Become a Nutrition Facts Master

It doesn’t have to be rocket science, but make it out to be. With so many different food options at the grocery store, it becomes confusing as to what foods are healthy or not. Don’t be fooled by the tricky packaging or hidden nutrition facts of so many packaged foods. When a product will say “low fat” many times it’s packed with sugar to make up for the low fat content. When they say “low sugar” or “low carb” it’s usually high in fat. And when they say, “high protein” many times the protein content is still lower than the carb and fat content.

Nutrition Facts Label 101

Have you heard of the term “net carbs?” The FDA will not allow food companies to use this term on the nutrition labels because it is actually made up as a marketing tool. When a package says “only 10g net carbs.” The 10g is the actually carb amount minus the fiber added in the product. So if a product has 20g carbs and 10g fiber they will write on the front label “only 10g net carbs.” Fiber does not just magically cancel out carbs. This is a scam to fool the consumers.

When purchasing anything with a label on it be aware of the ingredients and how to ready the nutrition facts label. First thing you need to do is look at the serving size and calories. Next, look at the trans fat and make sure it says zero! Trans fat is man made fat! You do not ever need to consume this! Then, look at sugar. Always make sure your sugar is at 5g per serving or lower. Finally, you have your total fat, total carbohydrates, protein and dietary fiber. A simple guide to how much you should consume per day is:

• 1g protein per body lb
• 1-2g carbohydrates per body lb
• 20% total calories from fat
• 20-40g dietary fiber