Eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet is essential for maintaining good health. A well-balanced diet is one that includes foods rich in high-quality fat, carbohydrates and lean protein as these food sources house large quantities of vitamins and minerals.
By familiarizing yourself with food labels, you can obtain valuable information about these key nutrients in order to make the best food choices. Here's a simple guide to reading and understanding food labels.
Start with the Serving Size and Servings Per Container
The recommended "Serving Size" of a product is displayed at the very top of the food label. The serving size is typically listed in ounces, tablespoons, cups, or other common units of measurement. There is also a grams reading in parenthesis, which indicates how much the serving size weighs. The "Servings Per Container" is listed after the serving size. This shows how many recommended servings are in the product container or package. A food product may house one, ten, twenty, or more servings in a single container. The servings per container vary from product to product.
Check the Calories and Calories from Fat Section
Since eating too many calories can lead to weight gain and obesity, it's important to check the number of calories in any foods you eat. All food labels list the number of "Calories" in a given serving of food.
This information is typically displayed directly below the serving size. Calories are obtained from fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Each of these nutrients is measured in grams. Every gram of fat yields about nine calories while carbohydrates and protein yield…
