How To Read a Nutrition Label to Improve Your Diet

This label is Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats

Look at the ingredient list first

If I were to ask most people what the first thing they look at on a nutrition label, they would say calories. This is important, but not as important as knowing what’s in your food. Sure, it might be 100 calories, but what’s in it?

Two things to think of:

• Strive for 5 ingredients or less. The best foods have a single ingredient! Vegetables, fruit, raw nuts or seeds, chicken breast, etc. If you’re buying something in a package or bag, strive for five ingredients or less.

• Be able to pronounce everything. Sometimes a nutrition label will have more than five ingredients, but if you know exactly what everything is, no problem. If you don’t know what it is or can’t pronounce an ingredient, look to leave it at the store.

If you stick to foods with minimal ingredients, you will elevate your nutrition tremendously!

Reduced fat, lower sugar, fat-free products

In pictures below(from left to right): Regular Jif Peanut Butter, Reduced Fat Jif Peanut butter, Adams Natural Peanut Butter

The first thing I do is compare it to the original product. I always like to give the example of original Jif peanut butter. If you compare the regular peanut butter to the reduced fat, you may notice the reduced fat has a much longer ingredient list. Yes, the fat has been reduced, but was has been added to make this lower in fat? Sugar, ingredients, carbohydrates, etc. The best choice of peanut butter is to buy a brand that just says roasted peanuts on the ingredient list. Look for the same thing in dairy products. I always buy the package with minimal ingredients, but I watch portions closely.

Here’s an example of fat-free dressing. It’s a long ingredient list.

How much sugar?

Strive for five grams or less.

Also, look to see if it has added sugar. Unsweetened dairy products will have natural sugar, but anything flavored has added sugar. Unsweetened dairy is the best choice. Another common healthy food is dried fruit. Read the ingredient list to be sure you aren’t purchasing dried fruit with added sugar. Buy dried fruit that has one ingredient on the label (the fruit itself).

If any food item has added sugar, look to ditch it. 

How much fiber? Protein?

You’ll find most of your fiber from vegetables, fruit and whole grains. When buying whole grains, look to purchase grains that have 3+ grams of fiber. 5 or more is ideal.  I have found if I eat 20 grams of protein with each meal, I stay full for at least three hours and I have minimal cravings.  So, if I choose the Bob’s Red Mill Oats, I’ll stick to the serving size, but add a few eggs to keep the protein high for the total meal.

Sodium

The most sodium packed foods are usually canned goods and processed foods. If you take these out of your grocery cart, you’ll cut down on your salt intake dramatically. I’ll buy chicken, beef or vegetable broth when I’m in a pinch, but I’ll buy low sodium broth.

Serving Size & Servings Per Container

This is an easy one to miss. Think of a serving size of cereal or ice cream. How easy is it to just dump cereal into a bowl or scoop ice cream from the pint? If the serving size isn’t realistic for you, you might want to consider keeping it out of the house until it does become realistic.

 Fat, Cholesterol, Carbohydrates.

 I personally don’t like to buy products that have vegetable oil, canola oil, or partially hydrogenated oils. All of these would be the fat source in the food item.

Carbohydrates will vary from person to person, especially when it’s based off of activity level. For someone who’s looking to lose weight, monitoring carbohydrates per meal works great. 25-30 grams is a good start, then trial and error to find what works best for you.

 Use the % Daily Value as a Quick Reference

 Now, the % Daily Values is based off of a 2,000 calorie diet. Certain individuals need less while others need more. I like to use this as a standard quick guide. 5% is considered low, while anything over 20% is high.

 Don’t be fooled by Smart Marketing

You’ll see many products that state they are “Natural” or “Whole Grain” but be sure to read your labels first.