Decoding Food Labels to LOSE Weight!
Whether you're concerned about cancer, cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, or simply losing weight, you want to
eat a healthy diet and focus on foods that are high in
vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, and balanced in
fats, carbs, proteins.
There is only one way to incorporate healthy foods into
our diet and that is to make the decision to do it!
Practical information about the nutrition and safety of
the foods we consume is absolutely vital in making this
decision.
One way to learn more about what we eat, is to snoop
around the supermarket. Check-out package labels to see
what manufactures are adding (or removing) from the
foods we eat. Read the information on the package and
start making comparisons to determine which foods are
the best for YOU. Know about nutritional labeling and
the sometimes sneaky ways that manufacturers have of
hiding what is in the food. Know and understand
ingredient declarations, how they are used, and what a
few of the "technical" terms mean. Are the unfamiliar
ingredients good or bad for your health?
Since 1994 food manufacturers have been required by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include food
labels (or Nutrition Facts labels) on product packaging
so that consumers have accurate nutritional information
about the food they purchase. But food labels are more
than just a federal requirement - once you understand
the information they provide, you can use food labels
as a guide to planning healthier meals and snacks.
Food labels are required on almost all foods, except
those that don't provide many nutrients such as coffee,
alcohol and spices. Although some restaurants provide
information about the food they serve, they aren't
required to have labels. The FDA recommends that
sellers provide nutritional information on produce,
meat, poultry and seafood, but it's strictly
voluntary.
What Is a Serving?
At the top of a food label under Nutrition Facts,
you'll see the serving size and the number of servings
in the package. The rest of the nutrition information
in the label is based on one serving.
Calories, Calories From Fat and Percent Daily Values
This part of a food label provides the calories per
serving and the calories that come from fat. If you
need to know the total number of calories you eat every
day or the number of calories that come from fat, this
section provides that information. Remember that this
part of the label doesn't tell you whether you are
eating saturated or unsaturated fat.
On the right side of a food label, you'll see a column
that lists percentages. These percentages refer to the
percent daily values (%DV). Percent daily values tell
you how much of something, whether it's fat, sugar or
vitamin A, one serving will give you compared to how
much you need for the entire day. It will help you
gauge the percentage of a nutrient requirement met by
one serving of the product. One way to use this section
of the label is when you comparison shop. For example,
if you're concerned with sodium, you can look at two
foods and choose the food with the lower % DV. Are you
trying to eat a low-fat diet? Look for foods that have
a lower percent daily value of fat.
The %DV is based on how much or how little of the key
nutrients you should eat whether you eat 2,000 or 2,500
calories a day. So if you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, you
should eat less than 65 grams of fat in all the foods
you eat for the day. If you're eating 12 grams of fat
in your one serving of macaroni and cheese (remember
that's one cup), you can calculate how much fat you
have left for the day. You can use the bottom part of
the food label in white to compare what you are eating
to the % DV you're allowed for that nutrient, whether
it's fat, sodium or fiber. If you need more or less
than 2,000 or 2,500 calories, you'll need to adjust
this accordingly.
Nutrients
Fat, Sugar, Sodium and Carbohydrate
The sections on a food label shows the name of a
nutrient and the amount of that nutrient provided by
one serving of food. You may need to know this
information, especially if you have high blood
pressure, diabetes or are eating a diet that restricts
certain nutrients such as sodium or carbohydrates.
Food labels also include information about how much
sugar and protein is in the food. If you are following
a low-sugar diet or you're monitoring your protein
intake, it's easy to
spot how much of those nutrients
are contained in one serving.
Vitamins, Minerals and Other Information
The light purple part of the label lists nutrients,
vitamins and minerals in the food and their percent
daily values. Try to average 100% DV every day for
vitamins A and C, calcium, iron and fiber. Do the
opposite with fat, saturated fat, sodium and
cholesterol. Try to eat less than 100% DV of these.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Reading a Food Label
Until you become accustomed to reading food labels,
it's easy to become confused. Avoid these common
mistakes when reading labels:
-A label may say that the food is reduced fat or
reduced sodium. That means that the amount of fat or
sodium has been reduced by 25% from the original
product. It doesn't mean, however, that the food is low
in fat or sodium. For example, if a can of soup
originally had 1,000 milligrams of sodium, the reduced
sodium product would still be a high-sodium food.
-Don't confuse the % DV for fat with the percentage of
calories from fat. If the % DV is 15% that doesn't mean
that 15% of the calories comes from fat. Rather, it
means that you're using up 15% of all the fat you need
for a day with one serving (based on a meal plan of
2,000 calories per day).
-Don't make the mistake of assuming that the amount of
sugar on a label means that the sugar has been added.
For example, milk naturally has sugar, which is called
lactose. But that doesn't mean you should stop drinking
milk because milk is full of other important nutrients
including calcium.
Reading Label Lingo
In addition to requiring that packaged foods contain a
Nutrition Facts label, the FDA also regulates the use
of phrases and terms used on the product packaging.
Here's a list of common phrases you may see on your
food packaging and what they actually mean.
No fat or fat free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of fat
per serving Lower or reduced fat: Contains at least 25
percent less per serving than the reference food. (An
example might be reduced fat cream cheese, which would
have at least 25 percent less fat than original cream
cheese.)
Low fat - Contains less than 3 grams of fat per
serving.
Lite - Contains 1/3 the calories or 1/2 the fat per
serving of the original version or a similar product.
No calories or calorie free - Contains less than 5
calories per serving.
Low calories - Contains 1/3 the calories of the
original version or a similar product.
Sugar free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of sugar per
serving.
Reduced sugar - at least 25% less sugar per serving
than the reference food.
No preservatives - Contains no preservatives (chemical
or natural).
No preservatives added - Contains no added chemicals to
preserve the product. Some of these products may
contain natural preservatives.
Low sodium - Contains less than 140 mgs of sodium per
serving.
No salt or salt free - Contains less than 5 mgs of
sodium per serving.
High fiber - 5 g or more per serving (Foods making
high-fiber claims must meet the definition for low fat,
or the level of total fat must appear next to the
high-fiber claim).
Good source of fiber - 2.5 g to 4.9 g. per serving.
More or added fiber - Contains at least 2.5 g more per
serving than the reference food.
With a little practice, you will be able to put your
new found knowledge about food labeling to work.
Reassess your diet and decide what needs to be
changed. Start by eliminating the foods that don't
measure-up to your nutritional wants and needs, and
replacing them with more nutritional substitutes.
And while you're at it, visit the FDA website and learn
about the new labeling requirements, including those
for "trans" fat. Like saturated fats, trans fats can
raise levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and
increase your risk of heart disease. The "Nutrition
Facts" panel on food packaging must provide this
information beginning January 1, 2006, but most
manufacturers will start providing it sooner.
About the Author
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This article provided courtesy of the 'Big *FAT* Lies'
report. *WARNING* Don't waste your time and money
on another diet plan until you read our 100% FREE report:
http://www.pushbuttoncontent.com/free_weightloss.html
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