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Value of Nutrition Facts Label

In the battle to burn fat, one tool stands head and shoulders above the rest - the 'Nutrition Facts Label' which is printed on every food container. Properly interpreting the values listed will help you select the proper foods, portions of food you should eat, and what foods to avoid.

Nutrition Facts Label

Description of Listings

Start with the 'Serving Size' which is listed under the title. Serving sizes are standardized so that you can compare similar foods. They are listed in English (here 1 cup) and metric units (here 228g or grams). Make a note of the serving size because all that follows in the list uses this as a reference.

Next is the 'Servings per Container' (here 2). At this point you might ask yourself, "How many servings am I consuming?"

The next line of the nutrition facts lists the "Calories" per single serving. The calories provide a measure of the amount of energy you will derive from each serving. Here it lists 260 calories. And next to this is the calories from fat which is 120 calories. This is 46% of a serving is fat; at first glance, that's a lot of fat! The next listing will define what kind of fat.

Note that the next listings are based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet and are in % of Daily Value (DV). First is 'Total Fat' which is 13g or 20% of DV. One serving will give you 20% of your DV of fat. That's still a lot of fat. However, all fats are not bad for you. The next line lists 'Saturated Fat 5g' and that is 25% of the daily value. This fat is bad for you. It has been shown to promote heart disease and eating one serving of this food will give you one-quarter of the suggested daily total of saturated fat. You should take note of this - this is a fatty food.

The next line lists 'Cholesterol 30mg(milligrams) or 10% of the daily value. You want to limit the amount of cholesterol you eat, so this line is important. However, 30mg is not so high.

The next line is 'Sodium 660mg or 28% ot the daily value. This is a rather high value. People who have high blood pressure should limit their intake of sodium.

Next is Total Carbohydrate 31g or 10% of the daily value. This particular food is low in carbohydrate. Below this is Dietary Fiber 0g or 0% of DV. This is disturbing because fiber is a helpful part of the daily diet. The next line of the nutrition facts lists Sugars 5g. Again more disturbing info.

The next line is Protein 5g; this is low. By this time in my mind I have determined that this is junk food. If I eat it, it will give me a lot of fat, hardly any carbohydrates or protein. It has sugar to sweeten it and make it more palettable, but offers me no fiber. In short this is an unhealthy confection, maybe a cookie? Let's see if the next lines in the listing will redeem what I have read so far.

The next two lines show Vitamin A 4%, Vitamin C 2%, Calcium 15%, Iron 4%. No, unhealthy from a vitamin and mineral viewpoint. This packaged food might taste great, but it definitely falls in the 'junk food' category and definitely would not be on the 'list of fat burning foods'.

The lines at the bottom of the label are helpful and are for your information only. They do not refer to the food that is in this container.

Recap of Nutrition Facts label

A serving size for this packaged food is one cup or 228g. In the package is 2 servings. 260 calories per serving of which 120 are from fat (46% is from fat)

This nutrition facts label shows that the fat content is high along with sodium. Vitamins and minerals are very low. Not much food value in this packaged product. It could be classified as 'junk food' and should be avoided. Ideally you would like to see low or no:

Higher:

Studying and understanding the nutrition facts labels on food containers can help you decide which food to buy, how much of it, and how good it is for you. These tables are very enlightening and taken together can be used as a powerful tool to burn fat.

 

 

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