Decoding the Nutrition Facts Panel

As a food enthusiast and nutrition expert, I am always on top of what really goes into the food that I avidly devour on a daily basis. If you haven’t already, you should also take a closer look at what’s in your food. Not being aware of what is in your food and ultimately what you are putting into your body can put you and your health at serious risk. Fortunately, the government has established a good rule of thumb for food companies that requires them to put this information correctly on their products. You will find it on the Nutrition Facts panel. Some of you may use this now and some of you may not. But I’m here to help you decode this all-important label so that you can educate yourself to the best of your ability and make informed decisions about your food. So here it goes …

Portion size. Without a doubt, the first thing I look at in this fact panel is the serving size. It tells me how much food I can eat for a given amount of calories, fat, cholesterol, etc. If you don’t look at the serving size, the rest of the data panel becomes useless. Let’s say you’re watching the amount of fat you eat, so you have a low-fat ice cream. If you don’t look at the serving size and half of the container, that ice cream is probably no longer low-fat. The servings per container are self explanatory. It is the number of predetermined size servings in that box.

Calories. One of the next items I look at is calories. It’s probably the most popular article people look at when reading the nutrition panel. It tells you how many calories are in a serving of the food. I used to focus a lot more on how many calories were in a food. But it’s important to look at the big picture (which means we need to check everything else before making an executive decision). So let’s move on.

% Daily value. This is not actually an ingredient or a nutrient in food. This is a numerical value, a percentage, that is based on the recommended daily amounts. Everyone is assigned a “daily value” or the recommended amount of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and all vitamins / minerals. You want to try to meet or stay below (for sodium, cholesterol, trans and saturated fats) these recommended values ​​for optimal health. This percentage of the Daily Value tells you how much a serving of food will provide for the recommended amount.

fat. The amount of fat listed on the nutrition panel is a multi-step process. First is “total fat,” which is the total amount of all types of fat (in grams) per serving. It includes heart-healthy fats and fats that are not as good as trans and saturated fats. The total fat is then broken down into its component parts of saturated fat and trans fat. You want these two types to be as close to zero as possible (especially trans fats). However, fat is 100% necessary for the normal functioning of your body, so don’t avoid it, just choose those that are healthy for your heart.

Cholesterol and sodium. Two separate sections, but overall there isn’t much to say here. You know it’s bad. I know it’s wrong. Keep it to a minimum, guys.

Total carbohydrates. Total carbohydrates are similar to the total fat list: it is the total amount of all types of carbohydrates present in food. As you can see, total carbohydrates include fiber and sugar. For fiber, the higher the better (it can help lower cholesterol). The sugar listed here is both natural sugar and added sugars. Generally, this number should be at the bottom. However, do not forget that foods such as fruits and dairy products contain natural sugars and both should be consumed as part of a regular diet.

Protein. Protein is an important part of your diet – it becomes the building blocks of all your cells. I can’t really give you a high or low number for this because depending on the food it will vary a lot. Although when looking for breakfast cereals, I look for those with more protein (like around 10g / serving) because otherwise I’ll be hungry in an hour. You just want to make sure you’re getting high-quality, lean protein with every meal.

List of vitamins / minerals. This is an important part! The purpose of why humans eat food is to obtain all the nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, that we need to survive on a daily basis. You need to know how much of these your food provides so that you can plan your diet accordingly. The 4 nutrients required in this section are Vitamin A and C, Iron and Calcium. Many food companies, especially cereal / bread companies, will provide additional information on vitamins or minerals. Although it is not necessary. But your goal is to get 100% of the recommended daily allowance that we talked about earlier.

List of ingredients. Although listed last, this is probably one of the most important pieces of information about the product. This is a detailed list of everything the food company put into food, from the most abundant ingredient (listed first) to the least (listed last). When I read this, I really try to adhere to my “5 ingredient rule”: don’t buy anything with 5 or more ingredients and especially ingredients that you can’t pronounce. This helps ensure that you get a more natural, unprocessed product. Although there are exceptions to the rule, it is good to keep in mind.

Now that you’re an “official nutrition facts panel” decoder, you can start making those executive decisions about the foods you buy. As I mentioned before, I personally don’t focus too much on calories. I like to get the most out of my calorie investment. I mean … I want a product with high amounts of good stuff (fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.) for a reasonable amount of calories or fat. You can choose something else to focus on, such as the sodium content or the amount of fiber in the product. But whatever you decide to do, the goal is to understand what you’re reading and ultimately be able to make informed decisions about your food.