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Tuesday, May 2, 2006
common sense on reading nutrition labels
Not all foods are created equal. For example, take potato chips: Some are fried in “bad” fats and saturated with sodium. Other potato chips are fried in “good” fats, or baked, and are low in sodium – a much smarter choice. How can you tell the difference between these two? The answers are right there on the potato chip bag. What you learn from that “nutrition facts” label could save your life!
Nutrition labels are a wealth of handy information. By law, each label includes information about serving size, calories, fat, sodium, and fiber, as well as the food ingredients in the product. This allows you to compare products and get a handle on what exactly you are eating. But beware: Sometimes food labels can be confusing, or even misleading. Here are some tips for getting the most out of a food nutrition label.
-- The “serving size” is important, and remember that many packages (even small ones) contain more than one “serving.” In addition, what you call a decent serving and what the food label calls a “serving” may be two very different things. So if a nutrition label says there are two “servings” per container and you eat the whole thing, then you need to double the amount of calories, fat, and sodium that appears on the label.
-- In general, a food with 40 calories per a serving is considered a low-calorie food. A food with 100 calories per serving is a moderate-calorie food. An item that has 400 or more calories per serving is high in calories.
-- Remember that unsaturated fats are healthier than saturated fats, and trans fats are really bad news (since January 1, food manufacturers have been required to list trans-fat content on nutrition labels). Foods that are high in unsaturated fats include salmon, avocados, nuts and seeds, sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil and vegetable oils. Foods high in saturated fat include meat products, meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cakes and biscuits, cream, soured cream and coconut oil. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that people “older than 2 limit their fat intake to 30 percent or less of their daily calories and keep saturated fat to no more than one-third of their total fat intake or 10 percent of their calories.”
-- As with fat, you should limit the amount of cholesterol and sodium in your diet. Foods considered low in sodium have less than 140 mg per serving.
-- Take a look at the fiber content of your favorite foods. The higher the fiber content, the better. People who eat diets high in fiber are less likely to be obese or get heart disease. High-fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain cereals and breads.
-- The types of carbohydrates that you eat are also important. Opt for foods such as whole-grain breads and cereals, beans and rice, and whole-grain pasta instead of foods high in simple sugars.
Believe me, I like an occasional trip to Dairy Queen or Maid-Rite as much as anyone. But on a day to day basis, it pays to read those nutrition labels, and to make healthy choices. Doing so will help us to stay fit, stay well, and stay out of the hospital.
