How to read the Nutritional Labels?

In our day-to- day lives, processed foods have become a part of our daily needs. We come across a lot of ready- to- eat food items with their nutritional labels or nutritional facts telling us what is the content of the product along with their amounts mentioned on the packs.. But do we know how to read and interpret it?

So I have come up with this blog so that it becomes easier for all of us to read and understand that what are we eating and the quantity too? Understanding nutritional facts enables us to control our portion sizes and do not go overboard on our caloric intake.

So I am going to give you two different products with their respective nutritional facts and you will yourself decide which is a better product in terms of nutrient wholesomeness at the end of the blog !

Example 1]

If you read the above label , you would see that the a medium size can, approximately 250-300ml, contains 140 kcal with 39gms of carbohydrates [only from sugar]. That means if you consume this can, you would end up having almost 8tsps of sugar in a time period of just 5 minutes of drinking it. We know from my previous blog that ideal sugar intake is just 2tsps in the entire day. Imagine the amount of sugar we consume through such items being sold in the markets.

Apart from calories, carbohydrates [sugar] and sodium, you would not see any significant nutrients this item is providing you with. One of the important nutrients like protein and fiber are nil. Don’t you think this product would come under the category of “empty calories” as we have discussed in our earlier blogs?

Example 2]

On the other hand if you read this nutritional label you would see lot of nutrients being mentioned with their respective values. Each serving [1 cup] is providing 130 kcal which is not too much in terms of calories. Also notice that unlike the former example, this item provides you with fat, sodium, potassium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber [soluble and insoluble], sugar and protein. It also contains micronutrients like vitamin A, Vitamin D, Calcium, Riboflavin and iron in decent amounts.

Overall the latter is anyway a better product than the former one. Don’t you agree with me?

P.S: Home cooked foods are always wholesome and provide you with better nutrient combinations than ready -to- eat items.

Till then happy health to you!