Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label

Let’s talk about nutrition facts labels. We all see them regularly when we go grocery shopping, but rarely do we take adequate time to slow down and look at them when choosing foods for our family. Although the things we normally notice like brand, price, or appearance can be helpful, the nutrition facts label includes important information to look at when choosing which items to buy. 

Serving Size 

The first thing you see when looking at a nutrition facts label is serving size. An important note about serving size is that these are NOT regulated by the FDA. Meaning, the serving size can be set to whatever the producer thinks it should be. More often than not, food companies make the serving size as what people “typically” consume, not necessarily what they “should consume” nutritionally. So instead of taking serving size as your guide, check out the content on the rest of the label and make an informed decision about your portion size accordingly. 

Calories

Calories are where most people’s eyes are drawn to if they do look at the nutrition facts label. Calories are not everything, but they can definitely be a helpful guideline in helping us know how much energy we will be getting from a particular food. What’s important to remember about the calorie content is that the calories displayed are based on one serving. So if or you consume multiple servings, then you need to multiply or divide the calories by the number of servings you consume. 

% Daily Value

The percent daily value is something I get lots of questions about. These percentages are based on the average needs of someone consuming 2,000kcal per day. However, nutrient needs, just like calorie needs, are different for everyone and can even change day to day based on exercise, weight, age, etc. so they aren’t the best guide for how much you should be eating each day. 

The best use for this column is to use it as a point of reference for what a particular food generally consists of. Through looking at the percentages as a whole you can see what daily value the food has the most of. For example, if something has 20% DV of carbs but only 2% DV of protein, then you know this food is a more substantial source of carbs than protein.

Fats

The fats section includes not only total fat, but also what types of fats are in the food you are looking at. We talk more about what types of fats to eat more of in our “What Makes You Fat” blog post, but overall when looking at this section you want to avoid trans fats, limit saturated fat, and increase unsaturated fat. 

Sodium

Sodium is a big one to look at, especially when considering processed foods with food labels on them. Sodium is often added to processed foods as a preservative and although we all need sodium, most Americans consume more than we actually need. As a general rule of thumb, it is best to look for products with fewer milligrams of sodium than calories, or less than 20% DV. 

Carbohydrate

We talk more about the types of carbs to aim for in our “Carbs, Carbs, Carbs” blog post, however there are two things that are helpful to note about carbs in a nutrition facts label. 

First is the fiber section. This section is helpful in helping you make decisions that will increase your fiber intake. Foods high in fiber should have 5 or more grams of fiber per serving. 

Second, there is an added sugar section on every label. This section informs you about how the food has been processed and can help you avoid extra empty calories and consume more nutrient dense foods. Sugars are sometimes added in the most unexpected foods, so it’s always helpful to pay attention to this section and try to only consume 10% of your daily calories from sugar.

Protein

The final section is protein. We have a blog post about this too, but the main thing to look for is whether or not a particular food is a good source of protein or not. If a food has 8 or more grams of protein, then it can be considered a substantial source of protein to be added to meals or used as a snack (remember you need about 20-45g protein per meal). Any less than that and you will need to supplement with a food source higher in protein. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all to look for on your nutrition facts label, but it’s a great start. You can practice applying this information right now with whatever food you have in your home already. For more information like this and help making healthy decisions, contact us to set up a Discovery Call today on our website Nutrition502.com or message us on Instagram at Nutrition_502.