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Nutrition Label LiteracyInformation on nutrition labels allows you to choose healthier foods. But don’t get lost in the numbers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created the “Nutrition Facts” label to enable people make healthier food choices. But many of us don’t use the labels to their fullest potential. To get some tips on how to use label information on calories, fat, and fiber, we spoke to Cindy Moore, MS, RD, director of nutrition therapy at The Cleveland Clinic and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Ideally, the “nutrition facts” labels on packaged food are supposed to allow you to “translate the theoretical into the practical,” Moore explains. But that doesn’t mean using label information to plan a specific diet, meal for meal. “The goal is to assist in being an informed consumer, not to try to calculate everything you’re eating,” she says.
Instead, Moore suggests, use the numbers to make choices between equivalent foods, favoring the more healthy ones. “If you like hot dogs, you’re going to have hot dogs,” Moore says. “So now let’s pick the one lowest in fat and calories.” To learn how, examine the sample Nutrition Facts label (below and left) and then follow the corresponding numbered paragraphs.
Serving size is key
When using a nutrition facts label to compare foods, remember that the numbers on the label are tied to serving size. “The comparison should be between equivalent servings,” Moore says. So, for example, if one brand of frozen lasagna lists a serving size of 3/4 cup and another lists a serving size of 1 cup, the calories-per-servings given cannot be compared directly. See Putting Nutrition Facts to Work for an example of this situation.
Counting Calories
People trying to control their weight will find the “calories per serving” information on the label helpful. Again, it’s important to keep an eye on serving size. To figure out how many calories you actually consume, you have to multiply the number of servings you eat by the calories per serving listed near the top of the label. For example, in the sample label at left, eating the whole container delivers a total of 500 calories (2 servings at 250 calories per serving).
Figure out the percentage of calories from fat per serving
Nutrition labels also list how many calories in a serving of the food come from fat. The key reason for focusing on fat calories is heart disease, still the leading killer in the United States. Dietary fats—particularly saturated fats from animal products—contribute to the formation of artery-clogging plaque deposits. For prevention of heart disease, guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommend that you obtain no more than 30 to 35 percent of your total calories from fats.
Calculating fat calories
The percentage of fat calories per serving is not specifically listed on the Nutrition Facts label, even though it’s one of the most useful bits of information you can have about a food. Unfortunately, it’s not trivial to figure out these percentages without a calculator or scratch pad: You have to divide the calories from fat by the total calories and convert the results into a percentage. For example, consider a serving of food that contains 110 fat calories and 250 total calories. Dividing 110 by 250 yields 0.44 (44/100), or 44 percent. A simpler way to estimate if the food meets the AHA and NCEP guideline is to see if you can divide the fat calories into the total calories at least three times. If you can’t, then more than one-third (33 percent) of the calories in the food come from fat.
If a particular food exceeds the guidelines for fat calories, you don’t necessarily have to reject it, however. “It refers to overall consumption,” Moore explains. “I may be eating some cheese that is high in fat, but I may be eating that with some whole grain crackers and an apple.” In other words, by using fat calories to guide your purchases, you can reduce overall fat consumption whole still eating some foods that exceed the guideline.
“Good” and “Bad” fats
As if things weren’t complicated enough, not all fats have the same impact on heart health. Dietary fat comes in various forms, some of which are thought to be more “bad” for your heart than others. You can identify the types of fats in your food by looking at the ingredients list.
Fats are made up of fatty acids, which come in several varieties: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Foods typically contain a mix of all three types of fatty acids. Vegetable oils such as olive, canola, and sunflower are relatively high in mono- and polyunsaturated fats. In contrast, meats and dairy products are higher in saturated fats. Research suggests the following:
Monounsaturated fats lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise “good” HDL cholesterol
Polyunsaturated fats lower both LDL and HDL.
Saturated fats raise LDL, increasing the risk of heart disease.
Hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as those used to make stick margarines, contain trans-fatty acids, which are thought to promote atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”). In contrast, unhydrogenated oils, such as those used to make soft “tub” margarines, are low in trans-fatty acids. Ideally, the guidelines suggest, you should obtain no more than 7 percent of your daily fat calories from saturated fat, obtaining the rest of your fat calories from mono-and polyunsaturated sources
But in the end, Moore says, it’s not necessary to micromanage the types of fats you consume. All you really need to do is use Nutrition Facts information to reduce your total fat consumption and favor oils with less saturated fat—such as olive or canola. You can also cut back on processed baked goods, such as cakes and cookies, as a way of reducing consumption of hydrogenated oils and their trans-fatty acids.
Don’t forget your fiber
“Total dietary fiber” is also a useful nutrition fact. The current guideline says you should consume 20 to 25 grams of dietary fiber per day. It comes in two forms: soluble and insoluble. Both forms ease the movement of digested food through the intestines, but soluble fiber may also help to lower your cholesterol. The amount of soluble fiber in a food varies from 15 to 50 percent of the total. “Both types of fiber offer benefits and many foods contain both soluble and insoluble fiber,” Moore notes.
You can use label information on dietary fiber to choose between certain processed foods—bread, for example. Given the choice between a bread with 1 gram of fiber per slice and one with 2 grams, choose the bread with more fiber per serving while taking into account fat and calories. All things being equal, more fiber is better.
This article originally appeared in the January 2002 issue of Men's Health Advisor.
