knees. Oh, I’m so tired all the time. Oh, my acid reflux.” We normalize these ailments, as if they’re just a part of being human. But I knew from my own experience that this is not true. These symptoms that our body is producing are because of what we’re eating. So I started to pay more attention when my friends and family would complain about their ailments and would offer simple, back to basics, solutions. “You know what, you can try eating this instead or, you can try cutting out this food.” And that’s basically how Eat Smart was born. Ever since I’ve been on a mission to help people do the most simple, natural thing for their bodies to solve some of their most pesky annoying life interrupting symptoms. It’s amazing to see what your body can do when you’re not feeding it crap, it’s amazing to wake up one day and realize, wow, I slept so well, to be able to play with your kids and not feel constant joint pain, or fatigue. These things are totally possible when you pay attention to what you are really eating.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

I think one of the most interesting stories or takeaways from what I’ve learned working with people is that people find change extremely difficult. You can present people clear evidence as to what is causing their issues, or how they are putting their health at risk by eating something and they still won’t make a change. Despite it being so clear in the research, people are resistant because the negative impact on their bodies is not immediately tangible. An example would be with dairy, for some people that are having joint pain, it may be easier for them to cut out the dairy because in a few weeks, they’ll notice the difference, they don’t have the joint pain, there’s that immediate, physical benefit. And also there’s a ton of marketing out there supporting going dairy free, so people are compliant to the mainstream movement of cutting out dairy. But with something like hot dogs, or certain processed meats that have nitrates and nitrites in them people shrug that off. We know from the research that nitrates and nitrites cause colon cancer. Despite this, you’ll have people who have family histories of colon cancer and get colon cancer screenings, twice per year but they continue to eat hot dogs every day. So I consider this one of the most interesting stories from my career as it really says something about human beings. And probably this explains how we got to where we are with food in our society, because, if there isn’t an immediate enough threat, most people are not going to make changes. Because it’s just not physically tangible enough. I can give you the information. But you have to be able to break through the brainwashing that you essentially have experienced your whole life. If you’re 30 years old, coming to me, and you’re just learning now, that the hot dogs you associate positive memories with: baseball games with your dad, grilling by the pool at family gatherings, cause CANCER, your brain just can’t tolerate the cognitive dissonance in that. How could you handle the fact that you have been consuming something your whole life that causes cancer. If you accept that hot dogs cause cancer, you have to accept the fact that you might get cancer (from something you did to yourself). So it’s easier for people to block that and say no way, hot dogs are fine. Because they HAVE to be fine, I have been eating them my whole life!

If you don’t want to see through that brainwashing, there’s nothing that I can do for you. And there’s no hope until you’re willing to break out of that safety net because it feels very safe, right? If you can deny that eating all these foods that have been on our grocery store shelves since you were two years old could cause cancer, can cause your acid reflux, your migraines, your sleep problems, your joint pain, your acne, etc. It feels safer, and it’s easier. And some people just want to pop the pill. I certainly can understand. I went to doctors all the time, I thought that they were the end all be all, they were the answer. But then I slowly began to ask why aren’t we trying to treat the root of the problem? It’s very clear to me how we have come to be where we are with diseases increasing in our society, and people having chronic health problems. It’s clear to me how we got here.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Determination is number one. Being able to decide that I want to achieve a certain goal and being relentless in achieving that goal no matter what. When things get hard, my determination has pulled me through. Nothing is more important than determination, if you have it, you can achieve anything.

A second character trait that has helped me be successful is being independent. More specifically, an independent thinker. There is no way I would be able to heal my body in the midst of what modern medicine tells you “just take a pill” if I wasn’t able to think independently, to think outside of the box, to see through what the big food companies market to us.

