**Clinical Pearl: New research published in the journal Agricultural Economics suggests that people who read nutrition labels tend to be slimmer than those who do not. **

Serving Size VS Servings Per Container

A big mistake people make when reading nutrition labels is not paying attention to serving sizes. The first thing you want to look at is the serving size. This is what the rest of the values on the label are based on. This portion of the food label is critical. It tells you how much of the nutrients below are in a portion of what you’re eating. Serving sizes are determined by the food producer though, so it’s your job to determine how much you’ll be eating in a sitting or how many servings are in the entire product. Buying a food scale and measuring your food, in the beginning, can be a valuable tool to understanding portion sizes.

Example: Pop-tarts

What they say you’re eating:1 pastry serving, 200 calories, 5 g fat (1.5 g saturated fat), 170 mg sodium, 38 g carbs, (0 g fiber, 16 g sugar), 2 g protein

What you’re probably eating:1 package (2 pastries), 400 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 340 mg sodium, 76 g carbs, (1 g fiber, 32 g sugar), 4 g protein

Calories Per Serving

Calories provide your body with energy. This number signifies how many calories are in one serving size. Make sure you take that into account when assessing how many calories you have consumed. Pay attention to the calories per serving. If you eat an entire bag of chips that had 3 servings per bag, you have to triple the number of calories and nutrients you consume. As we all know, eating more calories than we burn during a day can lead to weight gain. If you want to lose weight, look for foods that are low in calories but high in nutrients.

Check Your Fiber

A diet high in fiber can lower “bad” cholesterol and provide nutrients that help protect against heart disease. As an added bonus, it may also help you to lose weight. Since fiber stays in the stomach longer than other foods, the feeling of fullness will stay with you much longer, helping you eat less. Fiber also moves fat through your digestive system quicker so less of it is absorbed. And when you fill up on fiber, you’ll also have more energy for exercising. Ways to get in more fiber in your diet would be to focus on a plant-based diet getting most of your caloric intake from veggies, whole grains

Know Your Sugars

Total Sugars are how many sugars are naturally occurring in the product as well as added sugars. Added Sugars are how many sugars have been added to the food during the processing of the food product. Sugars can be added with different names such as beet sugar, brown sugar, buttered sugar, evaporated can juice, carob syrup, golden syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave nectar, malt syrup, maple syrup, oat syrup, rice bran syrup, and rice syrup

Ask For Help

This is what Pharmacy Solutions is here for. If you have specific questions when it comes to what you should be doing, please reach out to us so we may better help you.