How to Read Nutrition Facts

Prepare yourself, folks, this is gonna be another long - yet important - post.

In this post, I mentioned about reading nutrition facts. Well nowadays, food producers have to include the ingredients and the nutrition facts in their product. Those facts are a tool to help you choose the food that is good for you. This is why in this post, I will share the knowledge of reading these facts.


Reading the Ingredients
The ingredients list gives your the information of the foodstuffs, seasonings, and chemicals in that product. The ingredients are written in order of their weight. The most-used ingredient is the first in the list, and the least-used ingredient is the last. Avoid foods that state fat, oil, and sugar (or derivatives of those) as their most-used ingredient. And also, if you never heard of the ingredient, or you're having a hard time mentioning it, it's most likely chemicals, or unnatural foodstuff.


Reading the Nutrition Facts
This table will give you more details on the product. You will know the contents of that product, therefore you can choose the healthiest ones. When you compare some foods, make sure you compare them with the same amount of portions.

image credit to duniafitnes.com

1. Serving Size: shows you the recommended portion or serving size. If you're not used to measure or weigh food, measure it to a standard portion. If you eat less or more than the recommended portion, then the information on the Nutrition Fact will have to be adjusted to know the nutrition you consume. For example, if you eat it twice the size of the serving suggestion, then all the nutritional value will have to be multiplied by two.

2. Calories: shows you how much energy you'll get from one portion of that food. You have to remember that the number of portions you eat determines the calories you eat. For example, if you eat two portions of food, it means you consumes twice the amount of calories that are stated in the Nutrition Facts. One of the measurement that you can use as a base to assess whether it's high-calorie or not is from this:

• 40 calories = low
• 100 calories = average
• 400 calories or more = high

3. Calories from Fat: shows you how much calories that comes from fat. Every gram of fat worth 9 calories. It should be no more than 30% of calories a day that comes from fat. Therefore, it's best if you consume no more than 3 grams of fat or 30 calories of fat per 100 calories of food.

4a. Total Fat: shows you how much good fat is good fat (monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) and bad fat (saturated fat and trans-fat) in a food. As stated before, it's best to consume fat no more than 3 grams per 100 calories. When you compare foods, see the sum of total fat, saturated fat, and their calories for each serving. Choose the one with the least amount of fat.

4b. Saturated Fat: bad fat or saturated fat can be found in many kinds of food such as butter, margarine, fat from beef and pork, full-cream milk, eggs, coconut and coconut oil, and also in fast-foods. It's better if you avoid or limit the food that contains saturated fat. The daily consumption of this kind of fat should not be more than 10% of the calories that you consume in a day (less than 1 gram per 100 calories).

4c. Trans Fat: trans fat are also bad fats that forms in the cooking process. This kind of fat commonly found in commercial food products and have to be avoided in diet.

5a. Cholesterol: the number of cholesterol shows the total amount of cholesterol, which consists of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) for each serving. It's better if your cholesterol consumption is not more than 300 mg a day. Choose the product that have the least amount of cholesterol.

5b. Sodium: shows the number of sodium in each portion. It's better if the consumption is not more than 2.400 mg a day. Choose the product with the least amount of sodium.

6a. Carbohydrate: shows the sum of carbohydrate in foods, including simple carbohydrates and sugar, and also complex carbohydrate and fibers. When your food contains carbohydrate, it's better if that carbohydrate contains many fiber.

6b. Dietary Fiber: shows the amount of fiber in each serving. This can be found on complex carbohydrate such as wheat and grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Try to consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber each day. The higher the amount of fiber in a product, the amount of sugar is lower.

6c. Sugar: this shows the amount of carbohydrates for each serving from sugar. The best way to choose the least amount of sugar is by looking at the total amount of sugar and the total of amount of carbohydrate. The closer it is the value to the total amount of carbohydrate, it contains less fiber.

7. Protein: shows the total amount of protein for each serving. It's highly recommended to keep the balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat in food. If the food you choose does not contain protein, add another food with protein in it.

8. % Daily Values: shows the percentage of your daily nutritional adequacy from that product. Note that this based on 2000 calories diet. Generally, 5% of daily value is considered to be low and 20% of daily value is considered to be high.

9. Vitamin and Mineral: shows how many vitamins and mineral in each serving. You have to achieve 100% for all the required vitamin and mineral. You can also consume multivitamins to make sure you have enough vitamin and mineral for the day.

10. Recommended Amount(s): shows the recommended daily amount of each nutrition for 2000 calories and 2500 calories diet. If you need to consume more or less than 2000 or 2500 calories a day, the recommended amount of fat, carbohydrate, and protein also change.

11. Calories per Gram: shows the amount of calories in each macro-nutrients (fat, carbohydrate, and protein). It's better if you choose a balanced food, which contains all those nutrients.

After knowing how to read Nutrition Facts in foods, you can better the quality of the food you eat, now that you know how to choose the healthier foods :)