Research studies have proven time and again that people who take time to read nutrition facts labels consumer less cholesterol, fewer calories, less sugars and less saturated fats. It is therefore safe to quickly conclude that there is a link between taking time to read food labels and staying healthy. In other words, once a consumer is familiar with information displayed on food labels, it becomes easy to use the information on labels to change one’s diet for the better. But how in the first place does this happen? Read on to learn more.
Decreasing Harmful Nutrients And Calories
Always check the serving size as well as the number of servings found in a package. Multiply the amount of calories, saturated fat and cholesterol by the number of servings if you will be consuming more than one serving. This will help you determine your intake. To make sure you consume healthy portions, choose food products that feature the lowest numbers. Only then can you limit your consumption of nutrients that are not healthy.
Increasing Healthy Nutrients
It is easy to tell from food labels what’s healthy and what’s not. Potassium, iron, calcium and vitamins are all healthy nutrients. It should be easy for a consumer to pick out food products that are rich in these nutrients. This is hardly though. Millions of consumers still choose food products that are low in the said nutrients despite the fact that nutrition facts always point out which nutrient is found in a given product. Think about it this way. Foods that contain at least 5 percent of daily value or even less of a healthy nutrient are low in the nutrient you want to consume in plenty. 20 percent of a healthy nutrient or more is safe.
Serving Sizes
You can learn a lot about serving sizes just from reading food labels. You get to learn standard serving sizes as well as portion control within a short time. Measure out at least one serving of a given good at a time. That way, you easily become familiar with what a single, healthy serving of a food product should look like. It gets better with the fact that portioning foods onto your plate makes it less likely for one to eat more than necessary. Remember that while it can be healthy to consume more than one serving or foods that are rich in some nutrients like non starchy vegetables, consuming several servings of foods that are high in sugar and fat can quickly increase one’s chances of consuming excess amounts of calories, a move that can make one quickly gain weight.
Comparing Foods
Food labels make it easy for one to compare options that look similar. A consumer can quickly compare the amounts of healthy nutrients and examine the ingredients list. Be sure to always keep off from food products that list several types of sugars at the beginning of the lost. Then opt for products that contain whole grains near the beginning of the ingredients list, each time you shop for food products that contain grains.
