Tag Archives: grocery shopping

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Decoding Nutrition Labels

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Nutrition Label - Whole Wheat Penne PastaAt your grocery, one of the most beneficial things you can do to assure your weight loss success is to read the Nutrition Labels of the foods you consider buying. Let’s talk a little about the kind of information that these labels provide.

The example shown here is from a box of whole wheat penne pasta. The first thing to notice is the definition of Serving Size since all the other information is related to 1 serving. Here we see that 1 serving of this pasta is 3/4 cup. It also tells us that there should be approximately 8 servings in this box of pasta. All the other information is based upon 1 serving, so if you eat 1 serving of this pasta, you will consume 210 calories and 15 of those calories are from fat.

As you continue looking at the label you’ll see the content of Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrate and Protein. Two of the kinds of fats are listed separately, Saturated Fat & Trans Fat. These are the two kinds of fat that you should avoid as much as possible because of their association with heart disease. In this example they are 0, so we know that the other kinds of Fat, Monounsaturated or Polyunsaturated must account for the 1.5 grams that are contained in this food. Another positive for this food is the absence of Cholesterol & Sodium. The Carbohydrate content is somewhat high at 41 grams.  For a 1200 calorie meal plan, the recommended Carbohydrate intake is approximately 150 grams.  That 3/4 cup contains a lot of complex carbohydrates, since the Dietary Fiber and Sugar components are relatively small at 5 and 2 grams respectively. For a person who has an elevated amount of triglycerides in their blood, lowering their Carbohydrate intake will also improve their triglyceride level.

Finally, you can see that the Protein content is 7 grams and that this pasta contains some Calcium & Iron. The percentages that you see are the percentages of the daily recommended values where known for each of these for someone on a 2000 calories meal plan. So, since most people who are trying to lose weight have a recommended daily caloric intake less than 2000 calories, these amounts actually represent a greater percentage of the recommended amounts for them.

As you can see there is a lot of information on these labels to help you make healthier choices.  And isn’t that what eating healthier is all about?  It will take time for you to use this tool as you make your choices, but it will be worth it.  Before you know it you’ll know exactly what to look for and how to use the information to help you reach your goal.

For Your Health – Dr. Bob

Shopping Healthy

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You can’t eat what you don’t have in your refrigerator or pantry.  This obvious truth is the foundation for developing and using a meal plan that will help you attain your weight loss goal.  Since food shopping is so critical for your success, I have listed a few tips to help you when you head to the grocery:

  • Make A List & Stick To It – Shopping smart starts with planning. Before you go to the grocery, make a list of the foods you need to get. By sticking to the list you will avoid making poor food choices.
  • Don’t Shop Hungry – Another tip is to avoid going food shopping when you are hungry. You are more likely to impulsively buy high caloric, unhealthy “junk” foods then. So take your list after you’ve had a meal, and you’ll be more likely to make healthier food choices
  • Read Nutrition Labels – Comparing nutrition labels is most helpful in choosing between one or more similar products or among brands of the same food. If you have high blood pressure or heart failure, you should minimize your sodium intake, so you can use the information on the Nutrition Labels to choose foods with lower Sodium content. If you have a high level of cholesterol in your blood, use the information to choose those foods lower in Cholesterol, Saturated Fat and Trans Fat to lower your blood cholesterol as well as your risk for heart attack and stroke.

Since knowing how to read Nutrition Labels is so important to choosing the healthier foods, I’ll talk about that in the next post.

For Your Health – Dr. Bob