Reading labels is an essential part of any weight loss program. Being able to clearly identify key components of a food item is vital to the success of your diet. You have to be careful when you read the label and be extremely thorough. Labels are placed on food items because it is required by law. Marketers are forced to display this information but it does not keep them being tricky about it.
Lets take a look at a sample label.
See here we have the Serving Size of the food item. First we have the Serving Size which is 1 oz. or 28 grams. Then there is the Servings Per Container which is 16. This is where you have to be careful. On small items like a bag of chips or cookies, people tend to skip this part of the label and go straight to the Amount Per Serving Section. This where you will kill yourself. Most small items have a Servings per container with more then 1. They usually have 2 or even 2 1/2 servings per container. Not being aware of this, people do not correctly calcuate the Nutrition Facts for that item. When they think they are eating 200 calories in reality they are eating 400 or even 500 calories.
Next thing to look at is Calories and Calories from fat. Most people only look at the total calories. Here we see that this item has 190 calories. Not alot of calories. But here is the killer. Calories from fat is a whopping 150. Making this item over 80% fat. A big misconception of people who read labels is, there is not a lot of saturated fat becasue the lablel says only 2grams of saturated fat. Wrong, there is another 15 grams of fat. Where does this come from? My best guess is that about another 10 -13 grams of fat are trans fat which is the fat responsible for obesisty.
Next we see the % Daily Value. This is recommended daily allowance set by the FDA. This item has a total of 25% fat inregards to your recommened dailiy aloowance. That means that is you eat 4 of these food items, your fat intake would have to be cut off for the rest of the day.
Another item we should look @ is Total Carboydrates. This is the evil demon among low-carb dieters. The FDA's recommended daily allowance for carb intake is around 330 grams per day. There are good carbs and bad carbs. The bad carbs would be considered Sugars. In this case there is only 1g of sugar and 3 g of Dietary Fiber. In regards to carb intake this is a good product.
Then there is the protein. The more the better. Remember this fact. 1 gram of protein and carbs are the equvalient to 4 calories. 1 gram of fat is the equivalent to 9 calories. I hope this article has cleared up some issues in regards to reading labels. Any educated dieter is a successful dieter.
Joe Maresca
Senior Health & Fitness Advisor
http://www.getbuilt.net
Joe has over 15 years of health & fitness experience. He has helped numerous individuals meet their fitness goals.
house refresh service Lincolnshire ..You may not like what I have to say, even... Read More
Sharing our bariatric stories is as personal decision as electing... Read More
When you're taking Phentermine, you should go to the emergency... Read More
NLP Setting an Anchor Process to Get Back Motivation for... Read More
Cellulite happens to us for many reasons. Some reasons-- like... Read More
It is important that the public not only understand the... Read More
After the post-Halloween sugar surge, everyone coaches you to get... Read More
Cellulite ? a word most women are very familiar with.... Read More
Yoga is wonderful for nurturing a state of mental and... Read More
Although all of the risks involved in gastric bypass surgery... Read More
You have decided that you want to lose weight and... Read More
America is getting more obese every year. Even our children... Read More
Stomach-Stapling Surgery ------------ There's no doubt that stomach-stapling surgery leads... Read More
The very first thing you want to do before you... Read More
We have all set them, and we will revisit them... Read More
The Review Diaries She Unlimited MagazineThere are masses of carbohydrate... Read More
Diet drop out, a significant problem for all types of... Read More
Getting Started on The Clean DietIf you want to lose... Read More
I gotta confess: I'm completely addicted to crisps. Any kind... Read More
There's more to gastric bypass than surgery and rapid massive... Read More
Any dietary plan on the market has some portion of... Read More
I want to make this perfectly clear, fruits are healthy... Read More
Nitrates and nitrites are preservatives that are added to certain... Read More
If you have recently found yourself fretting over your child's... Read More
The diet that worked for meI have had a lot... Read More
licensed cleaning services Lake Forest ..America's Obesity EpidemicAs the numbers of overweight Americans continue to... Read More
Self-acceptance and body love can be tough concepts to grasp... Read More
Do a little people-watching, next time you're in the grocery... Read More
My last article, Make Diets Work, concluded that dieting the... Read More
We all have aspects of health we want to improve.... Read More
One Reality TV show, The Swan, thrives on makeovers. Often... Read More
I'm sure you have pondered this question, for it is... Read More
I am Dr Patrick Flanagan, and this is the latest... Read More
That's a pretty "in your face" statement, but really it's... Read More
To say that dieting rarely leads to sustainable weight loss... Read More
Losing weight is a struggle that many of us face... Read More
Losing weight can make a significant and life altering change... Read More
After the post-Halloween sugar surge, everyone coaches you to get... Read More
The safe way to lose weight begins with a thorough... Read More
I get asked all the time, "what do you think... Read More
Speculating on the scientifically proven memory unreliability, the memory specialist... Read More
Metabolism is essentially the speed at which our body's motor... Read More
The problem isn't that you don't have enough will power... Read More
Lose a pound of fat? what does it take? Not... Read More
Fast Weight Loss - Is it better to lose 2lbs... Read More
To achieve your goals you need a diet that takes... Read More
1. Include in your diet things that contain more water... Read More
Obesity, especially in children, is a matter of rapidly growing... Read More
Well, look at you go! You keep moving closer and... Read More
If you knew when you were going to die, would... Read More
Weight Loss |