Nutrition Fact Label: The Key to Good Health and Weight Loss!
Author: GailM.Davis Total views: 9 Word Count: 628
To achieve and maintain good health, educate yourself about nutrition fact labels and use them regularly when shopping. They provide valuable information that will help you make wise food choices. When guessing and estimating just aren't getting the job done, let the facts speak for themselves. Arm yourselves with the valuable information you need to stay on track and make good health a priority in your home.
The most essential piece of information offered by the nutrition fact label is the serving size and the number of servings per container. Everything else on the food label depends on this information being accurate. Looks can be deceiving! Always look to see how much you are consuming.
The next thing to note on the label is the number of total calories and the number of calories from fat. Remember that everything is listed per serving! If you have two or three servings in your package, you must double or triple this information. A calorie is a unit of measure that tells you how much energy is provided per serving of that food. In order to reach and maintain your ideal weight, you must expend more calories than you consume.
Next on the food labels are the nutrition numbers. Some of these are required and others are optional for manufacturers to include. Required ones consist of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, cholesterol, and sodium. Optional items include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, potassium, vitamins, and minerals.
Notice that the first several nutrients are the ones you want to limit in your diet. Eating too much fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk of heart disease, cancers, and high blood pressure. The nutrients listed next are the ones that you need to make sure you get enough of. Most people don't get enough fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. Getting enough of these nutrients can improve your general health and reduce your risk of some diseases and conditions.
Some nutrition fact labels are longer than others. The footnote at the bottom is often incomplete, depending on available space. The footnote is standard and is not based on the nutritional value of the food item. It simply explains that all dietary recommendations for Americans are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
An addition piece of data that is very helpful is the Percent Daily Value or %DV. This computes how much of each nutrient one serving provides, based on the 2,000-calorie diet. It isn't necessary to consume 2,000 calories each day to benefit from this calculation. The %DV makes it easy for you to use these numbers to achieve your 100% total of each nutrient.
Protein, sugar, and trans fat do not require a % DV. Protein only has to be listed if the food product is for children under the age of four, or if the product claims to be "high in protein." Trans fat should be avoided at all costs as it is associated with high LDL cholesterol levels. Sugar and it's many synonyms such as sucrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, honey, syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, and fruit juice should be limited for a healthy diet.
When nutrition fact labels are available on food packaging, they provide essential information that should be studied and utilized. Unfortunately, these labels aren't always provided. For those times, an Eat Smart Nutrition Scale would be a valuable addition to your kitchen. This food scale instantly calculates essential nutrients just by entering a three-digit code. This "food guidance system" helps you steer your eating patterns in the right direction for overall health and wellness.
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About the Author
Gail M. Davis offers an informative guide to understanding and utilizing nutrition fact labels and much more on her website, Easy Weight Loss Tips. Check out the Eat Smart Scale to make healthy food choices.
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