What to look for on labels?

[soccermom]

I know I should be looking at fat, sugar, carbs and protein when I look at the nutrition labels but what else should I look at?

[bruteforce]

I try to avoid peculiar ingredients. I want my canned green beans to have 2 ingredients. Green beans and water.

[glwanabe]

I look for ingredients with the following directions:

Grill
Braise
Roast

Pair with a vegetable of choice

[IronManlet]

Protein content.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by soccermom

I know I should be looking at fat, sugar, carbs and protein when I look at the nutrition labels but what else should I look at?

On the lower fat products, check out the sugar content which is generally higher than it is on the same brand normal fat content item.

Compare products by brand and how they stack up against each other for the same item...thankfully, a lot of this can be done online, find a site with nutrition facts of certain foods and a label of the product is generally there for you to look at.

Always multiply the fat grams, in the portion, by 9 and divide that into the overall calories of the portion to see what the fat percentage really is, but bear in mind that some products, such as those containing nuts, will have a higher fat content but not necessarily in a bad way; so, higher fat content does not always mean it's a bad product, per se.




We are supposed to eat a certain amount of fat on a daily basis to maintain a healthy body and yet we're constantly being told to eat lower fat foods, so where are we supposed to get the necessary fat from? That's a conundrum.

[TitanCT]

you look at calories, fats, carbs/fiber, and protein. whichever of the three macros (fats, carbs, protein) is the highest you count that product as that source.

For instance:


kashi cereal might have "as much protein as an egg", but its a carb source...and not a very good one either. nothing like good old persuasive advertising.