How to Read a Nutrition Label!

I'll be honest with you and admit that it wasn't until I started college that I started to care about what I was eating. This meant reading the nutrition labels on food and looking at the ingredients that made up the food I was eating.

Before college, I had a tendency to only focus on the amount of calories but I quickly learned that there was a lot more to it...

Serving Size: The FDA (Food and Drug Association) has created recommended serving sizes of how much one should eat of the chosen food in a given sitting. I often try to stick to these as strictly as I can so I can most accurately estimate how much protein, fiber, vitamins etc. Im consuming. Also be sure to note the Servings Per Container! More often that not, theres more than one serving given in the given container.

Calories: Calories tell you how much energy is in each serving. You should focus less on the amount and more on where the calories are coming from! BUT keep in mind that the average female should consume about 1,785 calories per day and the average male should consume 2,640 calories. The amounts can and do differ based on your height, weight, age and lifestyle. Calorie King is an online website, Ive used, that uses a formula to tell you the exact amount of calories you should eat and what a healthy weight range for you would be! Check out the link at the very bottom of the blog entry!

Fat: The most important thing to note with Fat is the type of fat. Saturated and Trans Fats are the worst for your health so try your best to avoid those as much as possible. Companies can also disguise Trans Fat by the name "Partially Hydrogenated Oil" so be sure to read the ingredients as well! Also be cautious of "fat-free" foods because although they may not contain any fat, they may have a larger amount of calories. On the other hand, good fats are monounsaturated and include olive, nut, fish and coconut oils.

Cholesterol: Cholesterol is only found in animal products. It should be limited to 300 mg a day. High cholesterol can result increasing your risk for heart and other cardiovascular diseases. If you're already at risk, consider a cholesterol intake of 200 mg a day.

Sodium: Now to me, this one is one of the most important ones to look at. The recommended daily amount is 2,300 mg but the less sodium you consume the better. Sodium often comes from salt which often is the basis for many processed foods. So be warned!

Total Carbohydrates: This summarizes the total of healthy and unhealthy carbs that are in the given food.

Dietary Fiber: Dietary Fiber would be considered your "healthy carbs." Adults should aim for 21-35 grams per day. Flax or Wheat Germ supplements can also be used to reach this quota however fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains tend to have a lot of it already!  

Sugars: These are considered simple carbs. They can be listed as glucose, dextrose, fructose and galactose and are seen plentiful in processed food. They offer barely any nutritional value and are normally used to enhance flavors. Beware of "low-fat" foods which may have a small amount of fat but make up for it in the amount of sugar! Try to stick with 8 grams of sugar per serving, excluding desserts.

Protein: Protein is the building block of your body which supplies energy for long periods of time. The recommended amount is 0.45 grams per pound of body weight!

Vitamins and Minerals: This list shows all naturally and artificially added vitamins and minerals in the given food. For more information about vitamins and what they do, check out a previous blog post also linked below.

Ingredients: Quite possibly the most important thing to look at before consuming the given food. They are listed in order of quantity, therefore the first ingredient makes up most of the given food. A helpful trick to identify mostly healthy foods: try to pronounce each ingredient listed. If you're struggling, it could often signify an artificial chemical of some sort. If you really want to get into it, test yourself and see if you can identify each ingredient! Some ingredients to avoid at all costs are:

• High fructose corn syrup- A cheap alternative to table sugar and is mostly food in processed foods!
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)- Also can go by maltodextrin, sodium casein ate, autolyzed yeast,  autolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, yeast extract and even citric acid. YIKES! Its mostly found in canned soups, diet foods, sausages, salad dressings and of course, fast foods! 
• Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)- Two common antioxidant preservatives, often used together. Can often been seen in cereals, potato chips and chewing gum. 
• Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrite- These additives are used to preserve the shelf life of meats including hot dogs, sausage and bacon.
• Propyl Gallate- An antioxidant preservative used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling. Also often used with BHA and BHT. Found in vegetable oils, meat products, chewing gum and believe it or not even in some domestic products.
• Sodium Benzoate and Benzoic Acid- Additives to prevent the growth of microorganisms in acid foods such as fruit juices, carbonated drinks and pickles!
• Potassium Bromate- Used in bread products to increase their volume!
• Last but not least, Food Colorings- Simply put, try to choose foods with natural dyes or dye-free!

And just like that, you've successfully gone through the entire nutrition label! The more labels you read, the more you'll get used to it, the more you'll understand, the more trends you'll be able to recognize and the quicker it will become!

So next time you're out buying groceries, try to look at the label for everything you intend to purchase & aim for the Fit Flavor of your life!

-xx Kassandra

Disclaimer: Images above are not property of The Fit Flavor ©.

Information gathered from: Men's Fitness and ChopChopMag

Calorie King Website: Personalized Calorie Intake Calculator  

Read More About Vitamins: LETS TALK: Vitamins