How to Read a Nutrition Label

Nutrition labels can help you find out and understand what is in the food you buy, eat and feed to your family. Read on to learn about the nutrition facts listed on food labels and what you need to know about each of these facts.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Determine the serving size. For example the serving size may be 1/2 cup. If 1/2 cup is what you eat then the rest of the nutrition facts will fit. However, if you eat a whole cup, you'll have to double the information listed on the rest of the nutrition label. If you eat a different amount, adjust the other nutrition facts to fit the amount you consume.

2. Learn the number of calories per serving. This is the number of calories you will consume in 1/2 cup of this product. If you consume more product, you consume more calories.

3. Limit saturated fats in your diet by reading the nutrition label which tells you how many grams of total fat it has. This includes grams of saturated fat and grams of trans fat. 3 grams of fat or less is a good thing. You should also limit saturated fats and avoid trans fats altogether.

4. Limit your cholesterol intake. Just like fat, less is better.

5. Eat less sodium since in a healthy diet, sodium should be limited to less than 2,300mg daily.

6. Add fiber to your daily diet by eating whole grain products. The nutrition label indicates the number of grams of carbs which includes grams of fiber and grams of sugar.

7. Judge the protein listed on the nutrition label by considering that one ounce of meat has about 7-8 grams of protein.

8. Know how many and which vitamins you're getting by reading the nutrition label. This percentage on the nutrition label indicates how much of your daily need is met with a serving of this product. These percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember the rule in Step 1 about increasing or decreasing facts if you increase or decrease the portion size you consume.

[Susanh]

on 9/9/2009 Great tips! It's amazing to read some of the labels for foods that would seem harmless, but really contain too much sodium, fat, and calories.

[turtledove]

on 8/25/2009 It all get complicated, but it's worth it. The percentages help, too, especially for fat and sodium. 5*

[harrietcat]

on 7/13/2009 More people need to know how to do this... that "portion size" thing is important!

[ThenAgainMaybe]

on 7/5/2009 Great article on how to read a nutrition label! Portion size is important as this is one way to trick the consumer into thinking he's eating healthier.

[ladykbd]

on 7/2/2009 Great Article, this stuff is so important!