Nutrition Fact Label
To attain and keep good health, learn about the nutrition fact label on all commercial products and use them on a regular basis when shopping. These labels furnish valuable data that will help you make smart food selections. Please don't forget that not knowing is not as good as knowing. You can turn your head the other way but it will show up when you get on the scales.
Serving Size and Servings Per Container
Serving Size and Servings Per Container are probably the most important statements on the label. Carefully pay attention to what they state because they can lead you astray. The information presented here is the basis for all else on the label. How many times have you ate what you thought was one serving and it turned out to be two or more. Always be aware of how much you are consuming.
Number of Total Calories and Number of Calories from Fat
This information is per serving so you must double the amount shown if your package has two servings to it.
The calories shown tells you the measure of how much energy is there per serving of that product. These amounts of 40 is low, 100 is average and 400 is high are common examples to calories
When considering and keeping the ideal weight, remember that you must work off more calories than you take in. What hurts most everybody is taking in more than we burn off. If you want to lose weight then your lifestyle must contain good activity and some exercise.
Nutrition Numbers
Depending on the item the nutrition numbers are of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, cholesterol and sodium. Some labels need to include monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and potassium. A list of the top vitamins and minerals are mandatory on the Nutrition Fact Label. Many makers of the products add them anyway.
If you take a look at the list you will see that the bad ones are listed first.
You will raise your risk fo cancers, high blood pressure and heart disease by consuming too much of bad ones which are the fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium.
The good guys are next on the list, the ones we need to get a good share of. Nutrients that people do not get their daily needs are fiber, A and C vitamins, calcium and iron.
There are footnotes posted on most labels at the bottom. The recommended dietary quantities based on 2,000 calories per day. This part of each label no matter what the product is will be the same, it is standard statement.
Percent Daily Values - %DV
The Percent Daily Value (%DV) is an important list that gives you the amount of each nutrient that one serving furnishes based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.
If you eat 2000 calories a day then these numbers correspond to your diet. This list is standard and no calculations are needed.
These numbers are related to the portion size. If you double your portion then you will have to double the numbers. If you eat, for example, a item that has 16
%DV of fat which by standards is not high, however, if you eat 2 servings then you have consumed 32 %DV which is high. What this means is you have 68 %DV left to consume the rest of the day.
With items like fat, cholesterol and sodium you want to make sure that the totals add up to 100% or less of the Recommended Daily Value (RDV) every day.
Look to find that carbs, fiber, vitamins and minerals have higher percentages and get less of cholesterol, fat and sodium when you look at the labels.
Another way to use the %DV is comparing similar items or brands. See what has the highest percentage of a certain nutrient on nonfat, light or reduced fat products. By knowing this, now you can make better choices of daily food. By knowing this you can eat high percentage at one meal and less percentage on the next meal.
Trans fat, protein and sugars don't have %DV listed. We have come to realize that today trans fat may lead to high bad cholesterol and we need to stay away from consuming. If the product claims to be high in protein then %DV has to listed or if the food is made for chilren under age 4. Sugar has no recommended daily amount but remember sugar comes in many different forms like maltose, sucrose, lactose, fructose, honey, corn syrup, syrup, molasses and fruit juices.
A nutritional fact label can be a invaluable source of guidance to help with your diet choices. Take a few minutes out to discover what that label is telling you, understand and use the labels.
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