You may have heard the saying that the healthiest foods in a grocery store are those surrounding the aisles (think the produce areas, meat counters, etc.) to help avoid packaged foods. But let’s be honest, that is simply not realistic in today’s day and age. What you can do is head into those aisles with a plan, reading nutrition labels on the back of packaging and cans to ensure you’re making the best choices.
The nutrition label itself can be overwhelming to take in, but we’ve broken down everything you need to know!
- Serving size
- This will explain the size of each of those servings.
- Servings per container
- Understand how many servings are in the package or can.
- Total carbohydrates
- See a breakdown of carbs in the serving, including how much fiber and sugar.
- Sugar, Protein, and Vitamins
- This will break down how much of each of these items is in each serving.
- Choose foods higher in fiber, vitamins, and protein.
- Likewise, when looking at the fat, cholesterol, and sodium content, you’ll want to choose foods with lower fat (especially trans fat) and sodium.
- Calories & Percent Daily Value
- Calories
- This will share how many calories are in each serving within the package. This can be misleading if one doesn’t pay attention to the serving size (which can be smaller than you think!).
- Percent Daily Value
- This is based on a diet of 2,000 calories a day and explains how much of your daily value will be consumed with one serving of the item.
- Calories