How to Properly Read a Nutrition Label

Knowing how to properly read a nutrition label is very important. It not only gives you calorie content, but can also show you some ingredients that you may want to stay away from such as hydrogenated oils, refined flour and high fructose corn syrup.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Serving Size
   
   The first piece of information listed on the nutrition label is the serving size. This label is for a potato that weighs 148 grams. It is very important that you measure out the serving size correctly for the label to give you accurate details on what you are eating. If your serving size is bigger than the 148g listed , you will be eating more than 100 calories.
2. Amount Per Serving
   
   Next, the label will tell you the amount of calories (and calories from fat) per serving. In this case, a potato that weighs 148g will have 100 calories of which 0 are from fat.
3. % Daily Value
   
   Percent Daily Value gives you a percentage that tells you how much of a certain nutrient you are getting relative to your daily intake of calories. For example, if you are eating 2000 calories in a day and a food has 10g of fat (90 calories of fat) the percent daily value would be 5% since 90 calories is 5% of 2000. The bottom of the label tells you what diet they are basing this number on. In this case, it was 2000.
4. Fat
   
   Fat will be listed as, total fat and as the types of fat contained in the foods. All foods will have saturated fat content and have recently added trans fat amounts on their labels. Sometimes, unsaturated fat is not listed. In this case, add up saturated and trans fat. Subtract the number you get from total fat.
5. Cholesterol
   
   Cholesterol is listed under fat. In recent years, the emphasis has been taken off of cholesterol and moved onto your total saturated fat intake. Some foods such as shrimp (which are healthy) are high in cholesterol and low in saturated fat.
6. Sodium
   
   In some, sodium intake is very important. It can raise blood pressure to levels that are considered hypertensive.
   
   Potassium
   
   Potassium, listed under sodium, has been shown to be very healthy for your heart.
7. Total Carbohydrate
   
   The number beside total carbohydrate will tell you just that. Under, the total carbohydrates are broken down into sugars, fiber and sometimes other carbohydrates.
   
   Protein
   
   Protein does not have a daily value because it differs from person to person depending mainly on weight.
8. Vitamins and Minerals
   
   Vitamins and minerals are listed at the bottom of the label. Since there are different recommendations for vitamins and minerals for different age groups, the amount that is listed on the label may not be appropriate for you. To be sure use the Daily Vitamin Needs Calculator.
   
   More
   
   On foods that contain more than one ingredient (eg: peanut butter, bread and cheese) the ingredients are also included at the bottom. They are ordered according to how much of that ingredient is in the food. The first ingredient is the most while the last is the least.
9. You can get more help by reading and posting to the diet and exercise forums that are linked below.