Weight Loss: How to Factor in Food Labels

[Guest guest]

A Free-Reprint Article Written by: J. Price

Article Title:

Weight Loss: How to Factor in Food Labels

See TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.

Article Description:

A key tool in gathering information for weight loss s the

nutrition label found on the packaging of almost every piece

of food we buy. Knowing how to read this label is a vital

skill that should be part of every grocery-shopping trip.

Here, we give you the skinny on what to look for, so you can

quickly get the info you need and get going.

Additional Article Information:

===============================

906 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2010-01-19 11:00:00

Written By: J. Price

Copyright: 2010

Contact Email: mailto:julie.j.price@...

For more free-reprint articles by J. Price, please visit:

http://www.thePhantomWriters.com/recent/author/julie-j_-price.html

=============================================

Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:

=============================================

HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste

Versions Of Article Are Available at:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/p/food-labels-weight-loss.shtml#get\

_code

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weight Loss: How to Factor in Food Labels

Copyright © 2010 J. Price

Habit Changer

http://www.HabitChanger.com/

Information is an important part of any major effort, and that

includes trying to lose weight. When we know exactly what's

going into our bodies, we can make informed decisions about how

to take control, rather than making hopeful guesses and blind

leaps.

A key tool in gathering this information is the nutrition label

found on the packaging of almost every piece of food we buy. This

little label provides essential information summarized to help

you maximize your weight-management efforts. Knowing how to read

this label is a vital skill that should be part of every grocery

shopping trip.

By simply taking a moment to factor in these nutritional facts,

you gain concrete, reliable data that can take the guesswork out

of your diet. Here, we give you the skinny on what to look for,

so you can quickly get the info you need and get going.

Step One - Look at the Serving Size

This is the single most important piece of information on the

Nutrition Facts label. All the other information on the list is

based on a single serving size, so knowing this size is vital to

understanding the rest of what we're reading.

Consider a chicken noodle soup can, for example. The label says

that the soup has 890 mg of sodium, or 37% of the

daily-recommended intake for a 2,000-calorie diet. This is not

the total for the entire can, it is the total per serving.

However, there are 2.5 servings in a single can. This means the

can has 2225 mg of sodium, or 92.5% of the daily value. This is

the difference between one can being a third of our daily

allowance and nearly ALL of our daily allowance.

Step Two - Look at the Categories

There are a number of elements listed, always in a standard

order, and again always broken down by serving size. Not every

label has every item. Foods made from fruit typically don't list

cholesterol, for example. As a rule of thumb, if the label

doesn't list it, then that element isn't present (or at least

not in a statistically significant amount). These sections

typically have a hard number per servings, but also can include

sub-sections explaining in more detail.

For example, the categories on our sample soup can include:

* Calories: Our chicken noodle soup has 60 calories per serving,

with 20 of them coming from fat.

* Total Fat: This can has two grams of fat per serving, .5 of

which are saturated fats. The can contains zero grams of the

particularly troublesome transfats.

Step Three - Look at the Numbers

There are several important groups of numbers on every Nutrition

Facts label. Each set of numbers has their own meaning, and can

provide a great deal of information.

The first number to consider is typically labeled " %DV, " which

stands for percent of daily value. A serving of chicken noodle

soup has 15mg of cholesterol, which is 5% of the

daily-recommended value.

Notice that these percentages, however, are based on a 2000

calorie a day diet. Everyone's dietary needs are different, so

the Nutrition Facts label has to shoot for an average. If you

were an athlete training on a 2400 calorie a day diet, 5% of your

daily cholesterol would be 18mg, not 15mg.

This means that while the percentages are a useful guideline,

they can only serve as that. More important are the hard numbers

of these ingredients, in grams and milligrams. Consult your

dietician or nutritionist and establish what your target daily

allowance of calories, fats, and the like will be, and then use

that information to determine what your percentages are.

Step Four - Make the Info Count

Of course, we need more than a list of raw data when it comes to

taking control of our eating habits. As mentioned above, remember

that you need to speak with a professional and identify your

specific dietary needs before you can truly take advantage of

this information.

For example, a diabetic has different nutritional requirements

than someone who is simply a few pounds overweight. For the

diabetic, the carbohydrates section will probably be the most

important, since it includes the sugar content of the food in

question. For someone simply looking to lose a few pounds,

knowing the calorie content is probably going to be the focus, so

they can compare their exercise to their diet intake. Sodium will

of course be relevant to those with high blood pressure, and so

forth.

The important thing to remember is that this label is a tool for

taking control, not a warning list to make you feel guilty about

eating. Yes, our can of soup has a great deal of sodium in it,

something that should give us pause. That doesn't mean we have

to skip it, it simply means we need to consider reducing salt

intake in our other foods for the rest of the day, or perhaps

having only half the can at a time, with a piece of fruit as a

side.

The Nutrition Facts label is a great opportunity for personal

empowerment, because it gives us so much of the information we

need, in one convenient place. For example, consider organizing

your daily food journal in the same way a nutrition label is laid

out. Take some time to examine the labels in your pantry, and

find a way you can use this information to help you take control.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Price is Director of Weight Management at

http://www.HabitChanger.com/ offering effective

and empowering solutions for losing weight.

Try our 42-day weight loss program at:

http://www.habitchanger.com/losingweight