The Easy Guide to Decoding Food Labels
Decode ingredients in seconds, not hours.
When I first started paying attention to labels, I felt like I was trying to read a foreign language. Oils, flours, sweeteners… it all blended together. But the truth is: once you know the basics, label reading becomes the tool that changes everything about the way you shop, eat, and feel.
Today, I want to give you the exact shortcuts I teach my clients so you can spot the biggest red flags — and find the products that actually serve your body.
The Three Biggest No’s 🚫
When you see these ingredients on a label, it’s an automatic no:
Oils: canola, vegetable, soybean
Flours: enriched, white, or wheat flour
Sweeteners: cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup
👉 These are the top culprits behind inflammation, energy crashes, and bloating.
A Quick Note on Cane Sugar 🍫
Yes, cane sugar makes the “no” list… but there’s nuance. Some clean products (like chocolate chips) have to be sweetened with something. A handful of brands use coconut sugar, but they’re rare.
When buying chocolate chips, just look for chocolate + cane sugar, no dairy, no soy, no preservatives. That’s your best option in the real world.
Ingredient Order Matters 🥖
Did you know? Ingredients are listed in order of most to least.
So, if you pick up a muffin and the first ingredient is “enriched wheat flour,” that muffin is basically flour. Add cane sugar as the second ingredient? Now you’ve got a muffin that’s mostly sugar and flour, no matter how pretty the marketing looks. But the end is all of the preservatives. So, if your label is very long like this one below — it is even worse!!
Why I Say No to Stevia 🚫🌱
This one surprises people. Stevia is marketed as “natural,” but I’ve seen it wreck digestion in countless clients. Most stevia on the market goes through a rigorous 35-step process using harsh solvents (some from petroleum) which leak into the stevia you are consuming. I have worked with thousands of clients and those that had stevia in their days experienced:
Bloating
Irregular bathroom habits
Even unnecessary medical tests… until we pulled stevia out and everything normalized
When I say I’m the “poop fairy,” it’s not magic — it’s just ingredient awareness. Watch the video at the top to better understand.
What About Gums & Preservatives?
You’ll often see something like xanthan gum at the end of an ingredient list. Here’s my rule of thumb:
If it’s the last ingredient and you eat that food once in a while → you’re probably fine.
If you eat it often and feel bloated or off the next day → you’re sensitive, and it’s best to cut it out.
This is where personal experimentation comes in.
Clean Brand ≠ Clean Across the Board 🛑
One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming every product from a “clean” brand is safe. Not true.
LesserEvil popcorn: himalayan flavor= clean. Sweet flavor = cane sugar and brown rice syrup.
Malk nut milk: Almond and cashew = clean. Oat milk = no go. (Oats expand in water, and oat milk often leads to bloat + blood sugar spikes.)
Always read each label — even from brands you think you can trust.
Overwhelmed with Labels? Take me with you to the grocery! Want Me in Your Back Pocket? 📲
Reading labels can feel overwhelming at first. That’s why I created the Read the Labels App — it’s like having me in your back pocket at the grocery store.
Snap a photo or scan, and the app will flag the same ingredients I just walked you through. It does the detective work so you don’t have to.
👉 Download the Read the Labels App here
🔒 Paid Subscriber Section
Your Bonus Download: Jen’s Forbidden Ingredients Cheat Sheet
This is the exact one-page reference I give my private clients. It covers:
✅ The oils that always cause inflammation
✅ The sneaky sweeteners that wreck digestion
✅ The flours that drain energy and spike blood sugar
✅ My “green light” swaps for each category
Keep it on your phone or print it out — and you’ll never second-guess a label again.
[Download the Cheat Sheet by becoming a paid subscriber today]
