Chapter 4: The Art of Meal Planning 79
- Calories per serving. Each serving has 280 calories. If you eat half the
bag, you have to triple the calories. If you eat the whole bag, you have
eaten 1,680 calories!
- Fats. In particular, pay close attention to the unhealthy fat (saturated
and trans). Keep saturated as low as possible and avoid trans fats all
together.
- Cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends limiting
cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams a day. Cholesterol is found only
in animal foods.
- Sodium. Limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams a day. Remember,
the more processed a food is, the higher it is likely to be in sodium.
- Carbohydrate. Fiber and sugars fall under carbohydrates. Aim for 25
grams of fiber a day if you’re a female and 30 if you’re a male. Sugars
may include naturally occurring sugar like the lactose in milk and
fructose in fruit. You need to read the ingredients to look for sources of
added sugar.
- Protein. Aim for 60 to 80 grams (or the number of grams that have been
specifically recommended for you) of protein a day.
- % Daily Values. These numbers are based on a 2,000 calorie diet and are
a rough guideline to tell if a food is high or low in a particular nutrient.
For example, this label means if you are following a 2,000 calorie diet,
the fat in this food provides 18 percent of the recommended fat allow-
ance for the day.
- If a product has 5 percent or less, it’s low in that nutrient. This
could be good or bad, depending on the nutrient. If it’s sodium, it’s
a good thing. If it’s fiber, maybe not so good.
- If a product has more than 20 percent, it’s high in that nutrient.
Again, this can be good or bad.
- % Daily Value of vitamins and minerals. These numbers for vitamin A,
vitamin C, calcium, and iron are a good way to compare levels of nutrients
between similar foods.
Reading ingredient labels in addition to nutrition labels lets you know exactly
what you are eating. Ingredients are listed in descending order according
to weight. For example, look at the ingredients for the granola cereal in
Figure 3-1. From this list you should be able to tell that the cereal contains
no enriched or refined grain, hence it’s 100 percent whole grain. It does have
some sugar (the fruit), but it appears toward the end of the ingredients so
there is relatively little sugar (and no added sugar) per serving. Compared
to many other cereals, this one has fewer ingredients, so it may be a good
choice.
