Label Reading

An important part of smart grocery shopping is reading food labels, also known as the “Nutrition Facts.” Because the food you eat is so important to your health, you need to know what’s in the food you buy by looking at the food label.

There’s a lot of information on this label, but a good place to start is the serving size. Sometimes the serving size is a lot smaller than you would expect. For example, many cans of soup actually have two servings in them, even though most people usually eat everything in the can at once. Next you’ll want to take a look at what is in the food and check to make sure you see more good fats, fiber, and protein and less or no bad fats, sodium, and sugar. While it’s important to be aware of how many calories you eat, this is not your top priority. This may go against everything you’ve been told about dieting, but if you focus on controlling your portions and eating foods with the right kind of ingredients, you will naturally eat fewer calories.

With these quick tips in mind, you should be able to use food labels to make sure you bring home the best foods for your heart healthy diet.