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Label Ease. An easy way to decide if a food is nutritious or not using the food label. Two goals to have when choosing food:. Make sure the food contains good nutrients you need for good health. Make sure the food we eat doesn’t have too much fat, cholesterol and sodium.
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Label Ease An easy way to decide if a food is nutritious or not using the food label.
Two goals to have when choosing food: • Make sure the food contains good nutrients you need for good health. • Make sure the food we eat doesn’t have too much fat, cholesterol and sodium.
Food labels give you a fast way to decide if a food is healthy. • Most families want to eat healthy, but they don’t want it to take a lot of time or energy.
All foods have Pluses and Minuses • Pork Chops • Contain a good source of protein, niacin, thymine, and riboflavin. • Are high in fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat. • Whole Grain Bread • Are low in fat, cholesterol as well as being high in fiber. • Contain only small amounts of nutrients listed on the food label.
What Information do you look at on a food label? • Most people only focus on 1 or 2 parts of the food label. • Calories or Fat Content There are… 14 Valuable facts on a food label and you should choose a food based on the entire label.
Can you guess which food has this information on its food label?
You Guessed it—Pop! • Pop has 0 Fat, 0 Cholesterol, and only 1% sodium. • Pop also has no vitamins and the sugar calories is high!
Divide the label into 3 Sections These nutrients are the most likely to keep us healthy, but we have low amounts of them in our diet. Like a tag on a mattress—read and ignore Percents are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Lower amounts of these.
5 Finger Test • This is a simple system for choosing food to make informed choices • The best thing about this system is that you only need 5 fingers. • Remember—All labels are based on a 2000 calorie diet (that’s the amount of calories and average adult should eat each day)
Magic Number in Labels • If the food has 10% or more (Vitamin A, C, Calcium, Iron, Protein and Fiber) it is a good source of that nutrient. 10 Put 1 finger up for each nutrient on the middle of the label that has 10% or more.
Which Nutrients are low in our Diet? • Vitamin A—This vitamin helps your night vision • Vitamin C—This vitamin helps cuts and bruises heal as well as fighting the common cold. • Calcium--This nutrient builds strong bones and teeth • Iron—This mineral gives you healthy blood.
Protein and Fiber • Sometimes Protein and Fiber are listed in grams. • 5 grams or more of Protein and Fiber is good! • Put 1 finger up if the food has 10% or more of protein and fiber—or 5 grams or more.
Confusing Sugars • The sugar listed on the label includes natural sugars like lactose in milk or the natural sugars in fruit—Good sugars! • Because good sugars are included with bad sugars, we ignore the sugar on the label of healthy food because it is too difficult to tell the difference.
Putting Fingers Down • Look at the Fat and Calories, we call these excesses. • Choose to watch either Fat or Calories, not both. • When watching fat, put 1 finger down if the fat content is 10% or more. • When watching calories, put 1 finger down if the calories are 200 or more. • The calories section on the food label is the only place where the magic number 10 doesn’t apply.
How many Fingers make a Food Nutritious? • If you have any fingers standing—then the food is nutritious. • If you have no fingers standing then the food is not nutritious. • You will find that things you think are healthy really aren’t when you read the label. (Check granola bars and cheese)