Reading Your Nutrition Labels

Aside from just using great supplements like Lose andSnooze weight loss, there are other actions that you should take to increase weight loss such as lowering your caloric intake, making sure you’re getting the right amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, keeping your cholesterol in check, and monitoring how much of each nutrient you’re getting. Although this may seem like a daunting task, it’s really very simple. Reading the nutrition labels on the food you buy can be one of the quickest and easiest ways to make healthier decisions for you and your family. After all, that’s what it’s there for.

Serving Size

Pay close attention to the serving size of the product that you’re buying. Not every serving size is for everyone. For instance, many cereals have a serving size of one-half to one cup. How many people actually eat only one cup of cereal when they have a bowl? Although the serving size is calculated in a specific way by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it will seem arbitrary for your purposes as it differs from product to product and brand to brand. To account for this it’s good to estimate how much of a product you usually eat and calculate the rest of the nutrients from there. For example, if you usually eat twice the amount on the package, multiply everything by two.

Percent Daily Value

The “percent daily value” on a food label isn’t the recommendation for everyone. In fact, it’s not the correct recommendation for most people (unless you’re a 5’8” 130-pound male that is 25 years old that is somewhat active, then it’s pretty close). The percent daily value is calculated by the FDA for those with a 2,000-calorie diet. Again, not everyone has this so it is best to find your own calorie recommendation and adjust accordingly.

More About Recommendations

The recommendations get even more confusing when you realize that the recommendations are not goals. Some of them are maximum recommendations and some of them are minimum recommendations. Once you’ve reached 100% of your “recommended” fat and sodium content for the day it simply means that the FDA is saying that they recommend you don’t go any further.

On the other hand, with carbohydrates, fiber, and the vitamins and minerals (sometimes listed at the bottom of the nutrition box) the “recommendation” means that they recommend you eat at least 100% of the recommended value.

Not All Fats are Created Equal

Finally, it’s important to know what kind of fats and cholesterol you’re getting with your food, since not all of the labels will tell you what you’re getting yourself into. You’re more likely to get a specific breakdown of fats instead of cholesterol on the box, but what do all of those weird words mean?

Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and Omega-3 fatty acids are usually from places like canola oil, nuts, and legumes. They’re generally good for you and can help you lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

Saturated trans fats, usually found in animal products, are not as good for you but still necessary for various bodily functions. It’s also important to take the good with the bad in regards to saturated trans fats because it’s difficult to get all of the nutrients you need without eating animal products. It’s possible, but more difficult.

And that brings us to the lower rung of fats you should eat: hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats that act more to preserve the food than to preserve your body. They’re usually found in shortening or stick margarine. Need we say more?

Knowing what you’re eating is extremely important to maintaining a healthy balance in your body. Supplementing your weight loss with collagenweight loss products can allow you to lose weight more quickly and easily, but it will always start with you and your healthy habits. No supplements in the world will help if you subsist solely on cookies.