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How to Read a Nutrition Facts Label

Solve One of the World's Greatest Mysteries
-- By Laura Bofinger, Staff Writer

Comment: I thought this might be interesting to some.

You know that, as a mother to be, it is actually healthy to gain around 25-35 pounds before you deliver your baby. So you head to the grocery store and scour the aisles for the good stuff, the healthy food that will satisfy your tastes and nourish your body, as well as your baby's. What do you look for when you're checking out the nutrition facts on that macaroni and cheese box? Whether you're one to zoom in on total calories or total carbs, you might be missing the real picture. Nutrition facts should be a part of your decision in what to eat or even what to buy. But interpreting the facts requires a bit of know-how, so make sure you aren't misleading yourself.

Understand the Power of "Serving Size"

The most important rule is to know your serving size and the number of servings in the package or can. If the labels says "one cup" for serving size and "two servings per container," that means there are two cups in the whole package. If you know you'll eat the whole package by yourself, you are going to consume two cups (1 cup x 2 servings/container = 2 cups). That means that you must double all the nutrition facts measurements to know your total intake of each nutrient - the good and the bad. Using the mac and cheese example, eating the whole package means you will have consumed 500 calories, 220 of which are from fat. You will have consumed 24 g of fat, of which 6 g is saturated fat. That's not exactly a balanced meal to fuel yourself for the day.

The only time you can avoid doing the math is when you eat the exact serving size that is listed. Always compare the listed serving size to how much food you think you'll eat and compute calories from there.


Crack the Code in "Percent Daily Value"

Confused by what all those percents really mean? The percents refer to "percent daily value" and they're a bit trickier to interpret. The FDA bases these percents on a 2000-calorie-a-day diet. Only problem is that your caloric needs increase. By your second and third trimesters, you will need an additional 300 calories each day. This will throw off the percentages. It will require a bit of mental adjustment to correct for this. Just use the given percentages as a frame of reference, realizing that you'll need to be above the percents shown, per serving. You may find it simpler to keep track of grams and milligrams instead of the percents. The Nutrition Facts footnote gives a scale in grams and milligrams for recommended amounts of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, and fiber based on a 2,500 diet as well.

Looking at cholesterol on the mac and cheese label, the FDA says that you are getting 30 mg and this is 10% of the recommended amount of cholesterol for a person eating about 2,000 calories per day. (Remember, you're getting 20% if you ate the whole package.) So how do you know if 10% is a good or bad number?

For ease of explanation, let's break this down into a guide that will helps us look at a percent and immediately know if it is high or low for one food source. The magic numbers are 5 and 20%. Anything listed in the percent daily value column that is 5% or less is a low number for nutrients. This is a good range for things that you want to limit (fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium), but too low for things you want to eat plenty of (fiber, calcium, and vitamins). Anything listed as 20% or more is high. This is a bad range for things that you want to limit (fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium), but a good range for things you want to eat plenty of (fiber, calcium, and vitamins). Use 5 and 20% as benchmarks when interpreting numbers between 6 and 19% (look at what is closer to "high" or closer to "low").

Look at "Total Fat" on the mac and cheese label. The 18% daily value is close to the high point, but if you ate the whole package, you actually ate 36% of the recommended daily amount of fat (well above our benchmark of 20%!). That amount, coming from just one source of food in a day, contributes a lot of fat to your daily diet. It would leave you 64% (100% - 36% = 64%) of your fat allowance for all other meals, drinks, and snacks you would eat that day.

The percent daily value also offers a great way to watch your diet without completely giving up your favorite foods. For example, if you ate one serving of macaroni and cheese but ensured you had a low fat intake for all other foods you ate that day, you made a successful trade-off. When you really want a food that is high in fat, always balance it with healthy low-fat foods in the same day.

Quick Interpretation Guide

• Start at the top with Serving Size and Servings Per Container. Adjust all measurements below this point according to the serving size you will eat.
• Look at the number of calories per serving (including how many calories are from fat).
• Limit these nutrients: total fat (including saturated and trans fat), cholesterol, and sodium.
• Get plenty of these nutrients: fiber, vitamins, calcium, protein, and iron.
• Use the % Daily Value to determine what is a high or low number for your daily diet. 5% or less is low; 20% or more is high.

Don't just use the nutrition facts to track the nutrients you want to cut back on. Use it to track the nutrients you want to increase (like fiber, calcium and vitamins)! Whether you're a stickler for tracking every fat gram and calorie per day or someone who just wants a rough estimate of her daily nutrient intake, the nutrition facts label is a handy tool. Learn how to use it for foods you eat frequently and anything new that you are tempted to incorporate into your regular meal plan.