Learn how to read food labels

Do you know how to read food labels? They can be very important when looking at how many calories we are eating.

Many country's in the world now require foods to contain labels giving information about the sources of nutrition. These sources are:

This is all well and good but what does all this mean? Let's take a look at what these groups actually are:

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are commonly referred to as “carbs”. Carbs are both starches and sugars.

Most of us are familiar with sugars, it's the stuff many of us put in our tea. It is a white crystalline often used as a sweetener.

Starches are found in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice.

Officially, fiber is also a carbohydrate, but the body cannot digest it. However, consumption is important as it can help keep our intestines healthy.

Men should generally aim for around 30 grams of fiber per day whilst woman should aim for 20. If you eat a healthy diet, the chances are you are already getting around this amount.

However, if you are currently eating very little fiber, be sure to increase the amount you eat slowly to avoid a “shock” to your intestines, which could result in stomach upset and diarrhea.

Proteins

Proteins are a very important part of our diet. They are necessary for building many parts of our body, including our muscles and organs.

Proteins are also very important for a healthy immune system.

Good protein sources include:

Fats

It is a common misconception that fats are bad for us. Fats are infact a very important part of our diet.

Foods highest in fat include cooking oils, butter, margarine and nuts.

The fats we most commonly eat in foods can be categorized as saturated, polyunsaturated, mono unsaturated and trans fatty acids.

It is suggested by the American heart foundation that we should derive no more than 30% of our calories from fat. However, it is true, many diets and doctors do not agree with this, but it is ideal to use as a general guide.

They also suggest that no more than 7% of our calories come from saturated fats and no more than 1% from trans fatty acids. All this information should be on the food labels.

Calories

Now this is a big one. As we know, it is generally the case that the more calories we eat, the more likely it is we will put on weight.

To get a good idea of the number of calories we need, be sure to look at my counting calories to lose weight page.

Let's just take a quick look at how they work out the number of calories.

Proteins, carbs and fats all contain calories:

As you can see, 1 gram of fat contains over twice as many calories as a gram of carbohydrate and protein.

Sodium

Sodium is a mineral. Generally, we most commonly consume sodium in the form of table salt.

The recommend maximum consumption of sodium is 2400mg.

It is important not to constantly exceed this level as a high sodium intake has been link to high blood pressure.

Sodium is often highest in processed foods so be sure to check the label.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are essential for our health and well being. If we do not get all the vitamins we need, it can results in deficiencies. This can cause a whole host of symptoms.

Each vitamin and mineral performs a specific task in the body. More details about these can be found at kidshealth.org.

Now you have a better understanding of how to read food labels you will be able to put into practice what you have learnt next time you go and do your food shopping :-)

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