How to Read Food Labels for a Smarter Food Choice

In a world where people’s waist is getting wider and more and more folks are falling sick due to unhealthy food choices, its’ time to get smarter and do yourself a favor by selecting the food that its really right for you. Not food that you mistakenly believe is right for you.

To make smart food selection, what you really need is to be able to read food labels. It lets you make sensible food selections. Through the “Nutrition Facts” section in a particular food item in the grocery, you can identify whole lot of details provided of that product. By reading food labels intelligently, you can clearly understand the amount and kinds of nutrients that are provided in the item (for eg saturated fat, sodium, total fat, fiber, and cholesterol amount “per serving”).

However, you might find it perplexing trying to understand those food labels and found yourself asking what those numbers mean and how it actually affect your diet intake. You are not alone as food labels can be pretty misleading these days.

So to have a clear and more comprehensive understanding of the items stated in the food label, here is a list of things that you need to understand and watch out for:

1. Serving size

This is the primary item you will see in a food label.

The amount of servings stated in the food label refers to the quantity of food people usually consume. However, this does not necessarily mean that it reflects your very own amount of food intake.

Moreover, serving size determines the amount of nutrients that enters the body. This means that if you will follow strictly what the serving size is, you will obtain the same amount of nutrients according to the serving size that was given in the label.

For example, if the serving size says one serving size is equal to 54 grams, that would mean you have to measure 54 grams and eat that and you have just eaten one serving. So to speak, the amount of nutrients stated in the food label is the same amount that has entered your body considering the fact that you have just eaten 54 grams.

However, if you have eaten everything, and the food label says that each pack is equivalent to 4 servings, you have to calculate the amount of nutrients that have entered your body. This means that if the food label says 250 calories per serving that means you have to multiply it to four to get the total amount of calories you have taken. Many people completely mistaken the serving size quoted as their own serving size. As a result, they had consumed 1000calories instead of the 250calories. And we all know the effect this has on our body in the long term.

2. Nutrients

This refers to the list of available nutrients in a particular item. It is also where the nutritional claims of the product based on the recommended daily dietary allowance are stated. Usually, the nutritional amounts are based on both the 2,500-calorie diets and the 2,000 recommended dietary allowances.

In order to understand the numeric value of each item, you should know that the “% daily value” that the food label indicates is actually based on how a particular food corresponds to the recommended daily dietary allowance for a 2,000 calorie.

If in the event that you have purchased an item that has a dietary allowance different from the 2,000-calorie diet, you just have to divide the stipulated amount by 2,000 and you will be able to identify the “%daily value” for the nutrients.

3. Ingredients

This refers to the list of the ingredients that were used to manufacture the product. The listing is usually arranged from the main ingredients that have the greater amount by weight up to the smallest quantity. This simply means that the actual quantity of the food includes the biggest quantity of the main ingredient or the first item and the minimum amount of the very last ingredient. For example if the first ingredient of a bag of cookies is sugar, then it means sugar constitute the largest percentage of the ingredients that made up the bag of cookies. So in this case its’ not flour which are supposed to be the main ingredient. Unfortunately such situation is not uncommon with some many brands in the market. So look carefully.

4. Label claim

This refers to the kinds of nutritional claims of a particular food item. For instance, if an item says it is sodium-free, it has less than 5 milligrams per serving. Not 0 miligrams. Or a low fat item actually contains 3 grams of fat or less. And another example is sugar-free item, whereby the item actually uses sugar substitutes replacement to retain the sweetness such as aspartame, which is a toxin. The point here is to be discerning when reading the label and not just take it as it says.

Indeed, reading food labels can be very tedious and confusing. However, once you get the hang of it, it would gradually become easier for you to watch your diet and health by looking at the above 4 things whenever you pick up an item in the supermarket and decide sensibly. Eat smart today