Start at the top!

• Look to see how much a serving is and how many servings are in the package.
• A lot of the time one muffin or one bag of nuts contains 2 or 3 servings. Looking at the serving size and comparing it to how many servings are in the package will help you asses how much your supposed to eat.

Calories

• This tells you how many calories are in each serving.
• 400 calories or more for a single serving is considered to be high.

Calories From Fat

• Of the 230 calories in the product – 100 are coming from fat.

% Daily Values Of Fat

• It’s important to note that these are based on a 2000/day calorie diet.
• Here you will see Fat,  Saturated Fat and Trans fat.

FAT

• 5% or lower of % daily fat is considered to be low in fat
• 20% or higher of % daily fat is considered to be high in fat.
• This product is considered medium to high in fat.

Saturated Fat

• You want this number to be low or nonexistent.
• According to the FDA – based on a 2000/day calorie diet, you should eat less than 20 grams of saturated fat a day. (Or no more than 10% of your calories)
• This product is in the medium range of saturated fat.

Trans Fat

• You want this to be 0.
• If this number is not zero, find another product to buy.
• CLICK HER TO READ MORE ABOUT TRANS FATS.
  

Cholesterol

• You want this number to be low or 0. Once again under 5% is low, 20% or higher is high.
  
• FDA recommends you consume less than 300mg of cholesterol a day based on a 2000/calorie diet.
  
• If the % daily value of cholesterol is 20% – that’s 60mg of cholesterol and considered high.
• CLICK HERE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CHOLESTEROL.
  

Sodium

• Again this is another number you want to be low.
• The FDA recommends a maximum daily intake of 2400mg of sodium based on a 2000/calorie diet.
  
• Many processed and diet products are high in sodium. When buying these types of products be sure to check for this number. 5% or lower is great- anything over 20% ( 480mg of sodium is something you should try to stay clear of ) – or at the very least watch your sodium intake for the rest of the day.
• CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SODIUM.

Potassium

• Your RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of potassium based on a 2000/calorie diet is 3500 mg.
• CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT WHAT POTASSIUM DOES AND WHY WE NEED IT.

Total Carbohydrates

• Let’s you know the number of carbohydrates in the product.
  
• The % daily values are based on a 2000/calorie diet is 300g of carbohydrates a day. So 30g would be 10%.
  

Sugars

• Of your carbohydrates how many calories are coming from sugar.
• You want this number to be low.
  
• This is where you will also want to read the list of ingredients to see what kind of sugar is in the product and where the sugar ranks on the ingredient list. Check back here next week – I’ll be posting about how to read the list of ingredients at the back of a package.
  

Fiber

• The % daily value is based on the recommended daily intake of 25 grams.
• You will also see fiber split into to categories – Soluble and Insoluble. Both are good!
• CLICK HERE TO READ BOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOLUBLE AND INSOLUBLE FIBER.
  

Protein

• This is where you will learn how much protein is in the product.
  
• CLICK HERE TO READ SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF EATING PROTEIN.
  

Vitamins and Minerals

• Here you’ll find things like Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Iron. You want to make sure you get plenty of these in your diet.
• The information on these will generally be listed as % daily value instead of a number.
• So for instance the recommended daily intake of calcium is 1000mg. If a product contains 10% it has 100mg of calcium in it.
• CLICK HERE to read about Vitamin C and how much you should get in a day.
• CLICK HERE to read more about Iron and  your recommended daily intake.
• CLICK HERE to read about Vitamin A.
  

These labels are based on an average individual. As you know, none of us are average- were all different and special! Use these labels to help you judge how nutritious a product is and try to base it on how much you consume in a day.

* Stay Tuned! Next week I’ll go over how to read a the list of ingredients a product contains.

* Please note these numbers are based on the 2005 dietary guidelines. New guidelines will be released in 2010.