Understanding Food Label free essay sample

Understanding how to read food labels is important and also healthy. This can help you to maintain a healthy diet. Reading food labels at first can be confusing, however it will help you to select foods that will provide you with the accurate amount nutrients and energy that your body needs. Eating healthy can offer your body the energy and nutrition that it needs to function. Eating healthy can also have health benefits as well. According to the â€Å"Food Label and You† video the 5/20 rule is â€Å"a food that has 5% or less of the daily value of a nutrient, say a bottle of juice that contains less than 5% calcium, then that food is not a good source of that nutrient, calcium in this case. But a food with 20% or more of a nutrient means is a good source. So, a glass of milk that has 25% calcium is an excellent source. This rule also works for nutrients you may not want a lot of, like saturated fat or sodium†. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Food Label or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Reading the nutrition labels is the key to calories, serving sizes and daily values that follow the 5/20 rule. Calories and serving size should be checked. Checking the label will tell you how many calories and nutrients you are getting. An example of the 5/20 rules from the pantry is a fiber one bar that contains 35% of fiber, which is an excellent source of fiber. Another example would be peanut butter, which contains 10% of vitamin C. In this case it is not a good source of vitamin C. There are six food label facts presented in the â€Å"How to Understand Nutritional Food Label† article that can help consumers understand food labels more effectively. The first is the serving size, which are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods; they are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount, e. g. , the number of grams. The serving on the food package influences the number of calories and all the nutrient amounts listed on the top part of the label. The second is calories (and calories from fat). Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food. The calorie section of the label can help you manage your weight (i. . , gain, lose, or maintain. ) The third and fourth is the nutrients and how much. IT is divided into two parts. The first is limit these nutrients which are, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk of certain chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure. The second is getting enough of these nutrients, which are dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. The fifth is understanding the footnote on the bottom of the nutrition facts label. This tells you %DVs are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. This statement must be on all food labels. It is recommended that the % daily values are followed in order to stay within public health experts recommended upper or lower limits for the nutrients listed, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. The sixth is the percent daily value (%DV). The DV are based on the Daily Value recommendations for key nutrients but only for a 2,000-calorie daily diet not 2,500 calories. The %DV helps you determine if a serving of food is high or low in a nutrient.