New Article: Decoding Food Labels to LOSE Weight!

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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.

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