What To Read in a Nutritional Label

If you are regularly buying your food from the grocery, you might already know that you can check their nutritional content by reading the nutritional label at the back of its packaging. However, if you’re just like the most of the grocery shoppers, then you might be overlooking this part of the packaging.

If you’re starting a healthy diet, then now is the best time to pay attention to these nutritional labels. This way, you will be more able to keep track of the nutrients you’re taking, which will help you to easily monitor your fitness goals.

Not sure what to look for in a nutritional label? Then let us help you by continuing to read this article.

Watch out for the Total Calorie Content

If maintaining a healthy amount of weight is your ultimate goal, then checking the total calorie content of the foods you eat is definitely a must. Whether you’re on a calorie surplus or a calorie deficit, it is important that you watch the amount of calories. Taking too many calories when you’re in a caloric deficit, or consuming too few calories when your goal is to gain weight will surely mess up with your long-term goals. So, it is important to watch the amount of calories you’re taking to make sure that you’re on the right track with your fitness goals.

Know Which Nutrients Do You Really Need

When choosing what kind of food should you really eat, you should look for foods which contains the right amount of nutrients that you really need. For example, if your goal is to gain more weight, but wants to have a leaner figure, then you should look for foods which contains high amount of healthy calories and carbohydrates. However, you should make sure that you’re eating the right kind of carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates, or the carbs which you are getting from healthy sources such as wheat, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread are the things that you should look for. Avoid foods that are loaded with simple carbs such as sugar, as it may negatively affect your fitness goals.

On the other hand, if your current goal is to lose weight, you should look for the foods that contains low calories but reasonable amount of protein. Foods rich in protein can help you feel more full, which can help you to significantly reduce your calorie intake.

Do Not Totally Avoid Fat Intake

“Fats have gotten a bad rap over the past 20 years,” said Kalee Lundmark, M.S., R.D. But in fact, “fats can be extremely good for our bodies, they help build healthy brain cells, play a key role in our nervous system, and help our bodies use vitamins,” she stated. Keep in mind, you should aim for foods which contains monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, both of which are found in foods such as fish and avocado. These kinds of fats should make up about 25-30 percent of your daily caloric intake.

Don’t Forget to Check the Serving Size

Just because the label indicates that it only contains 100 calories, doesn’t mean that the whole bag of chips only contains 100 calories. Most foods you can buy at the grocery store are packed in a two-to-three servings per package, so it is important to check how many servings does every packaging has. You should be careful with this one, because eating the entire package might mean that you’re eating double—or even triple of what is listed on the nutritional label.

Read All of The Ingredients

Another way to make sure that what you’re actually buying is healthy is by looking in its ingredients. According to most health specialists, if sugar is listed first on the ingredients list, you might think twice before eating it. Also, make sure that you can recognize all of the ingredients that are listed on the packaging. The shorter the list, the better.

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