reading food labels

thust377

I’d like to start this article off with a bit of humor, enjoy these fun nutrition facts:
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
This may be funny, but this is also a reality. We all need to be more aware of the foods we are eating and the best way to do that is to understand food labels. Have you ever heard of the Label Reading diet? A recent study found that simply reading nutrition labels on packaged foods helps people lose weight. Those who exercised and read labels were the most successful, but when the study compared people that either just exercised or just read food labels, the people who read the labels had an advantage over losing weight measured against those who just exercised, it was a slight advantage, but it was an advantage non-the-less.
Almost every food product you buy comes with a label designed to take the mystery out of your meals. The goal of Nutrition Facts labels is to make it easier on the consumer to monitor their recommended daily intake of nutrients. In order to get the full effect out of the nutrition labels, you should take interest in what your body needs in order to function properly, there are plenty of tools on the internet to help with that, or consult your doctor.
You’ll want to start by learning about serving size. Use the serving size as a guide to help you determine how many calories and nutrients are in a specific quantity of food. You can utilize the shape of your hand as a benchmark to visualize serving sizes. Your thumb is about one ounce; your palm is about the size of 3 ounces. Your fist is equivalent to 1 cup or 8 ounces. Calories measure how much energy you get from a serving of a particular food. In order to maintain your weight, lose weight or even gain weight, calories are an important part in whatever your weight goal is, if you take in more calories then you burn, you’ll gain weight. Identify how many calories you need in a day to obtain your ideal weight. Once you know that, the serving size of your food and how many calories are in every amount will help you decide whether or not the food will be a wise purchase.
There are many important facts to obtain from food labels, so look beyond the calories and serving size. You’ll want to examine the fats, carbs, proteins, and sugars. Think twice if you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce any ingredients, after all you are what you eat. Combining label reading with exercise and making informed food choices will help you live the healthy lifestyle you dream of.

mschickiepoo

All that being said........ is there a website or do you have any other info on exactly how to read a label, and how carbs, sugars, etc. affect your diet. I'd like to know not only how to read a label, but the effects that they have after they break down. Thanks!

dls06

I think it is the stress that kills americans.