Food Labels and Healthier Choices (Part 1 of 2)

When you look at a food label, what do you see?  What do you actually look for?  I'm pretty label scrutinous when I'm grocery shopping but then again, I'm paranoid (to a degree) about what the big food companies and the USDA considers to be food or safe to consume as food.  So, if you're interested, I thought I'd share my method of label scrutiny.  Because of the amount of information on those "pesky" panels of nutrient/ingredient information, I've decided to make this a two-part blog with this first part concentrating on the nutrition part of the labels.  Part two will focus on understanding ingredients and what they could mean to your health.

First, about fresh fruits and vegetables -- I know, I know, there's no labels but there's a few rules I follow when I'm buying these.  These are:

1. Try to buy locally grown;
2. Whether local or not, try to buy organically grown, especially if it's something that grows close to the ground or that we'll be consuming the skin---pesticides will soak into the entire fruit or vegetable but tend to concentrate more in the skin...just in case you didn't know  (There was a case study done with chimpanzees and bananas...organically grown bananas and conventionally grown bananas were given to the chimps at the same time for many days--each day, the chimps would first choose the organic bananas and eat them with the skin but would leave the conventional bananas until much later in the day when they were fairly desperate...interestingly enough, they DIDN'T eat the skins of the conventionally grown bananas--just saying that the chimps may be smarter than we are or at least better "smellers");
3. If you can't find fresh fruits and vegetables grown locally or within a short distance of where you live, your better choice (if applicable) is the frozen variety because the produce is frozen very soon after being picked, ensuring that nutrients are held in "limbo" instead of depleting via oxidation;
4. GMOs (Genetically Modified) produce - steer clear!  This is a HOT, HOT, HOT topic right now, with Monsanto being one of the most evil corporations behind these.  (If you don't know the deal with GMOs, do your research and learn about the physiological functions of our bodies and what our bodies can recognize as nutrients.)

Okay, now on to real labels!  Let's start by looking at a nutrition label (one of my fave cereals from Kashi, BTW):

1) On the first line, you'll see the serving size that this nutritional information is really for, which is 27 biscuits (pieces) that are about 55g or 1.9oz in weight total (27 biscuits=55g or 1.9oz).
2) The 2nd line is how many of those servings (approximately) should be in the ENTIRE box (about 9 is the amount for this example)

So, per the serving of 27 biscuits/pieces (equivalent to 55g or 1.9oz) the following is the nutrient information (without milk or milk-like products, BTW):

1) Total Calories - 190 ... of those 190 calories, 10 of those calories are derived from some type of fat. Easy, right?

2) Speaking of fat...
     The TOTAL fat is 1g, but then we learn that that 1g of fat IS NOT a trans fat nor a saturated fat, which is good because those are the TWO worst fats that we can have (unless you want heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc. that is)! So, by omission, we learn that the 1g of fat is probably a monounsaturated or a polyunsaturated fat (good fats but even these should be kept low but not removed because we need fats with certain foods to induce bioavailability of certain nutrients - FYI).
    Also, notice the right furthest column (under the category % Daily Value) - there's a number there that tells us that this fat intake is about 2% of our DAILY RECOMMENDED FAT INTAKE. If I ate this whole box of cereal in one day, I would have met 18% of my daily recommended fat intake for that day just with this box of cereal.  (IMPORTANT NOTE: the Daily Value amounts are based on a 2000 calorie diet and your needs might be different depending on how many calories your body needs to function, such as an endurance athlete might have a higher calorie need to do what she/he does.)

3) Then we see cholesterol amounts (which the closer to zero, the better, since our bodies are capable of making cholesterol, but shouldn't exceed a total of 200mg daily).

