Reading Food Labels Nutritional information~

You ever look at the labels on food only to get totally confused about what the information given on them actually says? It can be overwhelming, and difficult to understand, so I have thrown together some info to help you better understand just what it says.
Do you read the Nutrition Facts food labels when you shop? Since 1994, the FDA has required these labels to be placed on most food packaging. The Nutrition Facts food labels are easy to find on the back, side or bottom of the packaging.
The black and white Nutrition Facts labels may be formatted vertically or horizontally (the vertical version is more common). Small packages may have an abbreviated version of the label.

For example, this is a food label like one that you would see on a can of condensed chicken noodle soup. It looks like a lot of information to understand all at once, so let's look at the Nutrition Facts food label one section at a time.


Nutrition Facts - Serving Information

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You'll find the serving information listed right at the top of the Nutrition Facts label. This is important because everything you read on the rest of the label is based on one serving. There are two parts to the serving information on the Nutrition Facts label, the serving size and the number of servings.
The serving size tells you the size of each serving. It could be an number or a common measurement. For example, one serving of chicken noodle soup is 1/2 cup. Sometimes this information can be very misleading. If a package contains six cookies, but the serving size is two cookies, then the package contains three servings, not just one. So if you eat all six cookies, you are eating three servings.

On the chicken noodle soup example above, it is important to note that a serving is one-half cup of the condensed soup as it comes in the can and not one-half cup of the soup after it has been mixed with water. Always look to see if the serving size should be measured or counted before the product is prepared or after.

Sometimes the number of servings may be easier to understand than serving size. On the chicken noodle soup Nutrition Facts label, the number of servings is given as about 2.5. That means if you prepare the can of soup with any amount of water and eat the whole thing yourself, you have eaten two and one-half servings (and that doesn't include any crackers).

Nutrition Facts - Calories, Fat, Carbohydrates, and Protein
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This section of the Nutrition Facts food label contains information about calories, fat content, amount and types of carbohydrates, and amount of protein in the product. The label shows the amounts in grams (g) or milligrams (mg) and the percentage of the daily value (the amount needed every day) for each of these nutrients. This information is based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. So it won't be exactly right for everybody. But it will give you an idea of how the food item will fit into your energy nutrient needs.
Notice that sodium information is located here rather than with the other minerals down lower on label. In the chicken noodle soup Nutrition Facts food label above, you can see that one serving of condensed chicken noodle soup has 37% of your daily value for sodium. If you eat the whole can of soup, you would get 92% of the recommended amount of sodium you should consume for the entire day.

This part of the label also contains information on fiber. You can see from our example, chicken noodle soup from a can doesn't contain much fiber.


Nutrition Facts - Vitamins and Minerals

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This part of the Nutrition Facts label shows the vitamin and mineral content of the product. The FDA requires information on calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C all be included on the Nutrition Facts label. Sometimes the food manufacturers will add information about other vitamins like niacin or folic acid if the product contains any significant amounts of those nutrients.
On the chicken soup Nutrition Facts label, you can see there is some vitamin A and some iron, but no vitamin C or calcium. That means you'll have to get those nutrients from the rest of your diet. Remember if you eat the whole can, you'll have to multiply those percentages by the number of servings you just ate to get the correct total amounts.


Nutrition Facts - Suggested Daily Requirements

The bottom portion of the Nutrition Facts food label may not be present on smaller items. But it is a good reminder of your general needs based on a 2,000 or 2,500 calorie per day diet.
Here's a link to a calorie calculator for determining the amount of calories you need.
https://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
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Many aspects of our physical well-being depend on the genetic traits that we inherited from our parents, but with knowledge and determination we can improve our stamina and decrease our chances of getting sick regardless of our genetic makeup. Three key factors to good health are nutrition, sanitation, and exercise. Here you will find information about the chemical components of food, how much to eat, and sanitary practices that can prevent disease. This knowledge can guide you toward choosing foods that are good for your body and keep you in good health. You will also find an exercise program that will strengthen your muscles and your cardiovascular and pulmonary systems in just 30 minutes per day. The main causes of premature death are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The risk of these diseases is increased substantially by poor diet, smoking, excess body weight, and physical inactivity. It is up to you to make the right food choices and the lifestyle changes that will assure a healthier future. You can be happier and achieve your objectives in life more easily when you are healthy and physically fit.