Curiosity has guaranteed my success. Because of my curiosity I have been able to question the norm, dive into the unknown, learn ways of solving problems that no one is talking about. So many people just accept what they are told. To push past the mainstream narrative, you have to have an innate curiosity about you, to wonder more deeply.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m always thinking of new ways that I can get this important message of clean eating and how food impacts how you feel every day to as many people as I can. Unfortunately it’s not always an easily digestible thing. Right now, I do one-to-one personalized, clean eating coaching to help people transform their lives. One on one, I help people learn how to grocery shop, how to decode labels, how to make clean chocolate chip cookies, all of the things. But the one on one doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes people aren’t comfortable with that format. A new project that I’m working on is an online course. This will be a place where you can log in and at your convenience and access the whole Clean Eating 101 program that I normally do with someone one on one, this will be something that you can access at your own pace, and you will be able to have the information for life. It’s a little bit more private for some people who don’t want to open up to a stranger, and talk about their eating habits and things like that. This is going to be an amazing educational tool to help you lose weight, heal your body naturally and really understand how to decode labels and how to eat clean.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us a bit about how you became an expert or authority on how to read food labels?

One of the things that I always lead with is, I’m not a medical doctor, I’m not a dietitian. And from my perspective, based on what I experienced, that’s a good thing. Medical doctors were never able to help me heal, and certainly they were never the people to direct me to eat a certain way to feel better. And dieticians, they do not talk about anything close to what I believe. In fact, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, was once sponsored by Coca Cola. What do you think that means for nutrition advice? And of course, I am not speaking about all medical doctors or all dietitians. But to get back to your question, how did I become this expert, when the mainstream is talking about something completely different? I’m going to be honest with you. For one, it wasn’t that hard. At least it wasn’t that hard for me, because it started out as very clear trial and error. And when you get right down to it, if you don’t recognize an ingredient, don’t eat it! Also, being able to think for yourself and question everything that you see has helped me become a food expert. Just because there is a USDA Organic label, doesn’t mean it’s good for you, you have to look beyond that, and do your own research. I’ve learned to ask myself, what’s the motivation behind this label, etc, and keep in mind that food is a business. If companies think you want to eat healthy, they are going to do whatever they need to so that food box looks healthy, including making claims that mean nothing. My expertise in being able to read food labels has developed over years of practicing this, experimenting with how I feel with food, and then doing the research. It all started out by paying attention to how my body felt when I ate something, and overtime I came to the very clear conclusion that foods in their natural state are going to heal you, foods that are processed are going to tax your body.

Having gained extensive knowledge about food labels, have you made any significant changes in your own dietary habits or shopping choices? Can you share how this knowledge has personally impacted your life and choices?

Once you have the knowledge to really understand labels and what is in your food, you basically have no choice but to make significant changes from what the mainstream eats.

One of the most significant dietary changes that I’ve made is cutting out wheat. Anything made with wheat I have eliminated from my diet, this would be things like cake, bread, crackers, pasta. The main motivator for this was the knowledge that wheat is sprayed with glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in the toxic weed killer RoundUp. Wheat farmers spray glyphosate on their crop so that it will die faster, dry faster, and be ready for harvest sooner. We know that this toxic pesticide is ending up in our food. It’s been found in Honey Nut Chereos at over 5 times the recommended limit for children. And imagine that, there is an established allowable amount of toxic pesticide allowed in your kid’s food! When I cut out wheat my life changed. I went from fatigue and brain fog to a new person, a very grateful person. When you eat wheat, two things happen. Your body responds to the glyphosate, and your your blood sugar goes up fast, because there’s just a bunch of sugar in the bread and it’s really high on the glycemic index. And then when your blood sugar crashes, you feel that fatigue. Cutting out wheat was life changing. It could be for you, too.

Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Know to Truly Understand What is in Your Food?

