Are you working on making healthier choices for yourself and your family this year? Are you overwhelmed at the grocery story trying to decide which foods are healthier for you?
Food labels can be confusing and hard to decipher.
- Is “light” any different than “lite”?
- What’s the difference between “reduced fat” and “no fat”?
- What does “not a significant source of sodium” mean?
- What is a whole grain?
Why is any of this important, anyway?
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be talking about different food labels. We’ll figure out what they mean, and how you can use the information to make better choices for you and your family.
The best place to start is the nutrition label on the back of the package. Brush up on your nutrition label reading skills over the weekend, and we’ll get into the tough stuff next week.
Do you have a question about a specific label you’ve seen on food? Any burning questions? Let me know, and I’ll answer them during this series!
I recommend very low sodium diets to some patients. Less than 250 mg Na per day. So how much sodium is in a product that says “not a significant source of sodium”. For these patients it may be.
Yes, you are absolutely right! If anyone has any specific dietary recommendations or restrictions from their doctor, it is important to follow those over anything you might find on the internet! Reading nutrition labels is very important to manage certain dietary conditions or restrictions.