How To Read Nutrition Labels For Weight Loss And For General Health

Have you ever noticed those little nutritional labels on food packages? Maybe you haven't even given them much thought, or you thought they were just too confusing to make sense of. Being able to read nutritional labels can actually aid you in your weight loss journey, and help you be healthier. How are you supposed to understand those tiny text columns, though?

The nutrition facts label, which also known as the nutrition information panel, can be one of your most useful tools in managing your weight and sustaining your health. Making sense of the information on the labels, however, usually requires a little knowledge beyond what the product makers provide. If you've found the nutritional labels confusing, you're not alone. However, with enough information, you'll be able to figure out how to read these labels, and get the most out of it.

Ready to dive in? OK! Here are 10 simple rules for not only understanding but also making the most of nutrition information on packages.

1. Food labels don't always tell the whole story with calorie counts.

Most food labels list calories per serving, but base that figure on unrealistic serving sizes. In the United States, most consumers prefer to eat the entire container of certain kinds of foods, but most manufacturers prefer to treat their products as containing multiple servings.

The label on the side of the carton states that this ice cream sets dieters back 340 calories per serving, but it is necessary to look above the panel to see that there are two servings in each container. Eating the cup of Haagen-Dasz provides 680 calories.

If dieters could easily see that the chocolate peanut butter fudge ice cream cup actually counts for 680 calories, they might instead choose Edy’s Slow Churned Double Fudge Brownie Ice Cream, which contains just 240 calories in the entire carton of ice cream. Most calorie-counters don't look that closely when they are in the mood for ice cream.

Another food that makes it easy to forget about diet resolutions is chips. Most single-serving sized bags of chips, in the United States, contain 36 chips. Most labels, however, list a serving as 12 chips. When consumers munch away at a whole package of chips, they consume three servings, not just one: 300 calories, not 100. Similarly, soft drinks may be labeled for 12-ounce servings for sold in 20-ounce bottles. Consumers get 167 percent of the calories per serving when they drink the entire bottle, as most consumers do.

Tiny Ecuador, incidentally, has devised a warning system to tip off consumers to problems with portion sizes, by requiring foods that are commonly overeaten with a red dot.

2. Some products contain "added sugar" as their main ingredient but do not list added sugar as their main ingredient.

For instance, a sugar-sweetened cereal might list "whole grain flour" as its first ingredient, followed by high-fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar, agave sugar, honey, and grape juice concentrate. All the different kinds of sugar added together may exceed everything else used in the product, but appear further down the list of ingredients because they are identified separately. The easiest way to deal with this issue is simply not to buy products that contain high-fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar, agave sugar, honey, and grape juice concentrate.

3. High-fructose corn syrup is disguised under many other names.

Since the 1970's, North American food manufacturers have used much of their continent's enormous production of corn (maize) in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. As a sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup has a lot of things going for it. It contains both fructose and glucose sugar. Fructose (corn or fruit sugar) is much sweeter than sucrose (cane sugar). It absorbs moisture from the air and keeps products from drying out. It caramelizes to a deeper, darker, more attractive brown color.

See Also: Good Mood Food: Boosting Serotonin Through Diet

Unfortunately, the human body simply can't process large amounts of fructose, more than about 6 teaspoons (25 grams, 100 calories) per day. Additional fructose becomes fat. Avoiding high-fructose corn syrup is a must for weight control, but it is labeled not just as high-fructose corn syrup or HCFS but also as isoglucose, glucose-fructose syrup / glucose/fructose, maize syrup, high-fructose maize syrup, or corn sugar.

More Ways To Avoid Misleading Nutritional Information Labels

4. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is hidden on many labels.

Monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG, is a flavoring agent that appears in thousands of packaged foods. Most dieters would not be surprised to find MSG on the label of prepackaged Chinese food. Most dieters would be surprised to learn that there can be more MSG than whole wheat flour in "whole wheat" bread. Whole wheat hamburger buns sold at a famous American fast food chain, for example, contain white flour, sugar, MSG, and only then whole wheat flour as their main ingredients.

Some people develop diarrhea and vomiting when they eat foods containing MSG, but most people just pick up a pound or two (up to about a kilogram) of "water weight". Avoiding MSG can help keep the water weight off. This problem ingredient can be listed as MSG, monosodium glutamate, and any of the following very long list: acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast,  hydrolyzed corn protein, HVP, hydrolyzed casein, hydrolyzed collagen, hydrolyzed corn, hydrolyzed corn cereal solids, hydrolyzed corn gluten (there isn't actually such a thing as "corn gluten", but it is listed as a product name), hydrolyzed corn protein, hydrolyzed corn soy wheat gluten protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed whey peptides, partially hydrolyzed beef stock, textured protein, or yeast extract.

5. "10% Juice" usually isn't juice.

Juice concentrates tend to be much higher in sugar than fresh juice. Some products may be a combination of filtered water and various kinds of juice concentrate. They are delicious, but their effect on weight control is a lot like drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Look for "not from concentrate" on the label to get actual juice. Beware "juice" products that contain "10% juice" or even no juice at all.

6. Low-fat foods usually aren't low-calorie.

Food manufacturers usually can produce tasty snacks by eliminating either sugar or fat, but not both. Many "low-fat" foods are high in sugar, and because consumers mistakenly believe they are healthy, eaten in excess. Overeating low-fat foods can lead to failure to lose weight or even gaining more weight than when eating the "real thing".

7. In the United States, some nutrients are computed from outdated recommended daily intake figures.

Food labels in the United States use recommended daily intake numbers for vitamins and minerals that were current in 1968, but not updated for advances in nutrition science. The Institute of Medicine now recommends more magnesium, calcium, manganese, phosphorus, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K, and relying solely on food labels will not ensure adequate intake.

8. The "all-natural" label means that a product contains no added chemicals or artificial ingredients and has been minimally processed.

It does not mean that it is organic, locally raised, or free of GMOs.

9. The "organic" label means that most, although not necessarily all, of a product was made from food raised without herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, or bioengineering (GM0).

However, five percent of an "organic" product and up to 30 percent of a product labeled "made with organic ingredients" can be non-organic. "Local" products are not necessarily organic, or even produced on a nearby farm, if they are produced in a large state, such as California or Texas.

• A code that starts with the numeral "9" that is followed by a dash and four digits (for example, 9-1234) labels certified organic produce.
• A code that starts with the numeral "8" that is followed by a dash and four digits (for example, 8-1234) labels GMO food.
• A code that contains just four digits (for example, 1234) may contain residues of farm chemicals. These four digits are also used to identify the same fruit or vegetable if it is organic or GMO.

See Also: The Good And The Bad Side Of Nutritional Supplements

10. You can prevent problems with food labeling with an iPhone or Android app.

Several websites offer apps for scanning food labels with an iPhone or Android phone that will instantly alert you to allergens, added sugars, and problem chemical additives. Your smartphone can take a lot of the guesswork out of reading labels. Use the Fooducate app to keep track of calories and fat.