| Understanding Food Labels | SCI/241 | | | | | Attempting to understand food labels can be very confusing if one were to begin reading the labels without prior knowledge of how the labels work. Maintaining a healthy diet can be much easier if a person can remember the one simple rule, which applies to the percent daily values of a food. The 5/20 rule dictates that if a food has 5% or less of your daily value of a particular nutrient, then the food is not a good source of that nutrient. On the other hand, if a food has 20% or more of the daily value of a particular nutrient, the food is in fact a good source of that nutrient. This theory works inversely when applied to nutrients that aren’t good for you like saturated
Understanding Food Labels Helene Torres SCI 241 August 22, 2012 Dr. Carson Understanding Food Labels The 5/20 rule is a guide for one’s daily intake. Depending on what is being eaten the percentage can work both ways. For instance, the first part, which is the 5%, can be used for the good and bad daily value. A can of Healthy Choice chicken noodle soup has 2% of calcium and 4% of iron; therefore, considering it is less than 5%, is would not be a good source of those nutrients since these are nutrients that are much needed. When using the 20% rule it works the same way.
6. Footnote with daily values (DVS) the percent daily helps to recognize whether or not food is rich in nutrient. This is where the rule 5/20 comes in like if the food item you have only contains 5% DV than that food item is not beneficial for a human body be careful though certain nutrients. A food should only have ½ cup serving size but the serving size may be 21/2 servings when looking at calories it should show you the amount of energy that you will get from a single serving. The nutrients are what you will want to get the least like cholesterol, Trans fat, and fat.
Compared to my previous one day food intake of 5600 calories this three day diet is noticeably better. My diet included protein which came from the meats I ate, turkey and beef. The carbohydrates came from the bread in my sandwiches, the pasta in the lasagna, and the oatmeal for breakfast. The lipids, or fats that I consumed were included in all the meats and breads that I consumed. My intake of all the nutrients was within the limits of the average comparison except I was a little low on my proteins by 5 grams and carbohydrates were low by over 100 grams.
I need to analyze the types of carbohydrates that I am consuming and make sure that the majority are whole grains and nutrient dense. Protein 14.6% of kCal’s from my intake came from protein and according to the AMDR’s range of 10-35%, my protein intake is on the low side. I have to consume more protein to decrease my disease risk. Some examples of food that I should add to my diet are legumes, fish and skinless poultry. With the help of the Intake Compared to DRI report I was able to identify the nutrients in which I was deficient in during my three day analysis.
I actually hit the mark at 100% putting my intake at 72, and carbohydrates were nowhere near my needed intake, I was in the red below at 49%. My DRI for protein is 65-227g, which I met with 101g, but for those based on my body weight I was 101g, which put me over at 157%. Yes, my diet provided an adequate variety of foods. I do not think my choice is monotonous as I ate different types of food for my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the food pyramid, it is recommended to eat from all five groups and I even tried eating from all the groups but my numbers of servings were lower than expected.
I could modify my diet only if I quit working, seriously. I can take my lunch each day and within it I would include fruits and vegetables. My health is important to me, I do exercise but exercising with not having the correct amount of nutrition intake is basically a waste of time. I am planning to start the Food Planner exercise to help me with daily nutrients I am lacking. Below is a chart of Foods I’ve included in my food dairy | Calories | Fat | Carbohydrates | Protein | Fiber (grams) | Cabbage | 290 | 0 | 70 | 16 | 24 | Corn Bread | 418 | 12 | 69 | 7 | 6 | Milk | 146 | 7.9 | 11 | 8 | 0
Never have I seen a bag of spinach or a head of broccoli that was advertised as “buy one get one free.” This is due to the fact that if all of a sudden healthy foods were as cheap as unhealthy foods, people would “vote” differently. Farmers would start having to produce more healthy foods, for which they are not subsidized, advertisements for those “fun foods” would need to change to appeal those healthy eaters, and nutritionism would prove that food in its natural form is what is needed to acquire optimal
In his article,” In defense of food “: Michael Pollen established “what is food” and why do American’s eat nonfood in such large quantities?” Definitely, I’m agree about food labels do provide enough information for consumers to make an informed choice about what to feed their bodies. However consumers do not pay attention of the food labels because they do not really know about it as long it’s delicious. Surely, most food provides food labels because it is a
the target amount of dairy that needs to be consumed on a weekly basis is about three cups. I only have an average intake of about half a cup. I am two and a half cups below the recommended amount although there is no specific amount required. This being said, I could eat more fat free yogurt or drink more fat free milk on a daily basis. Protein foods are another important aspect of a person's diet.