How to Read Nutrition Labels - Part 3 The Last Hurrah!

Ok, lets get the important business out of the way first. How was everyones weekends? What? You didn’t stage your own personal triathlon at 6am on Sunday. That’s a shame. It was fun.

Now on to more pressing business. The 3^rd and final installment of reading nutrition labels. Sounds serious doesn’t it?

This post is going to be all about how to read the nutrition panel on a label. You know, the box with all the numbers in it. I’m not going to lie, this is the most challenging part of reading food labels and if, after part 1 and 2 you find this overwhelming then

Do me a favor and please don’t give up on all of it.

Get comfortable with part 1 and 2 for a few months then when you’re ready, step on up to the plate my friend.

So in the words of Run DMC – “it goes a lil’ something like this…”

All food is made up of Macronutrients. The macronutrients are;

Protein

Carbohydrate

Fat

Fibre

Water

Then there are Micronutrients. I would like to say that all foods contain macronutrients, but then I remember that twinkies exist and I feel that statement would be incorrect. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of micronutrients and we discover new ones all the time. You would have heard of micronutrients such as;

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Lycopene

This list could last pages. My concentration could not.

So before we move on to the nutrition panel I will give you an uber brief rundown of what macronutrients do so that you can start to get an understanding of where we want to position them in our diets. This is by no means a definitive list. If you wish to surrender hours of your life that you can never get back then I recommend the light holiday reading of “Advanced Nutrition & Human Metabolism by Groff, Gropper and Hunt”. I kid, I kid.

Back to my point.

Protein is responsible for the repair of cells, it is needed for your immune system to function properly and an integral part of hormone balance, including the hormones that help to regulate your appetite and mood etc.

Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel source of your body. They are easily utilized as energy.

Fats make up part of the wall of every single one of your cells and so are essential to life also. Fat is not the devil. They are not called essential fatty acids because they are optional. You need fats for hormones, skin, brain function etc.

Fibre contributes to the balance of good bacteria in your digestive system and keeps you regular. Remember, if you don’t poop you die. I am not lying.

Water. Can’t live without it. Its that simple.

Some nutrition panels will have percentage values on them. These are meant to indicate the percentage of your daily intake. They very kindly put these on chocolate. But beware, the percentages are usually based on the diet that a moderate sized male who exercised most days would require. They are as valuable as the label on the packet of cookies that says ‘Fresh Baked’ but has a useby date of Oct 2013.So glad our government payed people to devise these.

You could go on and on analyzing nutrition panels but I find their value lies in quickly being able to see if a food is mostly carbohydrate, protein or fat. From this you can start to see imbalances in your diet. For instance if you are starving an hour after breakfast, look at the nutrition panels of what you eat. Are you getting at least 15g of protein in your breakfast to give you a slow steady release of energy? Or is your breakfast all carbohydrate?

If you want to investigate your own nutrition needs in terms of energy, protein, carbohydrate etc then consult a nutritionist, dietitian or do some of your own research (but remember to use quality sources)

And here is where I leave you. Keep it simple. Enjoy mostly ‘real’ foods. Strive for balance. Enjoy your life (I mean, that’s a ‘duh’ one, but sometimes we need to be reminded). Peace out.