Nutrition

Our bodies are made from the foods that we eat. All foods consist of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, trace nutrients, and non-digestible components, such as fiber. A varied diet with the right proportion of nutrients is the foundation of good health. The proportion and quantity of the foods that we eat determines whether we will be healthy or develop nutritional diseases. Excessive or disproportionate consumption of some foods can create imbalances that will eventually undermine our health and promote obesity, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and other disorders. People who are strict vegetarians and eat no animal or dairy products (vegans) have a high risk of malnutrition, specially when pregnant or lactating. Inadequate protein intake causes a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. Low levels of minerals or vitamins can cause diseases such as anemia, goiter, pellagra, rickets, scurvy, and mental retardation. The use of daily vitamin/mineral supplements and fortified foods has greatly reduced the incidence of many dietary deficiency diseases in the general population, but vitamins and minerals, like all components of our diet, must be taken in the right proportion. While low levels of vitamins are bad, high levels can also be dangerous. Vitamin A, for example, is necessary for healthy eyes and skin, but at high concentrations it is toxic and can cause birth defects. Variety, balance, and moderation are very important in nutrition.

Besides selecting the right foods, a secondary aspect of nutrition is to balance the amount of food eaten with the level of activity. Eating less than necessary will cause weight loss, whereas eating more will result in weight gain. This is why nutrition and exercise must always be considered together.


Proteins are chemical chains of various combinations of 20 naturally-occurring amino acids. Muscle tissue consists mainly of proteins. The body breaks up dietary proteins into amino acids that are used for tissue repair, to produce many of the hormones and enzymes that regulate metabolism, and as a source of energy. The chemical processes of the body require nine of these "essential" amino acids in the diet. Other amino acids may be synthesized from these nine. Unlike animal proteins, plant proteins may not contain all the essential amino acids in the necessary proportions for good health. Vegetarian diets must contain the right balance of grains and legumes to prevent dietary deficiency diseases.



Fats belong to the group of chemicals called lipids which are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. Fats are important constituents of cells and they are precursors for many substances in the body. Fats are also metabolized as a source of energy. Cell membrane behavior and cell signaling in all tissues of the body are highly dependent on the lipid constituents of cells. Over half of the weight of the brain consists of lipid components. Triglycerides are the major component of food fats. Triglycerides consist of one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids typically containing 12 to 22 carbon atoms. They are classified as saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated based on the amount of hydrogen in the chemical structure of the component fatty acids. Each point of unsaturation, indicated by a double bond between carbons, can have a Cis or a Trans configuration which affects the shape of the molecule and its biochemical properties. A saturated fat does not have double bonds and cannot accept any additional hydrogen atoms. In general, unsaturated fats are liquid and saturated fats are solid. Most vegetable oils have a higher proportion of unsaturated to saturated fats than animal fats. Some unsaturated fats, called "essential fatty acids" (EFA), are necessary for the development of the brain and eyes. Hydrogenation is a commercial chemical process to add more hydrogen to natural unsaturated fats. Partial hydrogenation has the side-effect of transforming a portion of the natural Cis fatty acids to Trans fatty acids which can have harmful health effects.



Carbohydrates are simple sugars or polymers of simple sugars called polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates. Dietary carbohydrates are metabolized to provide energy. No dietary carbohydrates have been determined to be "essential" for human nutrition, although cartilage and some secretions have carbohydrate polysaccharide components, and it is known that sugars help proteins fold properly and remain stable. Carbohydrates, like the starch in potatoes, are easily digestible and rapidly increase the sugar level in the body. Complex carbohydrates like those in whole grains are digested more slowly. Cellulose, which is a polymer of glucose, cannot be digested by humans. The Glycemic Index of a food is a measure of how fast the food increases the blood sugar level compared to a dose of glucose.

Diet
The main objectives of a good diet are to 1) maintain optimal bodily functions, 2) avoid nutritional deficiencies and excesses, and 3) make eating tasty and enjoyable. Our diet must incorporate the proper proportions of food components in the right quantities so that the amount of energy (measured in Calories) obtained from the food is appropriate for our level of activity and our age, since as we mature our bodies require fewer Calories. The diet must provide essential vitamins and minerals, avoid harmful substances that degrade health, and take into consideration individual allergies and intolerances to specific foods.

