Our body needs many?kinds of foods to keep?it strong and healthy.?Do you know what?your body gets from?the foods you eat??How can you find out??The front of the food?package may look very?nice, but is that food?good for you?

To find out, look?on the side or the?back of the package,?where you will see a?Nutrition Facts label.?There is a lot you?can learn from the?information there.?Here is a guide to?what you should?look for.

1 Serving size.

This number?will be at the top?of the label. It tells?you what your body?gets if you eat that?amount of food. For?example, if you buy?a can of tomato soup?you may see that the?serving size is 1 cup.

All of the numbers?found on the label?are for 1 cup of the?soup. Let’s say there?are 100 calories in 1?cup of tomato soup.?But what if you eat?two cups? There will?be 200 calories in 2?cups of tomato soup.

2 Servings per?container.

This number?is right below the?serving size. It tells?you how many?portions are inside?the package. For?example, there may?be one, two or maybe?more servings per?container. This helps?you decide how?much of the food?to eat.

THE BEST WAY TO READ A FOOD LABEL IS TO:

? Look for a short list of ingredients.
? Know your serving size (portion).
? Pick the package with less fat,?cholesterol, sugar and sodium.
? Pick the package with more fiber,?vitamins A and C, calcium and iron.

3 Calories, total?fat, cholesterol,?sodium,?potassium, total?carbohydrates,?protein, vitamin A,?vitamin C, calcium?and iron.

If you eat one serving?of the food, your?body will get the?exact amounts listed.?This information?is important if you?want to control your?blood glucose, lose?weight or eat less fat?or sodium. If you?have a choice of two?kinds of tomato?soup, you may prefer?to pick the one that?has less sodium or?sugar, or more iron?or vitamin A.

4 The list of?ingredients.

This tells?you the foods and?chemicals that are?inside the item.?The order in which?they are listed is?important, too.?The item found?in the biggest amount is listed?first. The last food is in the smallest?amount. Natural,?unrefined foods?have a very short?list. For example, old?fashioned oats has?just one ingredient:?100% natural rolled?oats. Natural peanut?butter with no salt?added only contains?peanuts. These foods?are very good for?your body. Refined?foods have a long list?of ingredients with?names that are hard?to say. These foods?may give your body?many calories and?very little that is good?for your health.

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The more you read?food labels, the?easier it will be for?you to make the?best food choices.

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By Johanna Burani, MS, RD, CDE