Nutrition labels 101: How to read them and what to look for

It seems like whenever we go to the grocery store, we walk up and down the aisles unsure of what to get. From claims like “high in fiber” to “low in sugar,” how do we actually know what the healthy option is?

The first step to making healthier choices in the grocery store starts with knowing how to read a nutrition label. Even if you already feel like you’re a pro at reading nutrition labels, it’s worth knowing what the new nutrition labels will look like. Here is a mockup of a label from the federal Food and Drug Administration’s website.

When looking at a nutrition label, our gaze typically goes straight to calories. However, before we even get there, it’s helpful to start with “Serving size” and “Servings per container.”

Serving size reflects the portion of food that the label is for and can be very misleading. Even foods that look like they’re only one serving can easily be two or three. For example, a frozen dinner might be two servings or a muffin might be three to four servings, even if you’re planning to eat the entire thing in one sitting.

Serving size is important when you start scanning down the rest of the label, especially calories, fat, sodium, fiber, and sugar. Moving down the label, your eyes will land on “Calories” next.

While there’s no good or bad number of calories, be aware that the calories are for a single serving. In the example with the frozen dinner — there may be 220 calories per serving with two servings, which means that the whole meal has a total of 440 calories.

Moving down the label, you will come to “Total Fat.” More important than total fat is “Saturated Fat.” This is the unhealthy kind of fat that comes from solid fats like butter, lard, cheese, and vegetable shortening and should be limited in your diet.

Dietary guidelines suggest that normal, healthy adults should consume no more than 10 percent of their daily calories from saturated fat. If you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, that’s about 200 calories from saturated fat or about 20 grams of saturated fat a day.

However, the less saturated fat you consume the better — focus instead on unsaturated fats from nuts, seeds, and oils. And remember, this number is per serving as well.

Next up is “Sodium,” commonly referred to as salt. While the dietary guidelines suggest consuming less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium a day, publications from Harvard Health state that the average American consumes 3,400 milligrams of salt — nearly twice as much as the recommended amount!

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, much of this sodium comes from canned foods like pasta sauce and soup; cold cuts; and, surprisingly, bread. High intake of sodium has been linked to high blood pressure and is certainly a nutrient to look out for on nutrition labels.

Skipping past carbohydrates, see if your nutrition label has anything listed next to “Fiber.” Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and is important for bowel regularity and helping you feel full after meals.

While the dietary guidelines suggest men should consume 38 grams of fiber and women should consume 25 grams of fiber daily, the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that Americans are not meeting these goals.

This survey found that most American adults are only meeting 50 to 60 percent of their fiber goal and only 8 percent of Americans meet the recommended amount of fiber intake daily. These numbers make fiber a major nutrient of concern. Look for foods that are high in fiber by choosing fresh fruits and vegetables, bread made with 100-percent whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pasta, and brown rice.

Finally, the last place to look is “Total Sugar.” In an updated nutrition facts panel, there will be a subcategory for “Added Sugar,” which is really what you want to pay attention to. The Dietary Guidelines recommend the same percentage for added sugar as they do for saturated fat — no more than 10 percent of your total calories should come from added sugar.

Again, if you’re eating 2,000 calories per day, this is about 200 calories from added sugar or about 50 grams per day. If this seems like a lot, it’s because it is!

While the guidelines allow for more added sugar than we necessarily need, it’s important to note that both the United States Department of Agriculture and the World Health Organization recommend only 22 to 25 grams of added sugar per day, or about 5 percent of total calories from added sugar.

Since added sugar has been linked to weight gain, obesity, and Type II diabetes, the less you consume, the better. You’re not missing any nutrients if you try to avoid it.

Finally, we’ve arrived at “Protein” at the bottom of the label. While protein helps us feel full and satiated, many people incorrectly think the more protein we eat, the better.

The actual guidelines for protein consumption are 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight because too much protein can tax your kidneys. To calculate how much protein you need daily, divide your body weight in pounds by 2.2 (this gives you kilograms) and multiply that number by 0.8. For example, I weigh 130 pounds. Divided by 2.2, that’s roughly 59 kilograms. Multiplied by 0.8, I only need 47 grams of protein daily.

That’s the equivalent of one Greek yogurt and half of a chicken breast. Even with eating a vegetarian or vegan meal for one or even two of my meals daily, I can still get more than enough protein without overloading my kidneys.

Grocery-store aisles can be a confusing place. Knowing what nutrients to look for, remembering to take note of the number of servings per container first, and starting from the top and working down is a good strategy to help make healthier choices with so many food options out there.

Editor’s note: Sarah Roger is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, and incoming second-year medical student at Albany Medical College. She is interning with Community Caregivers this summer and is writing articles on health and wellness, which are both topics she is passionate about.