Tips to read food labels wisely | Darrens Dieting News & Blog

Thursday 1 September 2011

Tips to read food labels wisely

nutrition__label.jpgDo you ever feel lost when it comes to choosing food in the supermarket? Or, you stare food packages trying to decide whether it is a healthy choice or not?

There are so many things to think about: grams of fat, grams of fiber, cholesterol milligrams, grams of sugar, and more.

First start at the top of the nutrition facts label, and read to the bottom. Check how many servings are in the container and what is the serving size for a serving. This will help you determine how many calories are in the whole package as well.

Then verify that the calories and fat. Attention to make sure that 0 grams trans fathas the product. Check the ingredients list to ensure that you can't find a hydrogenated oils to make sure that there is absolutely no trans fat in the product.

Sodium and cholesterol are next. We want to try to keep the sodium as low as possible. Excessive sodium is something that has more than 600 mg per serving. I would say it is still too much sodium if there are more than 300 or 400 milligrams per serving. You want to your daily intake of cholesterol under 200 milligrams.

The section carbohydrates on the food label will vary depending on what kind of food that you are looking for a general rule is that each 15 grams of carbohydrate results in a serving of carbs/grain. If you select a grainy or starchy product, try to choose the item that is at least 2 grams of fiber per serving. Check the sugar to make sure it's as low as possible (under 5 grams per serving). Dairy products the only exception is that naturally contain sugar and whole fruit.

You don't necessarily have to check the protein content, unless you are trying to increase or decrease of the protein in your diet. A quick look at the percentage of your daily intake for your important vitamins and minerals listed below.

Finally, the list of ingredients on the label is important. Ingredients are listed by weight of the largest least. If your first ingredient is sugar, is eating probably not a good choice.

Read labels practice every time you go to the supermarket and you will educate yourself and better reading skills on your label!

No comments:

Post a Comment