1. The ingredient listed as “natural flavors” is not natural. The Food and Drug Administration gives natural flavors the requirement of beginning at a natural source. From there, food companies can manipulate that ingredient however they wish. This can include adding preservatives and processing it with synthetic solvents, and it can include artificial ingredients. The term natural just means the raspberry flavor began with the raspberry, and has been processed from there.
2. “Gluten free” is not your holy grail salvation. Let’s say you are trying to be healthier, and you want to cut out gluten, so you go for the products that say gluten free. Tons of products that have been traditionally made with wheat are now being made with non-wheat alternatives. But have you ever stopped to consider what exactly those substitute ingredients are? 99% of the time the ingredients in your gluten free bread products are ingredients you don’t want in your body. Xanthan gum is a common additive in gluten free products. It mimics the same chewy like texture of your typical wheat products that have gluten. The trouble with xanthan gum is that it interrupts the natural flora of bacteria that live in your stomach. It is made from a fermented bacteria called xanthomonas campestris. When you eat this foreign bacteria, a bacteria that does not naturally occur in your stomach it can cause gut dysbiosis. This is why you experience bloating, have stomach problems, and are constipated.
3. Sugar free, or zero calorie labeling is your sign to stay away. Sugar free, or zero calorie products contain artificial sweeteners, which are known to cause tumors in rats, slow down your metabolism, and desensitize you to the taste of sweet things. Some artificial sweeteners can be 10,000 times sweeter than real sugar. And your so called more natural sweeteners, you know, the one with the green leaf, those aren’t doing you any favors and can cause bloating, diarrhea and disrupt your gut.
4. “Fat free” is misleading. In the 1960’s big sugar paid Harvard scientists to inflate the perceived negative effects of fat on heart health while decreasing the negative impacts of sugar on heart health. This research resulted in a multi-decade long campaign to cut fat. This was manipulation. WE all need fat to survive, fat is not bad! What is bad is trans fats in things like partially hydrogenated oil. But real fat, such as unadulterated animal fat, is good for you! When you buy a product that has the fat free, or low fat label oftentimes the company is filling the product with sugar and processed ingredients, to help it taste better due to the lack of fat. And sugar is the heart’s worst enemy, leading to elevated risk of heart disease and stroke.
5. If you love coffee, it’s really important that you are doing the appropriate research to find out what is actually in your coffee. The USDA Organic label is not enough. This label doesn’t require testing for mold, and heavy metals, which are present in most coffee. Coffee is something we drink every single day. This means if your coffee has heavy metals and mold in it, you are getting a good dose of that every single day.

What is the most misleading aspect of food labels that consumers should be aware of, and how can they educate themselves against it?

The most misleading aspect of a label is everything on the package aside from the actual ingredient list and the nutrition facts. Everything else is marketing. The food company is trying to tell you whatever they think you need to hear to buy that product. If you are looking to lose weight, you think that finding products with labels that say “fat free” or “low fat” are a good choice. If you are focused on eating healthy, and see a label that notes the product is “all natural” you feel this is good for you. Companies have become really smart in changing the look of their packaging to make you think something is better for you than it is. Colors, fonts, and even photos of people hiking a mountain on the product’s box make you think you are making a healthier choice. Most of the time this just isn’t the case. To protect yourself against marketing, keep in mind that food is a business. Don’t just pay attention to the largest words on the box, turn that box over and read the ingredients. The best advice I can give to anyone looking to eat healthier is to cut out any foods that have ingredients that they don’t recognize or can’t pronounce. Try this for 1 month. You’ll be amazed at how you feel, and you’ll have lost weight too!

Could you explain the significance of the order in which ingredients are listed on labels and what that means for the consumer?

When you look at the back of a food label, there is a specific order in which they put the ingredients. It’s not alphabetical, and it’s not random. If an ingredient is first on the list, it means there is more of that ingredient than any of the other ingredients in the box. So let’s say you look at a box of cereal. If sugar is ingredient number one, there is more sugar in that cereal box than there is any other ingredient. So essentially, if you want to stay away from sugar, you want sugar to be near the end of the ingredient list, if not the last ingredient.

How has the food labeling industry evolved in recent years to be more transparent with consumers, and where does it still fall short?

