Nutritional Label 101!

Nutrition Label 101!!

10 things to check on the nutrition label.

1. First thing to check should be the serving size. A lot of people go straight to calories but that’s not any good if your serving is a teaspoon.

2. Now that you know how big the portion is, check if the calories are relevant.

3. If you’re on a diet, this is what you’re targeting. Check how much fat you’re putting into your body. Anything more than 5 should be avoided if you’re looking to lose weight.

4. Trans fat are the enemy of any body, diet or not. These fats do not get burned off. They stay stored and accumulate, eventually blocking your arteries. You can find many food items with 0 grams but you’ll occasionally have to settle to 0.1 or 0.2. Anything higher than that should be left on the shelf.

5. Sodium is your salt intake. Salt will retain your water instead of letting it flush out of your system. The lower the number, the better.

6. Carbs are the first to burn up. If you’re looking to trim down, you’ll want to keep that number low so you can target burning your fat.

7. Fiber is good to flush your system but it’s easy to overdo your intake since it’s found in so many different foods. Don’t put all your fiber in the same meal.

8. Any diet knows that sugar doesn't help losing weight. Keep that number low.

9. Protein is the second thing to be burned up. However, it’s important to keep protein coming into your body with every meal. Just don’t overdue your daily value.

10. It’s good to keep an eye on how many calories are considered in calculating the daily values. Someone on a diet will obviously not be consuming 2000 calories, so keep a calculator close to do the math depending on your calorie intake on your personal diet.