Nutrition Labels and Calorie Connection

Nutrition Basics

Eating Right When Eating Out

-watch portion sizes-pay attention to how foods are prepared-add fresh vegetables and fruits-go easy on toppings-don’t drink your calories

Do you ever Feel this way?Do the food labelsmake sense?

Nutrition Label Basics

Ingredient list: foods appear on the label in descending order by weight.

Example: Ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, red 5, yellow 6 Food additives: substances added to food to produce a desired effect.

-keep food safe loner-boost nutrient content-improve taste, texture or appearance

What do the following words mean?

Free- ?Low- ?Light- ?

Nutrition Label BasicsFree: food contains none, or an insignificant amount, of a given component: fat, sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, or calories. Low: you can eat this food regularly with out exceeding your daily limits for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, or calories. Low fat foods, must have three grams or less of fat per serving. Light: a food labeled as “light” must contain one-third fewer calories, one-half the sodium of the original version.

Nutrition Label Basics

Reduced: the food contains 25% fewer calories or 25% less of a given nutrient than the original version.  High: the food provides at least 20% of the daily value for a vitamin, mineral, protein or fiber.  Good source: the food provides 10 – 19 percent of the daily value for a vitamin, mineral, protein, or fiber.

Calorie Connection-1 pound of body fat = 3,500 calories-Calorie: units used to measure the energy in food, amount of heat it takes to raise 1 liter of water one degree Celsius.

Other Nutrition Facts Information!

When comparing nutrition facts between two foods check to see if the serving size is the same before comparing the rest of the information

Make Your Calories Count:

-Look at the calories on the Label and compare them to the nutrients.-Calorie: A measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food. -A unit of energy, a way of expressing how much energy you would get by eating a certain food.-General Guide to Calories: 40 Calories is low, 100 Calories is moderate, 400 Calories or more is high (based on 2000 cal. diet)-Eating too many calories a day is one of the leading causes of becoming overweight and obese.-Fat-free doesn’t mean calorie free.

Don’t Sugar coat it:-Make sure the foods and drinks don’t have added sugars. Added sugars are added calories.-Look at the ingredients to make sure that added sugars is lower on the list and is not one of the first few items on the list. -Some other names for added sugar: sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maple syrup, and fructose.-Some foods have natural sugars. (Fresh Fruits)-There is no daily reference (hasn’t been established)-Compare similar foods to see which one has a smaller amount of added sugar.

Know Your Fats:

-Look for foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol.-Try and eat foods mostly with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. -Total fat intake should be about 20-35% of your daily calories-Eliminate Trans Fats-Total fat is the number of fat grams contained in one serving of the food.

Reduce sodium (salt) & Increase Potassium

-Try to eat less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day (about 1 tsp of salt)-Most sodium comes from processed foods-Potassium counteracts the effects of sodium

Is it high in Fiber and Whole Grains:

-Check and compare labels to get the foods with the most fiber and whole grains.-Just because it says it is a good source of whole grains doesn’t always mean it, check ingredient list for it to be in the first few ingredients.-Use the %DV column. Foods with 20% DV or more of fiber are good and foods with 5% or less are not so good.

Other Facts

Body mass index (BMI): a measure of body weight relative to height.

height x 703 / height in inches squared

Overweight: heavier than the standard weight range for your height.

increases your risk for health risks like heart disease, cancer, asthma, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, or type 2 diabetes.

(13% of teens in US are overweight)Underweight: lighter than the standard weight range for your height.

may feel weak, tire easily, or have trouble concentrating. Difficulty fighting diseaseObese: having an excess of body fat.

BMIHow to calculate BMI

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