In recent years the food and drug administration stated guidelines for a new and updated nutrition facts label. In an effort to combat rising rates of obesity in Americans. This new label emphasizes the overall calorie count in the product as well as a differentiation between total sugars, and added sugars. Unfortunately, reading the nutrition facts label isn’t enough. You could be eating one of the most popular cereal brands and getting your daily recommended intake of fiber, but be unaware that the wheat used to make that cereal has been sprayed with the pesticide glyphosate, and the residue from this pesticide has been found in the cereal itself. As a consumer of food products you have to dig a little deeper, think more critically, and stay up to date on the way your food is made. Most companies don’t have your best interest at heart, you are the only one who is in control of this.

In what ways do you believe understanding food labels can significantly impact an individual’s health and wellness journey?

Understanding how to read food labels is key to your health salvation. It is your most powerful weapon against disease, and your most powerful healing tool.

Food education often begins in childhood. What advice would you give to parents about teaching their children to read and understand food labels?

I believe it is very important to temper the information we give to young children about eating clean and the dangers of food, simply because their brains are not developed enough to be able to manage all of that information in a balanced way. I say this because my background is in mental health and I worked with children who had eating disorders. When we talk about food, and the dangers of food, you want to be really careful about how you’re giving that information to young children who have underdeveloped brains. They can’t appropriately apply that information into their lives and it could end up turning into a serious eating disorder. Instead of going to the store and saying no, we’re not going to buy that sugary cereal, because it’s bad for you, focus on the positive. You can offer other options for the child to pick from. Try to stay away from demonizing food. Instead of saying no, we can’t have this or that, you want to turn the focus to what they can have. “Hey, look at this great watermelon, we’re going to take it home and we can use cookie cutters to cut it into cute shapes.” You’re just directing them to the positive foods, not directly saying no to unhealthy foods.

Are there any strategies or tools you recommend for making this an engaging learning experience for kids?

Many food products will have a certification on the bottom of the box indicating things such as gluten free. This can be really helpful if you don’t want to have to read through the ingredient list. When you see that gluten free stamp, you know that it is certified gluten free. If you were to pick up a box of oats that doesn’t have any wheat, or gluten per se, on the label, it could still be made in a facility that uses gluten or there could be some cross contamination with gluten. When you have that gluten free mark on the package, you can be sure there is no gluten. The same goes for the soy free, egg free, dairy free certifications.

For many, managing food allergies or sensitivities is a daily challenge. How can individuals effectively use food labels to navigate these issues?

The Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2023 has been proposed in an effort to make label reading easier for consumers. Different labeling requirements are described in this act including front of package labeling, where you see very clearly the sodium, sugar, and fat content of a product. Additionally, there is focus on making allergen information more clear on product packaging. These are all good things, but again, you have to be able to critically think when reading the label. Just because something is low in fat doesn’t mean it’s good for you. If it’s processed and has a bunch of lab made ingredients, drink the glass of whole milk over that packaged product any day!

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

I host a podcast called Eat Smart, where I share very important, relevant, educational tips and tricks that can help you with your grocery shopping and can help you cook cleaner for your family. I also provide information about the foods you are eating to help you uncover root causes of certain ailments, teaching you how to feel better, learning how to fight things like fatigue, joint pain, acid reflux. These podcast episodes get right to the point, so it’s something that you can just listen to when you have a few spare minutes in your day and really learn a lot of information that you might not have otherwise known. It really is such valuable information that you’ll be able to put to work for you and your family to heal and feel better.

I also have a blog where I publish all of the clean recipes you will ever need, EatSmartCooking.com. I am all about being able to eat everything that you want, but doing it in a clean way. So chocolate cake, cookies, clean pasta, pizza, all of the foods you think you shouldn’t have, you can!

And then of course I provide one on one coaching, where I help people learn how to eat and clean for their families, as well as how to decode labels and grocery shop. So they can release themselves from their chronic health issues, lose weight and feel amazing and feel empowered.

I help people see past big food marketing and sneaky food labeling. You can find me at EatSmartCoaching.com And you can go ahead and get started with a free initial call where we can talk about some specific food related changes you can make, and some clean swaps for your most favorite foods!

Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!

About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.