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Understanding Nutrition Labels

Happy National Nutrition Month! Here’s to a month of making healthy, conscious decisions about the type of foods and ingredients we eat. Let’s start with flipping over that package or canned good to find the nutrition label.

Nutrition labels can be confusing, so here are three easy tips for reading them:

  1. Look at the serving size first. Often the container you are eating or drinking from holds more than one serving, so you may unintentionally consume more calories than you think.
  2. Limit calories from saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. These three items are listed toward the upper middle of the food label.
  3. Eat foods higher in beneficial nutrients. These include dietary fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron.

These three tips can help you quickly review a food to see if it’s a healthy choice or a splurge that can be saved for a special treat.

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