The human body does not function in isolation from its environment. The mouth and intestines harbor many types of bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum that have adapted to live within our body. These probiotic bacteria prevent harmful bacteria from becoming established, help to digest some foods, and produce some necessary vitamins and nutrients. Yogurt, kefirs, cheese, sour cream and other foods have these beneficial bacteria.


Trace nutrients or micronutrients consist of phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals which are necessary for various bodily functions. Liver and red meats are a good source of iron. Seafood provides more iodine and copper than meats from land-based animals. Green vegetables are a good source of magnesium and antioxidants. Milk is a good source of calcium and phosphorus. Bananas are rich in potassium.

Non-digestible components such as fiber and cellulose are not nutrients, but they create bulk that helps to clean the intestines and moderate the absorption of nutrients. A portion of the ingested fiber is fermented by microflora in the intestines and converted into short-chain fatty acids that can be metabolized. Refined foods have a lower content of fiber than whole foods. White wheat flour, for example, has less fiber than whole wheat flour because the outer shell of the wheat grains is discarded in making the white flour.

Eating Right. There are two main reasons why a large percentage of the population is overweight. First of all, eating gives us pleasure and we frequently overeat. Secondly, we tend to have sedentary life styles. We start by sitting in a car or a bus to go to work or school, then we sit at a desk all day and, when we come home, we sit on the couch to watch television while we snack. The combination of too much food, the wrong balance of nutritional components, and lack of exercise often results in obesity and poor health.
Ancient Greek statues portray ideal proportions of the human body. Today, we still admire those old statues and the muscular structure of body builders. What do modern body builders eat to achieve such spectacular form? Without counting the water, 75% of our body weight is protein. So it is not surprising that along with a strenuous exercise schedule, body builders enhance muscle growth with diets that are high in protein and low in carbohydrates and fat. They eat five or six small meals per day to constantly nourish the muscles and to prevent the stomach from stretching. Even if improving our physical appearance is not our main goal in life, we can take the idea of a protein-enriched diet that is low in carbohydrates and contains the right fats as a basis for our menus. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein for both men and women is 0.8 grams of good quality protein per kilogram (0.35g/lb) of body weight per day. This is the minimum to prevent protein deficiency for low levels of activity, but for active people it should be increased to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight. Professional body builders consume about 4.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (2.0g/lb). The quantities of carbohydrates and essential fatty acids should be proportioned to promote health and sustain an adequate level of activity. A typical high-protein diet would derive 30% of the Calories from protein, 40% from carbohydrates, and 30% from fat. There are many factors that contribute to the development of a trim and muscular body, but a diet rich in protein is a fundamental requirement.

