In the packaging of a food we can find useful information for us, and even more, in the area of nutritional information that can help us better select the ingredients that will be part of our diet and thus, will affect the health of the body. So, here are some useful facts to learn how to read and interpret food labels.
Foods, even foods that look healthy, often harbor dark secrets (greasy, salty, or filled with chemicals). Nutrition labels can be our best available defenses to identify and avoid unhealthy foods.
We are going to divide the nutritional label into manageable pieces and give you advice about what to look for and what to avoid. A nutritional label may seem a bit daunting at first: there is a lot of information packaged in a small …show more content…
Although this is the first place people look when reviewing a nutrition label, it is not necessarily the most important. "High in calories" does not necessarily mean "unhealthy."
Calories are simply a way of measuring energy. Our goal should be to get our energy (calories) from healthy, nutrient-dense sources. Calories in whole-grain nutritional cereals are very different from "empty" calories in sugar. The rest of the nutrition label will give you excellent information about the type of calories present in the particular food.
Fat
In a nutrition label, 'total fat ' includes all kinds of fats in a product, unsaturated, saturated, and trans fats. Unsaturated fats are considered 'healthy fats '. Predominantly they are in vegetal oils.
On the other hand, saturated fats and trans fats tend to come from animal products. Because of its negative properties, food manufacturers are required to state how much fat in a product comes from saturated or trans fat. Avoid any product with high amounts of saturated fat. If a product has trans fats, put it back on the shelf and look for a different …show more content…
This section lists the total amount of carbohydrates per serving, including starches and sugars. It is recommended that people get 45-65% of their daily calories from carbohydrates.
If on nutritional label do not describe what complex hydrates are and what are simple sugars , we can refer to their ingredients and see if it has sugar, fructose, sucrose or honey among its ingredients.
Added sugars will be included on the Nutrition Facts Label in 2018. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming no more than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugars The ingredients are listed by weight. This means that the higher an ingredient is on the list, the more it contains the product. Do not buy products that have listed sugar as one of the first ingredients.
Try to buy high-fiber foods as much as possible. On average women need to consume 25 grams of fiber while men need to consume 38 grams.
Vitamins and Minerals. The nutrition label lists vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. You should try to get more of these nutrients in your daily diet, as well as other vitamins and minerals that are not listed on the
Foods, even foods that look healthy, often harbor dark secrets (greasy, salty, or filled with chemicals). Nutrition labels can be our best available defenses to identify and avoid unhealthy foods.
We are going to divide the nutritional label into manageable pieces and give you advice about what to look for and what to avoid. A nutritional label may seem a bit daunting at first: there is a lot of information packaged in a small …show more content…
Although this is the first place people look when reviewing a nutrition label, it is not necessarily the most important. "High in calories" does not necessarily mean "unhealthy."
Calories are simply a way of measuring energy. Our goal should be to get our energy (calories) from healthy, nutrient-dense sources. Calories in whole-grain nutritional cereals are very different from "empty" calories in sugar. The rest of the nutrition label will give you excellent information about the type of calories present in the particular food.
Fat
In a nutrition label, 'total fat ' includes all kinds of fats in a product, unsaturated, saturated, and trans fats. Unsaturated fats are considered 'healthy fats '. Predominantly they are in vegetal oils.
On the other hand, saturated fats and trans fats tend to come from animal products. Because of its negative properties, food manufacturers are required to state how much fat in a product comes from saturated or trans fat. Avoid any product with high amounts of saturated fat. If a product has trans fats, put it back on the shelf and look for a different …show more content…
This section lists the total amount of carbohydrates per serving, including starches and sugars. It is recommended that people get 45-65% of their daily calories from carbohydrates.
If on nutritional label do not describe what complex hydrates are and what are simple sugars , we can refer to their ingredients and see if it has sugar, fructose, sucrose or honey among its ingredients.
Added sugars will be included on the Nutrition Facts Label in 2018. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming no more than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugars The ingredients are listed by weight. This means that the higher an ingredient is on the list, the more it contains the product. Do not buy products that have listed sugar as one of the first ingredients.
Try to buy high-fiber foods as much as possible. On average women need to consume 25 grams of fiber while men need to consume 38 grams.
Vitamins and Minerals. The nutrition label lists vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. You should try to get more of these nutrients in your daily diet, as well as other vitamins and minerals that are not listed on the