Nutrition and Weight Loss Ideas

The Wellness of YOU! — Part Sixteen
More Food Label Goodies
January 30, 2006

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Did you have a good Sunday? It was a quiet day around here yesterday. Just relaxed and enjoyed watching some of the Buick Open.

I may not be posting for the next couple of days as I’m going to go in for cataract surgery tomorrow. I had my left eye done a couple of years ago and the time has come to do the other eye. So, I’ll be a “one-eyed monster” for a couple of days. If I can see to type and read with the one eye, I’ll at least get a short article here for you. Otherwise it may be later in the week before I get back to it.

On Saturday we were talking in general terms about what’s on food labels. Today, we’ll take a look at them in more detail and see if we can show you what to look for when you read. Remember, it’s your wellness, health and fitness we’re talking about — and reading food labels is a big part of the process.

Here’s what to look for on food labels:

First, and vitally important is the Serving Size:

This is vital to read because everything that follows it is based on it. The Serving Size is usually located near the top of the label. When you read the serving size, be sure you also see how many servings are included.

For example, if you’re looking at the label on one of those one cup containers of yogurt but the serving size is one-half cup, you’ll have to double all the other numbers on the label if you decide to eat the whole cup. If the number of calories for one serving (1/2 cup) is 100 calories, and you eat the whole cup of yogurt, you’ve eaten 200 calories.

Many people will just look at the calorie figure and think that’s for the entire contents, so be sure to check the serving size first.

Under the Serving Size is the listing of all the nutrition facts. Here’s where you’ll see the amounts of salt, sugar, fat and cholesterol (things you want to limit in your wellness diet ) — and also fiber, vitamins, minerals like calcium and iron (things you want to include in your wellness diet).

Right alongside each of the nutrition items is the percent of the total you should have in a day. This “percent of daily value” is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. So, for example, if that cup of yogurt shows 8 grams of protein and that represents 16 percent of your “daily value”, you need another 84 grams of protein that day.

I would recommend using these figures as an estimate only. What a particular individual should or should not have in their daily diet will vary from person to person. One size does not fit all. Just think of the “daily value” as a general guideline.

Another very important part of the food label is the ingredients section. This is usually beneath the box that says, “Nutrition Facts”, but it can also be located elsewhere on the package. The ingredients are listed in order, from the greatest amount to the least amount. If the item you’re buying has sugar as the second or third item in the list of ingredients, you know you’re getting something that has a lot of sugar in it.

Also, as a rule of thumb, you can usually figure that a product that has only a few ingredients might be more healthy than one with a lot of them. For example, a jar of applesauce that lists just apples and water under ingredients is going to be a lot better for you that one that has added sugar, corn syrup and a bunch of chemicals to keep it from spoiling. Since the jar with just apples and water is better for you, make it a regular part of your daily diet and you won’t have to worry about it spoiling.

Some of the other things that food producers put on their containers also need some explanation — things like low-fat, low sodium, high-fiber, etc. If you read the labels, you should be able to prove those claims. A low-fat food must contain less than three grams of fat per serving. “Light” foods must have a third fewer calories than the regular version.

Here are some other terms defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

* low-saturated fat: one gram (g) or less per serving
* low-sodium: 140 milligrams (mg) or less per serving
* very low sodium: 35 milligrams or less per serving
* low-cholesterol: 20 milligrams or less and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving
* low-calorie: 40 calories or less per serving

Also, one of the big traps we all get caught in is the idea that if the package says it’s “fat free” or “low-fat” or “low-sugar” that label doesn’t always translate to “low-calories”. Again, READ THE LABEL — some “fat-free” foods are loaded with sugar — and some “low-sugar” foods are loaded with fat and cholesterol. So be careful.

Again, it’s about your wellness, health and fitness. Those food labels will help you to be smart about your food choices. Use them.

Have a great day. I’ll be back as soon as I can see well enough to get another article posted for you.

Shanti,

Ron
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 10:47 am and is filed under Nutrition and Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.