Womens Beauty Tips

by Gail M. Davis

Educate yourself about nutrition fact labels to help you achieve and maintain good health.  The relevant information provided by these food labels makes it possible for you to quit guessing and estimating and start succeeding in the quest to reach your desired weight!  Make this one of your most treasured tools to help you reach all of your wellness goals.

No other information on your nutrition fact label will be as important as the serving size and the number of servings per container!  If you get this information incorrect, every other piece of information will be inaccurate as well.  Always know how much you are consuming!

Your food label will also provide the total calories and the number of calories from fat.  It takes 3500 calories to equal a pound.  In order to reach and then maintain your ideal weight, you must expend more calories than you consume.  Remember that everything is listed per serving on the label; therefore you may have to double your calories if you eat two servings.

Nutrition numbers are the next piece of information provided.  These include total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, total carbohydrates, fiber, sugars, protein, cholesterol, and sodium.  Sometimes you will see monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as well.  Even though manufacturers are not required to do so, many also include potassium, vitamins, and minerals on their labels.

The food label is organized in such a way that you want to avoid too much of the nutrients listed first.  Diets high in fats, cholesterol, and sodium can increase your risk of cancers, high blood pressure, and heart disease.  The nutrients listed next are the ones you want to make sure you consume plenty of in your diet.  Fiber, calcium, and vitamins A and C all promote good health.

Some Nutrition Fact Labels list a footnote at the bottom of each label. Some footnotes are complete and some are not, depending on the size of the label. The footnote simply lists, based on the 2,000-calorie diet, the recommended dietary amounts for all Americans. This information is standard and does not change from label to label.

The Percent Daily Value, or %DV, makes it very easy for us to make sure we consume 100% of our total nutrients.  This percentage computes how much of each nutrient one serving provides.  You don’t have to eat 2,000 calories each day to benefit from this calculation.

You will notice that trans fat, protein, and sugars do not have %DV.  Research links trans fat to high LDL cholesterol levels and should be avoided!  %DV only has to be listed for protein if the product claims to be “high in protein” or if the product is for children under the age of four, and there is no daily recommended amount for sugar. Keep in mind that sugar has many synonyms, such as sucrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, honey, syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, or fruit juice.

If used correctly, nutrition fact labels are an extremely valuable resource, but unfortunately, they are not always available.  For those times when you don’t have the option of using a nutrition fact label, equip your kitchen with an Eat Smart Nutrition Scale.  This impressive food scale instantly calculates and displays key nutrients for specific portions of 999 foods!  It serves as a “food guidance system” as you work to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Gail M. Davis offers an easy guide to understanding and utilizing  nutrition fact labels and much more on her site, Easy Weight Loss Tips. Check out the  Eat Smart Scale to make healthy food choices.