How to Decode Nutritional Labels

First, figure out how much food was analyzed by the folks who prepared the nutrition label. Serving size clearly describes this set amount of food. Of course, most packages contain more than one serving, and “Servings Per Container” refers to the number of single servings in the entire package. For example, the following label reports that a serving size is ½ cup and there are four servings per container. Therefore, there must be 2 full cups in the entire package because ½ cup × 4 = 2 cups.

Do you eat the amount of food defined as one serving? Remember, fat and calorie measurements on the label are for a single serving size only. And we know it's easy to eat more than one measly serving. Here's a perfect example of the difference between serving size and the actual servings eaten: one serving of ice cream (½ cup) has approximately 12 grams of fat. Most of the people I know can easily eat 1 cup in a sitting, and you know what that means. When you double the serving size, you double everything: the calories, protein grams, carbohydrate grams, and, of course, the fat grams. Pay close attention to the amount per serving. If you go over (or under) on servings, keep that in mind when reading the remaining information.

Calories

When calories are listed on a label, they refer to the amount of calories in a single serving. Plain and simple. The sample label shows 90 calories per serving. What about those “lo-cal” claims frequently displayed on the packaging? Luckily, the following key words are now defined by the government and must mean what they say:

• Calorie-free Less than 5 calories per serving.
• Low-calorie Forty calories or less for most food items; 120 calories or less for main dish products (lentil soup, turkey burger, chicken breast, and so on).
• Reduced-calorie Must have at least 25 percent fewer calories than the regular version of that food item.

Total Fat

This section lists the total number of fat grams from all types of fat—saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. As you can see, the label reveals that there are 3 grams of fat per serving. Another listing titled “Calories from Fat” converts the total fat grams into fat calories (number of fat grams × 9 = calories coming from fat). Again, the sample label reports 30 calories from fat per serving. This is valuable information because it allows you to identify the percentage of fat in a particular food. Ideally, you should choose foods with a big difference between the total number of calories and calories coming from fat. The bigger the gap, the less the percentage of total calories coming from fat.

Here are some of the common “fat” phrases that appear on packaged food products and how they are defined by the government:

• Fat-free Less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving.
• Low-fat Three grams of fat (or less) per serving.
• Reduced-fat At least 25 percent less fat per serving than the original version of a food product.

Saturated Fat

Even though saturated fat is part of the total fat in food, it gets listed by itself because it can be extremely bad for you. As you can see, the sample label shows no saturated fat—good deal! In general, avoid foods that are high in saturated fat. This type of fat is responsible for increasing your risk of heart disease and other illnesses.

Here are some of the common “saturated fat” phrases that appear on packaged food products and how they are defined by the government:

• Saturated fat-free Less than 0.5 gram per serving.
• Low in saturated fat One gram or less in a serving size or no more than 10 percent of calories coming from saturated fat.
• Reduced saturated fat At least 25 percent less saturated fat than the original version.

Cholesterol

Remember this waxy guy? Together with its partner in crime—fat—dietary cholesterol is a key player in raising blood cholesterol and therefore increasing your risk for heart disease. You'll notice that the cholesterol content of a food product is measured in milligrams. Budget your foods and eat less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day.

Understand the following claims when they appear on food labels:

• Cholesterol-free Less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol.
• Low-cholesterol Twenty milligrams (or less) of cholesterol.

These cholesterol claims are only allowed when a food product contains 2 grams (or less) of saturated fat as well.

Sodium

Don't let the terminology confuse you. The label calls it sodium (300 mg reported on the sample label), but most people know it as salt. Remember, sodium is only a component of salt. However, that one component is responsible for water retention and high blood pressure in salt-sensitive people. Limit the amount of high-sodium foods in your diet, and aim for a daily intake of 2,300 milligrams or less.

Here's some sodium lingo and what it means:

• Sodium-free Less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving.
• Low-sodium Less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving.
• Reduced sodium At least 25 percent less sodium than the original food version.

Total Carbohydrate

In What Exactly Is a Carbohydrate?, you became well versed on the various types of carbohydrates. Now you can use the label information to identify whether a food contains a lot of simple sugar or complex carbohydrate.

First, look for the listing titled “Total Carbohydrate.” This will reveal the amount of all types of carbs (simple and complex) in a single serving of a food. Next, look for the smaller listing located underneath “total carbohydrate” titled “Sugars.” This indicates how much simple sugar is in a serving of that particular food. Obviously, the less simple sugar, the better. Now, you're ready to determine the amount of complex carbohydrate in a food by simply subtracting the total carbs from the sugars.

Let's look at the previous label for an example:

Total Carbohydrate	13 grams
Sugars	3 grams

Thse numbers indicate that the majority of carbohydrates are coming from more complex sources, 10 grams to be exact.

Located under "total carbyhydrates" is "dietary fiber." Dietary fiber is predominantly found in carbohydrate-rich foods and includes both soluble and insoluble fiber sources. becuase fiber promotes regularity, along with reducing the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, choose foods with at least 2.5 grams of dietary fiber per serving, and aim for a total intake of 25-35 grams each day.

Protein

As you know from Your Personal Protein Requirements, most Americans eat far more protein than they actually need (0.36 grams per pound of body weight). Although some of the best protein sources, unfortunately, do not carry a nutrition label (such as beef, poultry, eggs, and fish), nutrifacts posters are required in meat and produce departments, so ask your grocer and take a look. On the other hand, most dairy products and prepackaged food items do list the grams of protein in a single serving. It's interesting to see that there are even small amounts of protein in foods you might not expect.

Percent Daily Values

Now for the confusing part: what are those “%” signs floating all over the label? They're called Percent Daily Values (DV) and are based on a 2,000-calorie reference diet. In other words, these percentages indicate how much of the RDA for each nutrient is present in a single serving. Of course, your job is to ultimately eat a variety of foods that supply 100 percent of all the nutrients needed. For example, one serving of yogurt provides 35 percent of the daily calcium needed and 0 percent of the iron. It's clearly a great source of calcium, but lousy for iron.

What happens if you eat more or less than 2,000 calories? You can slightly adjust the percentages up or down if you're good with numbers (and extremely motivated). In general, the 2,000-calorie reference diet provides appropriate guidelines for almost everyone (adults and children over 4) to follow.

For total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, choose foods with low percent daily values. On the other hand, you want to choose foods with higher percent DVs for total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, and all vitamins and minerals.

The following are the set daily values. They are specifically used for food labels and are based on a 2,000-calorie reference diet.

Daily Values for Nutritional Items
Food Component	Daily Value
Total fat	65 grams
Saturated fat	20 grams
Cholesterol	300 mg
Sodium	2,300 mg
Potassium	3,500 mg
Total carbohydrate	300 grams
Dietary fiber	25 grams
Protein	50 grams
Vitamin A	5,000 IU
Vitamin C	60 mg
Calcium	1,000 mg
Iron	18 mg
Vitamin D	400 IU
Vitamin E	30 IU
Vitamin K	80 mcg
Thiamin	1.5 mg
Riboflavin	1.7 mg
Niacin	20 mg
Vitamin B-6	2 mg
Folate	400 mcg
Vitamin B-12	6 mcg
Biotin	.3 mg
Pantothenic acid	10 mg
Phosphorus	1,000 mg
Iodine	150 mcg
Magnesium	400 mg
Zinc	15 mg
Copper	2 mg
Selenium	70 mcg
Manganese	2 mg
Chromium	120 mcg
Molybdenum	75 mcg
Chloride	3,400 mg

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Total Nutrition © 2005 by Joy Bauer. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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