What You Can Learn About Your Food From The Labels
Posted on: 6 February 2019
When you care about the food that you put into your body, the nutrition facts panel can provide you with plenty of information that you need. While you may think that an item you are eating is a healthy choice, what you read on the panel may give you a different opinion. It can be hard to figure out if a food is nutritious, as the label can sometimes be deceiving. Labels have been around since 1986, with the goal of educating the public on nutrition and the link to heart disease. With so much information available to consumers, it can become difficult to figure out is a food is actually good for your health or not.
Check the Serving Size
The first thing to do when you are trying to figure out how many calories you are going to consume is to check the serving size. While you may assume that a bottled drink is one serving, this is usually not true when the drink contains a high amount of calories. Read the label carefully, and you might find that there are 2-3 servings in one small bottled drink. If you are interested crackers, for example, know that the serving size may only be a couple of crackers and not worth the calories.
The Sugar Content of the Food
To determine whether food is nutritional or not, you have to take a careful look at the sugar content. For every 4 or 5 grams of sugar on the label, the food you are eating contains a teaspoon of sugar. When you look at the ingredients list, you may find sugar in a number of forms. It is the total amount of sugar that is important to locate. Don't be confused by the different types and add up they total grams to figure out if something is healthy or not.
Understand About Healthy and Unhealthy Fats
The type of fat you eat is as important as the amount of fat you consume in your diet. Saturated and trans fats can increase your cholesterol and put you at risk for heart disease. Look for foods with unsaturated fat in low amounts to keep your fat intake in check.
Food labels can be a wealth of information if you know how to read them. Learn what the serving size is to calculate calories correctly. Pay attention to all the sugars within the food, and avoid those with a high overall content. For more information, reach out to companies like NutritionPanels.com.
Share