How to Read Nutrition Facts

People often ask me, "Hey, Health Nerd, what's the best way to start improving my health? Is it through a calorie-counting app? Shopping at Whole Foods? Maybe joining my local booty boot camp?" Well, esteemed reader, one of the best ways to improve your health quickly is by learning how to read nutrition labels. You may think these labels contain complex science and mathematical equations, but they're really not that scary. Let's walk through how to properly read these things. The first thing you'll notice at the top of the nutrition facts are the serving size and servings per container. This is simply the amount in the package or container. Pretty self-explanatory. Next, you have the ingredients. Everything inside of these black lines represents one serving. This is important to understand because next you'll see the calories and the calories from fat. This is pretty much the only thing most people ever look at, and this is a common mistake. If the package says 200 calories on the bag of chips, but the servings per container say 2.5, that means there's actually 500 calories in the bag. This is a clever little marketing trick that you should be aware of. Pressing on, you will see the total fat on the package along with the number and percentage on the right-hand side. The number represents the total fat in one serving, and the percentage represents the percentage based on a 2,000 calorie diet. So, eight grams is 12% of a 2,000 calorie diet. I should also remind you that fat is not bad for you and there are plenty of healthy foods that are high in fat. What you really want to watch out for is any trans fat. Trans fat is the kind linked to heart disease and all sorts of medical conditions. Avoid this at all costs. Saturated fat should be much less of a concern. This may surprise some of you, so I will link a few studies below that have conclusively proven that saturated fat is fine to eat and not the cause of many diseases it was wrongly accused of. Think of saturated fat as the middle child of the fat family. He's got a good heart, but he's just a little misunderstood. Now, you may be thinking, "Wait a minute, why does the total number of saturated fat and trans fat not add up to the total fat on the top? Where's the other seven grams?" Well, this is because not all fats will be listed on the nutrition label. Only the nutrients deemed most important ever make it to the nutrition labels. Don't worry though, the other fats not listed are generally healthy and should be much less of a concern. Pressing on, you will see the cholesterol and sodium. Remember, these numbers are based on one serving. If the sodium was 25% of your daily intake and the package had 2.5 servings on it, that means the entire package contains 63% of your daily sodium intake. Quite a bit considering this is one snack. Onward, you'll see the carbohydrate section. Carbohydrates are the breads, grains, fiber, and sugars in the food. The first section you'll see is for dietary fiber. Having a good amount of dietary fiber is a good thing as it helps with digestion and satisfaction from your meals. Now, the next section is what you really need to pay attention to. The total sugars in the food you're eating are important to watch out for as, like trans fat, they have been linked to a whole host of diseases and health problems. Also, you should be aware of not only the sugar in the food, but what kind of carbohydrates you're eating. If the food is very high in carbohydrates but low in dietary fiber, even though the carbs are not labeled as sugar, they will operate very similarly in your bloodstream. These are called simple carbs. This is why you need to watch out for unrefined carbohydrates like white bread and pastas. Next up, you'll see the label for protein. Knowing that foods high in protein lead to better satisfaction from your meals and promote lean muscle tissue, you will want most of the foods you eat to have a good amount of protein. Finally, we have a few key vitamins at the bottom. It may sound strange, but ignore these. These numbers will be notoriously low and you should be focusing instead on getting lots of fruits and vegetables every day to meet your vitamin requirements. Leafy greens contain calcium and iron, and fruits contain vitamin C and vitamin A. The rest of the nutrition label facts contain recommendations about how much in each category to get in. They do not change on the nutrition label and are not that important. Finally, on some labels you will see the calories per gram for each macronutrient. Fat contains 9 grams per serving and carbohydrates and proteins contain 4. So, for every 10 grams of fat, you will have 90 calories. For every 10 grams of protein or carbohydrates, you will get 40 calories. Safe to say, you should now have a general understanding of how nutrition labels work. Most importantly, you can stop assuming something is healthy for you based on tricky packaging and start knowing the difference. Got a burning health question you need answered? Just put it in the comment section below. And rumor has it, for every new subscriber I get, a brand new Lamborghini will be placed outside your door. Yep, this is not a joke. Hit the subscribe button and a Lamborghini will appear. So, please subscribe to The Health Nerd for weekly tips and tricks, backed by science. You can also check out thehealthnerds.com for online health and fitness courses that will help you take your health to the next level. Cheers!