4)  Here comes another big player - SODIUM! This cereal's not bad at only 5mg per serving (not even making a dent in the %Daily Value amount.
     FYI, the ADEQUATE daily intake of sodium is as follows:
          >1500mg for 19-50 year olds
            > 1300mg for 51-70 year olds
            > 1200mg for over 70 year olds
      The maximum daily intake should not exceed 2300mg (Hint: 1tsp of salt is approximately equally to 2000mg of sodium).  Most processed foods have a very large amount of sodium content and, sometimes, things that we don't think taste salty have significant amounts of sodium.  Too much sodium in our daily diets can contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure) and loss of calcium. (Yep, I said "loss of calcium".)
     People who are "salt sensitive" and should avoid excessive intake of sodium are:
        - Those with parents who had high blood pressure (or those who HAVE high blood pressure)
        - Those with chronic kidney disease
        - Those with diabetes
        - African Americans
        - People over the age of 50
        - Those who are overweight
       
5) Potassium is sodium's arch nemesis, sort of.  So why is potassium important against sodium? It seems to prevent calcium excretion that are a response to high sodium intakes.  Funny thing is, most processed/refined foods change during the processing with potassium levels are significantly decreased while sodium levels rise.  Chalk up another reason to AVOID processed foods!  Here's a table showing you what I mean:

6) Total Carbohydrates - you know, I'm so tired of the bum wrap carbs have gotten these days!  These little energy powerhouses are a needed nutrient, just not in the Twinkie or slice of cake form :-D  Making sure that most of your carbohydrate intake is coming from fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, & fruits, is a good rule .
     Fiber content, again, is important.  But if you're asking, "what's the difference between soluble & insoluble fiber", well, I'm going to tell you.  Soluble fiber is the one that becomes dis-sol-ved in your digestive fluids and transforms into a gel-like substance that may trap some other nutrients to make them less absorbable, including fats and sugars though you still get the calories from them (bummer)...this is the protective fiber that helps protect us from heart disease.  Insoluble fiber is the opposite and DOESN'T dissolve -- it's the bulk fiber that...well...helps going to the bathroom get going better...got it?
     As for sugars, the amount on the nutrition label is for ALL sugars - whether it's added or naturally occurring.  To check to see if there's added sugar, that's where reading the ingredient list will come in handy (upcoming in part 2).  Personally, I really wish they would break this down to "Naturally Occurring" and "Added" categories because I do believe our bodies break these down differently. For the most part, I try to limit "added" sugars to 18g/daily and I don't count the fruits and vegetables that I eat.

7) Last, but not least in any way, is protein.  On average, if you're over the age of 18, the recommended daily amount for protein is approximately is 5oz if you're female and 6oz if you're male (unless you're a bodybuilder or lift heavy weights or there's another reason why you should increase your protein intake) - THAT'S IT!  So going to a steakhouse and eating a 6oz steak (if you're a guy) and you're done with protein for that whole day...Americans tend to overdo the protein idea, just saying.  Overdoing it with protein starts a whole other story for later ;-)  Just realize that we don't need as much protein as the fads (and food manufacturers, including restaurants) have lead people to believe.
     One last thing on protein - make sure you get different types of proteins from different sources!  Variety, in food especially, is definitely the spice of life (and health)!

8) Now we're going below the line! It's about the vitamin content of the food.  Basically, these numbers are the percentages based on the Daily Value numbers.  So, for example, the iron per serving in this cereal is 8% of the daily recommended amount of total iron we need.

9) The next section is just a reminder of the Daily Values (total amounts per day) with certain nutrients for a 2000 calorie diet and a 2500 calorie diet.  It shows that, if you are on a 2000 calorie diet, your fat intake should not exceed 65g or 20g of saturated fat in a day.  If you were on a 2500 calorie diet, those numbers would change to 80g and 25g.

10) And, the final thing on this part - how many calories are in a gram of fat?  How about a gram of carbohydrate?  And protein?  Basically, 1 fat gram=9 calories, 1 carbohydrate gram=4 calories, and 1 gram of protein=4 calories...it's there, to help you make better choices and realize that one stands out as our biggest caloric enemy...

And just for giggles, I'm putting another nutrition label for a popular kids' cereal...this is one of my daughters' favorite cereals and I can't get them to stop eating it :(  See if you can spot the nutritional differences:

Part two of this blog (how to understand ingredient lists) ... I'll try to have it up by the end of the next week (Feb. 25, 2012)  For now, want more information on nutrition labels or recommended daily amounts?  Visit the USDA website at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying.  
   

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