"Sometimes nutrition labels on food packaging can be confusing and overwhelming. For those who have never taken a course in nutrition, these labels can appear useless or misleading. Here's a little look at how to decode those little white rectangles:
Serving Size: One serving size does not always account for the entire package of food. For example, if the label says one serving is equivalent 16 chips and there are four servings per container (approximately 64 chips), the nutrition information must be multiplied by four for the total amount of each nutrient in the entire container.
Calories: The amount of energy food provides. The rest of the nutrition label shows the breakdown of these calories. It is important to only consume the amount of calories needed daily and use them wisely rather than consume empty calories such as refined sugar.
Total Fat: Total fat grams include saturated fats, trans fats and the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. The Daily Reference Intake value for fat is between 20 and 35 percent of total daily calories from fat for adults 19 years and older. Calories from fat are listed with calories and are included in the total calorie number. Saturated fat and trans fat tend to be listed separately because they're especially bad for you. Trans fats should be zero, but be aware of ingredients for things such as hydrogenated oil, a trans fat, If less than .5 grams, the Food and Drug Administration allows the nutritional label to claim zero. Consuming less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and replacing them with the good fats, monounsaturated and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids, will help to lower the risk of heart disease.
Cholesterol: Like fat, too much cholesterol can increase risk for heart disease. It is recommended to aim for 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol or less per day, because the body naturally makes enough.
Sodium: A major component of salt, sodium is responsible for water retention and high blood pressure. Adults should aim for around 1,500 milligrams per day and no more than 2,300 milligrams according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines.
Carbohydrates: The total of both simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are listed as sugars. One teaspoon of granulated white sugar is close to four grams. To determine the amount of complex carbohydrates, subtract the amount of sugars from the total carbohydrates listed. You may notice that these figures do not add up to the total. This is because starch is not listed on food labels. Complex carbohydrates stay in the body longer and work through the system providing nutrients. They slowly convert into glucose, which is used by your body as energy.
Fiber: A type of complex carbohydrate that the body can't digest and does not raise blood-glucose levels. Most adult women should shoot for over 20 grams of fiber a day and men should shoot for over 30 grams. Fiber is commonly classified into two categories: the kind that doesn't dissolve in water (insoluble fiber) and the one that does (soluble fiber). Insoluble fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system where soluble fiber can help lower blood cholesterol and stabilize glucose levels. Because fiber is not digested by the body and passes through the digestive track as bulk, it also helps you feel full for longer.
Protein: Most of the human body is made up of proteins. The body breaks protein down into amino acids and uses them to perform different tasks that assist in building and preserving body muscle and tissues. The recommended dietary allowance for protein in women ages 19 and up is 46 grams a day, and for men ages 19 and older, 56 grams. The excess protein may be used for energy but the remaining amount is just added calories that turn into fat.
DV: The percentages indicate how much of the recommended Daily Value, or DV, the serving provides based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Five percent is a low DV, so fats, cholesterol and sodium should be closer to that, whereas 20 percent is a high DV, which means you want good nutrients like protein and fiber along with vitamins and minerals to be closer to this percentage."
My own mysteries/findings: hidden fat, and hidden carbs. The "hidden" part comes from no FDA requirement to list those things...and god knows just how many of them are out there! No matter what label is on what product, we simply aren't getting the truth or the whole story on nutrition labels, and maybe it's best to avoid the label and avoid the mystery (or MIA) ingredients altogether!
There aren't many foods available in stores that DON'T have a label on them any more (and this year, more meat cuts will have labels coming to them), but look to sources outside and beyond the store: gardens, foraging, farms, home sprouting, etc. Meat will be a tougher one, but there's hunting, fishing, buying directly from farmers, agricultural colleges, roadkill, backyard hunting (as in squirrels and such), trapping, raising chickens/ducks/rabbits, etc., or bartering for what you need.
Pretty soon, it will mean that if a food item HAS a label on it, it's processed, and you should avoid it. This will mean the death of supermarkets, and the death of the coupon, which I've also written about.
I suggest you bypass the whole label thing and just go straight to the suppliers (cutting out the retail middleman completely) for your food--it may just save your life, or at least greatly lengthen it.
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