Decode nutrition labels to support your health goals.
When you pick up a package in the grocery store, you’ll see the collection of numbers, percentages, and confusing words. Feel confused? You’re not alone! This is the nutrition label of course, there to guide you to make healthy choice.
Most Important: The Serving Size Trap
Often food companies will label an item “low calorie” or “low sugar”, making it appear healthy. But remember, all claims are made in context of the serving size. Companies often make serving sized extremely small to make products seem healthier than they are!
For example, a serving size may be 8 chips or 1/4 cup, when in reality it is human tendency to consume much larger amounts of this food.
What is Daily Value?
Beside various sections of the nutrition label you will see a “%”. This is a percentage of your daily value, or how much you should be obtaining in a day of a specific nutrient.
Daily value helps you determine if an item has a lot or a little of a certain nutrient. Keep in mind that this percentage is calculated off of a standard 2,000 calorie diet which may not always meet your personal needs or goals.
The Relevance of Calories
To some this will be important, to others they may not hold much value. If weight loss is your primary goal you may place a higher value on this section.
Remember, all calories are not created equal. Just because something appears to be “low calorie” doesn’t mean it supports your weight loss goals.
Ask yourself: Does the serving size seem comparable to the amount of this food I will be consuming? If the answer is yes, continue on to the bolded “calorie” section.
The Macronutrients
Fat
- This section is further broken down into saturated fats and trans fats
- The American Heart Association recommends no more than 5-6% of total calories coming from saturated fats. Trans fat are harmful even in small amounts, so we recommend avoiding them.
Carbs
- This section is further divided into fibre and sugars.
- Fibre is important for gut health, weight management and proper bowel function. Recommended daily consumption is 25-30g of fibre.
- When considering sugar, notice the daily value percentage beside the grams listed
- 5% or less is a little sugar and 15% or more is considered a large amount of sugar.
Protein
- Protein is known for its muscle building action and satiety boosting properties.
- The protein section will not have a daily value percentage, however 10 grams of protein per serving or higher is a food considered “high protein.”
Cholesterol
In Canada listing for cholesterol is optional. If it’s listed:
- 5% of daily value for cholesterol or less is low
- 20% of daily value or higher is high
- 15mg or less would be considered low cholesterol and
- 60mg or higher would be considered high cholesterol.
Sodium:
- 5% or less is considered low
- 15% or higher is considered high
Vitamins and Minerals
The only required vitamins and minerals to be listed are vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. This does not mean the product does not contain any other vitamins and minerals, it is simply not listed by the manufacturer.
The additional vitamins and minerals that may be listed include folate, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, thiamine, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin D, vitamin E and zinc.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, the nutrition label can be an amazing tool to determine whether or not a packaged good is going to benefit your health or not.
May your new found knowledge on nutrition labels lead you to conscious decisions and less confusion surrounding that little black box!
Still have questions or want more information?
Contact us for a free health and weight loss consultation and work with one of our nutritionists.
