Decoding Nutrition Labels: Uncover the Truth Behind Your Food

You will find this information at the top of the Nutritional Label. So, what exactly does this information interpret? It helps you understand how many average portions a particular product can offer.

According to experts, these portions are a safe amount that a person can consume in a single day. So, serving size can be considered as an instruction about how much of the particular item you should consume to stay within the healthy levels.

Example of serving size – A bag of potato chips normally can have 160 calories per serving. It might seem that the entire packet has 160 calories. But the serving size for chips is 15, and that contains 160 calories.

Example of portion size – Again, on the other hand, a portion size of chips is 210 gms with a meal.

Different products may have different serving sizes or portions. Some may use a cup while others may use grams or milliliters. Usually, this serving portion is also used to offer a guideline of how much nutrient value the food may offer.

Now comes the actual information that you need to know. You must know how many calories, carbohydrates, and other nutrients are suitable for you. Accordingly, you can understand whether the product you chose is appropriate for you or not.

• Calories: Usually, an average healthy person must consume about 2000 calories per day. However, you must check the amount of calories present in one serving of the product. Along with the mentioned calories, you must also check the saturated fatty acid percentage as these come under unhealthy calories, which are not good for health.
• Carbohydrates: Apart from calories, carbohydrates are also necessary for energy in your body. However, you must look for products that have more complex carbohydrates rather than simple sugars.
• Protein:Protein is necessary to repair and build body tissues. The intake of protein depends on your body weight because on average you must consume 0.75g for every 1 kilo of your weight per day. However, some health concerns may lead to the consumption of higher protein while in some cases, you may be asked to reduce your protein diet.
• Fats: Health experts mention staying away from packaged food for the only reason that it may have trans-fat, which is not good for your health. However, many health-conscious companies are coming up today with healthier options to opt for. To have a basic knowledge, serving should not have fat more than 5 grams.

Checking sugar is extremely necessary if you are health conscious or are suffering from any chronic ailments such as Diabetes. You will find two categories of Sugar in the Nutritional Label. The category that states Sugar will talk about the total sugar amount that exists naturally or artificially in that one serving.

The next category is the Added Sugar. Many products may have added Sugar apart from the natural sugar that exists. These are added by the manufacturers during the processing method to either enhance the taste or to increase the life of the product. This added sugar is also counted under bad carbohydrates that one must try to avoid.

Sodium is essential for maintaining the electrolysis system in the body. Also, it maintains the health of the muscular and nervous system. However, an average healthy person should not consume more than 2300 milligrams of sodium in a single day. An excess amount of sodium will lead to diverse health issues such as kidney problems and heart diseases leading to stroke.

Usually, 140mg or lower sodium per serving is considered low sodium, if we take the serving portion to be an average of 100 grams. So, check out the sodium and salt content on the Nutritional Label to get a view.

The Nutritional Label also highlights the vitamins and minerals available in the food content inside. Vitamins and minerals are also an eminent part of our balanced diet. Vitamins A, B, C, D, and E are the vitamins that you will come across in different food items. Similarly, there is a huge list of minerals that you require in your food such as iron, calcium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, zinc, and many more. All these vitamins and minerals offer different benefits, however an excessive amount can also have negative impacts. So, you must follow the average daily intake of these nutrients too. While the Nutritional Label displays the percentage of these elements in the food or beverage packed along with the average daily intake of these nutrients to follow.

If you are not aware of the amount of nutrients you must intake on a daily basis, then the Percentage of Daily Value is an important help for you. This value on the Nutritional Label offers you a guide about how much nutrients you must intake on a daily basis to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Example of Percentage of Daily Value (%DV) – The percentage of daily value of added sugar is 50 gms per day. Or it can be calculated as 10% of a 2000 calories diet, which is 200 calories.

You can be allergic to any item that you need to check. However, some commonly used food items may get allergic to different people. Some such items are wheat, milk, or peanuts. Usually, if any of the commonly found allergic food or drink items are mixed into the product, the Nutritional Label will have them mentioned under the category of Allergen Information. So, if someone is allergic to such items, they can be aware of it.