How much should you eat? The following form calculates daily energy requirements in Calories based on sex and height for persons whose Body Mass Index is in the normal range. The minimum applies to persons who are relatively sedentary and the maximum applies to persons who are physically very active. World class athletes, like the Tour de France bicycle riders, consume about 6,000 Calories per day during competition and their diets are established by sports nutritionists. To measure the Calories that you consume, you will need a diet scale and a list of Calories per gram or per ounce for the foods that you eat. Eating fewer Calories than required for your level of activity will result in weight loss, whereas eating more Calories than required will result in weight gain because the extra Calories are stored as muscle or as fat, depending on the composition of your diet. Research in the biology of aging indicates that caloric restriction, that is, eating somewhat less than you would eat to feel full, and spacing your meals so that you only eat when you are really hungry helps to extend life. Calorie restricted diets must be carefully balanced to avoid nutritional deficiencies.
General dietary suggestions:
Take a daily multivitamin and multimineral supplement tablet.
Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Raw fruits and vegetables contain many healthful antioxidants and nutrients, although they are high in carbohydrates.
Drink purified water. Metropolitan water systems use chlorination to kill bacteria that might be harmful, but the organic chlorine compounds created by this process may not be safe.
Use olive oil for cooking. This oil has been used for thousands of years and has some beneficial health effects.
Trim fat from meat before cooking, and drain fat after cooking ground meats to reduce your intake of excess calories.
Restrict the amount of candy, sugar, sodas, cakes, white bread, pasta, white rice, and potatoes. These foods are mostly carbohydrates which are good sources of energy, but don't have much nutritional value. Regular consumption of high-fructose corn syrup used for sweetening soft drinks and other products may promote obesity.
Don't eat hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and the foods that contain them. Hydrogenated oils generally contain Trans fatty acids with unnatural shapes that cannot be metabolized properly and cause cardiovascular diseases. Manufacturers use hydrogenated oils because they do not turn rancid as fast as natural oils and the products using them have a longer shelf life. Hydrogenated fats are far worse for your health than the saturated fats found in lard or butter, and unfortunately, they occur in high proportions in commercially prepared fried foods, margarines, pastries, and baked products.
Don't eat charred or burned food. Cooking carbohydrate-rich foods at high temperatures creates acrylamides which are known to cause cancer. Restrict consumption of grilled or smoked meats and cheeses because they contain many toxic chemicals from the smoke and the chemical breakdown of the food components. High temperature cooking also binds sugars to amino groups in proteins and nucleic acids to create advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that can have harmful effects over time. Restrict consumption of roasted nuts, toasted breads, crispy fried foods, and sauces and glazes made from roast pan drippings.
Avoid or restrict consumption of meats cured with sodium nitrite because such meats almost always contain detectable levels of carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Avoid potato chips, corn chips, and French fries or deep-fried potatoes. They are mostly carbohydrates and fat.
Avoid caffeine; it is addictive. Caffeine occurs naturally in coffee, cola nuts, and tea, but soft drink manufacturers add it to soft drinks like Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, and Mountain Dew because it increases repeat sales. Caffeine is a central stimulant and people who regularly consume caffeinated drinks get an initial energy boost from caffeine, but later may suffer headaches, restlessness, and other withdrawal symptoms when they stop consuming the products.
Avoid hard liquor. Alcohol is toxic to the liver, disrupts the functions of the nervous system, and slows your reflexes. If you drink, do not drink more than one glass of wine or beer per day, and always drink with a meal. Do not drive or operate mechanical equipment after drinking to avoid accidents.
Do not store food in aluminum containers. Metallic aluminum reacts with acid foods to create soluble aluminum compounds that may be unhealthy. Avoid using baking powder and self-rising flour that contain aluminum.


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INCOMPLETE VS COMPLETE PROTEINS~
Animal Protein Versus Vegetable Protein
In general, animal proteins (meat, fish, poultry, milk, cheese, and eggs) are considered good sources of complete proteins. Complete proteins contain ample amounts of all essential amino acids.

Food for Thought
Gelatin is the only animal protein that is not considered a complete protein.
On the other hand, vegetable proteins (grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and other vegetables) are incomplete proteins because they are missing, or do not have enough of, one or more of the essential amino acids. That's not such a big deal. You already know that grains and legumes are rich in complex carbohydrate and fiber. Now you learn that they can be an excellent source of protein as well; it just takes a little bit of work and know-how. By combining foods from two or more of the following columns—voilà—you create a self-made complete protein. You see, the foods in one column may be missing amino acids that are present in the foods listed in another column. When eaten in combination at the same meal (or separately throughout the day), your body receives all nine essential amino acids.

You can combine the following vegetable proteins to make complete proteins.

Sources of Complementary Proteins

Grains Legumes Nuts/Seeds
Barley Beans Sesame seeds
Bulgur Lentils Sunflower seeds
Cornmeal Dried peas Walnuts
Oats Peanuts Cashews
Buckwheat Chickpeas Pumpkin seeds
Rice Soy products Other nuts
Pasta
Rye
Wheat
Combinations to Create Complete Proteins

Combine Grains and Legumes Combine Grains and Nuts/Seeds Combine Legumes and Nuts/Seeds
Peanut butter on whole-wheat bread Whole-wheat bun with sesame seeds Humus (chickpeas and sesame paste)
Rice and beans Breadsticks rolled with sesame seeds Trail mix (peanuts and sunflower seeds)
Bean soup and a roll Rice cakes with peanut butter
Salad with chickpeas and cornbread
Tofu-vegetable stir-fry over rice or pasta
Vegetarian chili with bread
Also, by adding small amounts of animal protein (meat, eggs, milk, or cheese) to any of the groups, you create a complete protein. Here are some examples:

Casserole with a small amount of meat
Salad with beans and a hard cooked egg
Yogurt with granola
Bean and cheese burrito
Macaroni and cheese
Oatmeal with milk






Stay Strong~~!!!
IPL