I've posted here a picture of a nutrition label taken from Kashi's cereal, GoLean (delicious, by the way). We're going to use this as a general reference. I'm also taking most of my information from the US FDA's (Food and Drug Administration) official website. They are the ones who administer these labels, so they're an extremely credible source. I'll leave a link to the website at the end of the blog.
Where to begin? I know my eyes immediately look for the word 'calories', but that is actually not where you should first look. The number of calories presented is actually the number per serving, not the entire box. So the answer to the question is to begin with the Serving size and Servings per container. The rest of the information on the label pertains to these crutial numbers! According to our Kashi GoLean, the serving size is 3/4 cup and there are about 10 servings in the box. (My goal is to actually adhere to the number of servings, but with Kashi, it's so hard to do! It's too good!)
You still can't look at those calories numbers yet until you've defined what a calorie is. With a little help from http://www.righthealth.com/, I can give you a quick definition. Calories are the amount of digestible food energy (foods that give your body energy) available. So, when they say the daily recommended amount of calories is 2,000, all that means is on a typical day your body needs 2,000 calories to expend the right amount of energy. (Most nutrition labels are based off a 2,000 calorie diet). So, looking at our Kashi GoLean, we will get 120 calories for every 3/4 cup, and 10 of those calories will come from fat. Not so bad!
Now we're getting into the lesser known material: the nutrients. The FDA website splits this into two sections. The first section begins at Trans fats and ends at Sodium. These are the nutrients we consume the most, yet are the ones we should cut down the most as well. It is recommended by health officials that you keep these nutrients to a minimum if you want to keep a nutrionally balanced diet. This is because an over abundance of trans fats, cholesterols and sodium increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and even certain cancers. [A random side note that I find pretty interesting is that restaraunts in New York and California have officially banned the use of trans fats in cooking. Texas, unfortunately, is one of the states that refuses to jump on this healthy bandwagon.] So, what you should look for in this section is small numbers. On our Kashi GoLean, we have one gram of total fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol and 35 mg of sodium. It seems like this is a pretty good choice so far... But there is also the second section of nutrients to consider which the FDA says are the ones we need more of, but don't eat enough of. The first one to look at is Dietary Fiber which promotes a healthier digestive system. You would want a good number on this one, especially if you're looking to drop a few pounds... I'm sure you can figure out why... Next on our label is Soluble Fiber (typically found in citrus, oats, beans, barley, among others) and Insoluble Fiber (whole wheat breads, cereals and vegetables). These also aid in preventing heart disease, and maintain a healthy digestive system. We have one gram of Soluble Fiber and 9 grams of Insoluble Fiber.
This label does not go into detail of its vitamin content, but typically labels will display the Vitamin A and C, Calcium and Iron content. Vitamins have an array of amazing benefits (that might be a great blog in the near future...), so you know you should have a reasonable amount of those.
I know you see the percentages next to all these numbers. They're called the Daily Value Percentages. In order to understand that, we need to go to the Footnotes box at the end that begins with *Percent Daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. This is required to be put on all boxes and the information does not change, so pay attention! The data here represents the levels of intake we should take for each substance, and they base it off either a 2,000 or 2,500 calorie diet. If you're looking to eat healthy and maintain your weight, keep to these numbers. However, if you're looking to lose weight, your goal should be to stay right below these numbers, and increase the amount of dietary fiber intake. It looks less like a jumble of numbers now, doesn't it?
You may be thinking that sticking to these numbers may be a hard task. That's where the percentages come in. They tell you the percent of each of those substances you're getting for the day with one serving. So by eating one serving of Kashi GoLean, you will have had 40% of the amount of dietary fiber you should eat for the day. That's almost half! I love Kashi.
That's basically the jist of those nutrition labels and what you should be looking for. If you're still confused about any of this or would like a deeper explanation, visit the FDA website I told you about earlier: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodlab.html . They break things down a bit deeper than I did. They have more examples, and pictures to examine, too. And a side bit - if you haven't tried Kashi GoLean, GET A BOX. It's so delicious, and as we've learned, good for you too! It has so much flavor that I prefer it without milk!
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