Figuring out Nutrition Labels
Have you noticed how a book comes with table of contents ? Nutrition Label is similar to that for any food item.The Nutrition Facts food label located on each and every food item, will tell you all the information about the nutrients that are in the food. Your body needs the right combination of nutrients, such as vitamins, to work properly and grow.
The Nutrition Facts food label is printed somewhere on the outside of packaged food, and you usually don't have to look hard to find it. Fresh food that doesn't come prepackaged sometimes has nutrition facts, too. For some however, this information isn't exactly that readerfriendly. Fear not, as it's actually easier than you think.
Serving Size:
This size is based on the amount people eat, such as 1 bowl of cereal, two cookies, four pretzzels. Serving Size also makes people to understand how much they eat. For example, if you eat four cookies, that counts as two servings.
Servings per Container or Package:
The label also tells you how many servings are contained in that package of food. If there are 15 servings in a box of cookies and each serving is 2 cookies, then you have enough for all 30 kids in your class to have one cookie each. Math comes in handy with food labels.
Calories and Calories From Fat:
The number of calories in a single serving of the food is listed on the left of the label. This number tells you the amount of energy in the food. People pay attention to calories because if you eat more calories than your body uses, you might gain weight. Another important part of the label is the number of calories that come from fat. People check this because it's good to limit fat intake. The calories in a food can come from fat, protein, or carbohydrate.
% Daily Value:
This indicates how food will fit in a 2,000 caloriediet. This will help you to understand if the foodhas a lot, or just a little of the important nutrients.For instance, there's a recommended daily allowance for fat, so the food label might say that one serving of this food meets 10% of the daily value. The daily values are based on an adult's needs, not a kids' needs. These are often similar, but kids need may need more or less of certain nutrients, depending on their age and size.
Some percent daily values are based on the amount of calories and energy a person needs. These include carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. Other percent daily values - like those for sodium, potassium, vitamins, and minerals - stay the same no matter how many calories a person eats.
Total Fat :
The total fat is the number of fat grams contained in one serving of the food. Fat is an important nutrient that your body uses for growth and development, but you don't want to eat too much. The different kinds of fat, such as saturated, unsaturated, and trans fat, will be listed separately on the label. Saturated fats can raise your blood cholestrol and have been linked to heart disease. So , It's better to minimize foods high in saturated fats such as meats, cheese, butter, eggs, milk, palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil, and baked goods like cookies, crackers, and pastries.
Cholesterol and Sodium :
These numbers tell you how much cholesterol and sodium (salt) are in a single serving of the food. They are included on the label because some people need to limit cholesterol or salt in their diets. Cholesterol and sodium are usually measured in milligrams.
Now that you know what the nutrition label actually means, it'll be a lot easy to eat healthy. Eating healthy is a great thing - especially when you use the nutrition label to assist you with your food choices.
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