Every bite you eat impacts your health – with each swallow, you are either moving toward your weight goal or away from it.
So how do you figure out what to eat and how much to eat of it every day? You can calculate this information by reading the nutrition labels on foods.
Here are three tips to help you understand the nutritional value and portion size too!
How To Understand The Nutritional Value of Foods
Serving Size
On the label, the serving size is listed first. The rest of the information on the label is based on the serving size, so it’s important to look closely at it.
Is the whole package one serving? Or is it showing the data for one serving but the package is actually three servings? This has happened to me so many times!
It’s easy to glance at a bag of chips and think ‘Oh, it’s only 100 calories’ when in reality it is really 300 calories for the entire bag.
Read each label closely every time! It can change frequently due to manufacturing updates.
Percent of Daily Value
The percent of daily value is calculated for a 2,000-calorie day. The nutrient guidelines tell you how much each nutrient is in the food compared to 2,000 calories.
As you read through labels, keep these numbers in the back of your mind:
- Total grams of fat intake per day should be somewhere between 56 – 78 grams (for a 2,000-calorie daily diet). So, if you eat a serving of food that has 10 grams of fat listed, you just ate 15% of your allotted amount of fat for the day.
- The total amount of sodium per day should be no more than 2,400 milligrams. It seems like a lot until you start looking at labels, especially for foods like ketchup, soup, soda pop, and bread. It adds up quickly!
- As you look at the vitamins and minerals listed on the labels, you naturally want to strive towards reaching at least 100% of your daily recommended allowance since that is the minimum benchmark for maintaining health.
A Handy Guide to Portion Size
Now that you know about reading food labels, how do you know when you have a good portion size? Look at your hand.
- Make a fist. That is about one cup of salad, fresh fruit, casserole, or drink.
- A cupped hand is about ½ cup serving size. That one is really good for measuring rice, pasta, potatoes, or ice cream.
- Your palm holds about three ounces, which is one single serving size of meat – unless you are eating a high-protein diet!
- Your thumb approximates one tablespoon – good for measuring salad dressings and sour cream.
- And finally, the tip of your thumb is equal to a teaspoon – perfect for butter, oil, and mayonnaise.
I hope these tips help you understand our labels a bit more! I am always striving to learn more and more on this healthy journey!
Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…
Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.