Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Section Navigation Bar

horizontal rule

We've already mentioned that reading food labels will help you choose foods low in saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and calories. Food labels have two important parts: nutrition information and an ingredients list.

Read the nutrition information.

Look for the amount of saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and calories in a serving of the product. Compare similar products to find the one with the least amounts. If you have high blood pressure, do the same for sodium.

Look at the ingredients.

All food labels list the product's ingredients in order by weight. The ingredient in the greatest amount is listed first. The ingredient in the least amount is listed last. So, to choose foods low in saturated fat or total fat, limit your use of products that list any fat or oil first--or that list many fat and oil ingredients. If you are watching your sodium intake, do the same for sodium or salt.

nutrition label

Go to the Food Label ActivityArrow (green) right


NHLBI Home Page   |   NCEP Home Page   |   NIH Home Page

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes How to Lower Cholesterol Levels How to Lower Cholesterol Levels Frequently Asked Questions Resource Library Why Lower Cholesterol Levels Site Map CHD Home Page CHD Explained



Please send us your feedback, comments, and questions
by using the appropriate link on the page, Contact the NHLBI.

Note to users of screen readers and other assistive technologies: please report your problems here.