Reading Behind the Label

Non-fat! Low Sugar! Sugar-free! Zero Trans-fat! Less Sodium! Low Carb! No Carb! Low Cholesterol! Zero Cholesterol! Low Calories!

Those words, when seen at a food product, would make you think how good a buy it is especially if you’re trying to avoid or minimize a particular food intake. Many of us have been led to believe that when a food box says, for example, “Low fat”, that it is actually low in fat. The result; we eagerly put it in the cart, believing we’ve made a smart and healthy choice.

According to Jeff Novick RD, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Center in Florida, there are two main rules when analyzing the content of the food you buy:

Rule #1: Never, ever believe anything in the front package ever!

Rule #2: Always read the Nutrition Facts label and the ingredient list.

Awareness of what we are feeding our body is important because we have to know what suits our dietary needs. However, most consumers are not fully knowledgeable on how to interpret Nutrition Facts. It may seem to be just a section in a food package with scientific terminologies and a couple of percentages, but knowing and understanding what these mean can help you make wise food decisions.

DECODING THE NUTRITION FACTS

Serving Size and Servings per Container

What are these: This pertains to the quantity of how much equals one serving and how many servings are there in a package. In short, it tells you how much food you are about to consume.

Watch out: This may be the simplest and the easiest to understand, but this part of the label can be tricky. What you consider as one serving may be two or more. This is usual especially with bottled drinks like soda, iced teas and sports drinks. It may be that the “100 calories” that you’ve read in the label became 250 when you finished the whole bottle.

Take note: There is a reason why Serving Size is placed on top of the label; read it first, and make sure you know what a serving is.

Calories

What are these: This is the unit used to measure the energy that a food provides. If not burned off, calories are converted to stored fat.

Watch out: Calorie requirements are different for every person. It depends on your size and lifestyle. The only thing related to calories that’s common for everyone are these --- too many calories, the excess gets stored as fat. Too few and you lose weight.

Take note: It is recommended that you know your daily recommended calorie intake. Thanks to technology, there are various websites that offer an online Calorie Calculator.

Calories from Fat

What are these: It is the equivalent number of calories that come from the food’s total food count.

Watch out: This is also varied. However, if you multiply it by three and get a close result as the total calories, proceed with caution.

Take note: If you do not want to hassle yourself from calculating, look at the Total Fat label instead.

Total Fat

What are these: This is the combination of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans-fat --- these stuff makes food taste good.

Watch out: Just because there is a large amount of grams of fat doesn’t mean it’s bad for you. There are also good fats, such as the ones found in fish.

Take note: Review the number for Saturated Fat and check if the ratio is at least three to one, total to saturated. More specifically, check for 3 grams total fat and 1 gram saturated fat per 100 calories.

Trans-Fat

What are these: These are man-made fats in which hydrogen is added to vegetable oil, helping to increase a food’s flavor and shelf life.

Watch out: Consuming trans-fat has zero benefits and should be avoided as much as possible as they trigger bad cholesterol levels (LDL) which then may result to diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular diseases and other various health risks.

Take note: If you see “partially hydrogenated” anything in the ingredients list, that’s trans-fat.

Cholesterol

What are these: A waxy, fat-like substance found in animals.

Watch out: Although only a small amount of cholesterol is added by food since the body produces most of the cholesterol in our system, too much cholesterol in the blood may damage your arteries and cause cardiovascular diseases.

Take note:  Aim for 300 milligrams or less per day.

Sodium

What are these: A mineral aiding to add flavor and preserve food. It’s salt.

Watch out: Healthy adults should limit sodium consumption to 2,300 milligrams or less. For those who have high blood pressure, an intake of no more than 1,500 milligrams per day is recommended.

Take note: You may see big numbers in this label section, but there’s nothing to be worried about.

Total Carbohydrates

What are these: Basically all of the sugar, starch, and fiber found in food.

Watch out: This section in the label usually does not specifically tell which can be found in your food, but it shows how many grams there are in a serving.

Take note: Not all carbohydrates are bad. In fact, it is the body’s number one source of energy, thus earning its title as the “body fuel”.

Dietary Fiber

What are these: These are the plant nutrients that can be found in good carbohydrates. Some of these include grains, oats, bran, whole wheat, fruits, and vegetables.

Watch out: There are two types of fiber that are crucial to your diet: Soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber helps keep blood vessels lubricated by moving from the digestive system to the circulatory system so cholesterol doesn’t stick. Oranges, apples, and oats are good examples of this type of fiber. On the other hand, insoluble fiber helps make you feel full because rather than being absorbed, it is being digested. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans are top examples.

Take note: The higher the fiber count, the healthier the food.

Sugar

What are these: The sweet stuff that people consume 150-plus pounds of per year.

Watch out: There are also two types of sugar: the natural sugar, which is inherent to some foods that we eat, naturally occurs so there is no need to worry about this. Fructose (fruit sugar), glucose (dextrose), galactose (milk sugar), lactose (a blend of glucose and galactose), and maltose (malt sugar) are examples of natural sugar. The one that we should watch out for is the added sugar, which quickly metabolizes into fat and can throw off your body’s weight-regulating hormones. Be wary of over-consuming sucrose (table sugar), cane juice, and high-fructose corn syrup as too much sugar is linked to an increase risk in obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia.

Take note: It is recommended that you limit your sugar consumption to 5 grams or less per serving.

Protein

What are these: These are organic compounds made of amino acids, which help build and maintain your whole body, as well as facilitating muscle repair and growth.

Watch out:  There are currently no bad findings about protein. The only thing that there is to know about it is that it helps keep you feeling satisfied, and when you purchase some snack foods which usually tempts you to overeat, make sure they contain protein.

Take note: We need about 0.8 gram of protein for every pound of body weight.

Vitamins and Minerals

What are these: These are basically the nutrients that your body needs for it to function properly.

Watch out: All labels must have four basic nutrients: Vitamins A and C, Calcium, and Iron. Since these numbers are based on minimum intakes, it only states the least amount of vitamins that you can consume to prevent you from getting scurvy, for example.

Take note: It is advisable that you take a multivitamin with breakfast to meet your vitamin and mineral needs.