Bootcamp Owner Decodes Nutrition Labels

Copyright (c) 2011 Justin Yule Enterprises, LLC

Do you know what to look for on a nutrition label or are you just focused on the number of calories and forget about the rest?

The Food and Drug Administration now has regulations for food labels so that from a consumer's perspective everyone is similar. The question then becomes what do you look for? The first place our eyes always go is to how many calories there are, BUT does that tell us everything we need to know about the product?

The answer is NO!

When you first examine a nutrition label you should be looking at the serving size. This influences the number of calories and all the nutrient amounts listed. For example, if the label states a product has 120 calories per serving but there are 4 servings per container if you consumed the entire thing you would have eaten 480 calories total. That is a lot different than the 120 calories listed. DON'T BE FOOLED BY SERVING SIZES! Remember eating too many calories per day (more than you burn) is the quickest road to overweight and obesity.

All the nutrients contained in the food are listed on the label. What should you look for and what should you avoid?

Limit these nutrients: fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium.

They have the ability to increase certain chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure. However, we all need some fat in our diets; there are certain fats that are "good" for us. When reading a label if the fat source is saturated or trans you want to limit your intake. If you are seeing monounsaturated or polyunsaturated as the primary source it is a better choice.

While some nutrients you want to limit there are others you want to make sure you are consuming enough of. Most of us lack dietary fiber, vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron in our diets. Eating enough of these nutrients can improve your health and help reduce the risk of some diseases and other rather unpleasant conditions. Also, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and grain products that contain dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, and low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Remember: You can use the Nutrition Facts label not only to help limit those nutrients you want to cut back on, but also to increase those nutrients you need to consume in greater amounts.

On all labels you will see the % Daily Values for most nutrients. (%DV) are based on the Daily Value recommendations for key nutrients but only for a 2,000 calorie daily diet. You, like most people, may not know how many calories you consume in a day. But you can still use the % DV as a frame of reference whether or not you consume more or less than 2,000 calories.

Ingredient lists are important to look at to ensure the product doesn't contain any unnecessary added sugars, preservatives, or additives to provide additional flavor. Ingredients are listed in the descending order of weight (from most to least). If you are concerned about you intake of sugars, make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars include: corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey and maple syrup. An additional ingredient that relates to limiting trans fat is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. A product may not contain trans fat according to the nutrient label but if a hydrogenated oil is in the ingredient list it is a product you still want to limit because it does have an amount of trans fat.

Source: http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/Art/660623/593/bootcamp-owner-decodes-nutrition-labels.html

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