Nutrition facts should be a part of
your decision in what to eat or even what to buy. Healthy eating starts with
knowing the facts about what you are putting in your mouth. Reading food
nutrition labels can help you make wise food choices. You should know how to
read the nutrition facts on a food label and not rely on catchy phrases like "low-fat" or
"healthy"Be label aware! Even people with healthy eating habits such
as vegetarians and dieters can still be eating
too much sodium, sugar and fat in their diets, especially if they prefer
tinned or processed foods.
Serving Size: The first thing you
should look out for is the serving size and the number of servings per
container. Serving sizes differ on each food label and may not equal the
serving size you normally eat. If you eat twice the serving size listed on the
label, you will need to double all the numbers in the nutrition facts section.
Tally up the calories and calories
from fat : This section on the label tells you the total number of calories in
each serving of the food and the number of those calories that come from fat.
For example, if a serving of noodles contains 250 calories with 110 from fat,
if you eat two servings of that, you would have consumed 500 calories with 220
calories from fat.
Add up the "Total fat":
Total fat includes fats that are good for you, such as monounsaturated,
polyunsaturated and omega-3 fats ( usually from liquid and plant sources such
as canola oil and nuts) and fats that are not so good for you such as saturated
and transfat ( from animal or vegetable sources). Monounsaturated and
Polyunsaturated fats can help lower blood cholesterol and protect your heart.
Transfats are also known as "hydrogenated" and "partially
hydrogenated" fats. These are
formed during the process of converting liquid oils into solid fats.
Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and stabilizes the flavor of these fats.
Partially hydrogenated fats are currently considered the worst fats for our
health.
Look at the "sodium" content : Sodium is also known as table salt
and it is a hidden ingredient in many foods, especially processed foods, such
as canned soups and tomato sauces.
Find out how much
"cholesterol" is in your item: This tells you how much cholesterol
you get from eating one serving of the food.. There are two types of
cholesterol; HDL, known as the "good" cholesterol and LDL, the
"bad" cholesterol.
Identify the "Total
Carbohydrates": This number represents the total of all the different
types of carbohydrates you consume from eating one serving of the food.
Work out the "fiber"
content: This number tells you how many grams of dietary fiber is in one
serving of the food. Dietary fiber is the undigestable portion of plant food.
Be vigilant about the amount of
"sugar": This is the amount of sugar you consume if you consume one
serving of the food. Some carbohydrates become sugar when digested in your
body, so you may be consuming more sugar than what is on the label.
View the protein amount: This number
tells you how much protein you obtain from consuming one serving of the food.
Look at the vitamins and minerals:
The food may contain several vitamins such as Vitamin A, B, C or E as well as minerals such as iron
and calcium.
See the "percent daily
value": This is normally written on food labels and it usually states the
percentage of recommended daily intake to be derived from consuming a serving
of the food item.
Finally, don't forget to look at the
"information at the bottom of the label". This chart is based on
2,000-calorie diet. This information must be on all food labels, although the
chart that follows is not required on small food packages. The information is
dietary advice from health experts. It shows the upper and lower limits for
each nutrient based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Let's use the noodles example. If
one serving of noodles provides 18 percent of the daily value of the possible
100 percent daily value for your total fat intake, that leaves 82 percent that
you could consume from other sources for that day. If you ate two servings, you
would have consumed 36 percent of your
daily value for fat, leaving 64 percent to be consumed from other sources.
You can print this list and take it
along whenever you go shopping to guide you in selecting healthy food items.
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