Food Label Basics for Diabetes Management

Food labels – important guide for better choice of food items are very useful if you are having diabetes and are following a diabetic meal plan. Read on and take note of the most commonly-used terms in food labels.

Choosing better food items requires you to read food labels. In order to understand and appreciate food labels not just for those with diabetes but for practically for all, take note of the following most commonly-used terms and what they necessarily mean.

Serving Size

Serving size refers to the amount of food people usually eat. Albeit, the serving amount may not fit you, it is necessary that you check on the serving size and the number of serving in the item package because it influences the nutrient amount that it contains. For example, if the item package has 3 servings and you eat it, you triple the fats, calories, etc that are listed on its label.

It is worth-noting that portion size in food labels is not serving size. A portion size has no standard measure but it is still important for health and diabetes management. It is the amount of food you chose to eat, whereas a serving size is more or less the advisable size to eat. The serving size helps identify the amount of calories and the nutritional content of the food item.

For example, a slice of bread is one serving size of bread in the food pyramid. A sandwich with 2 slices of bread is already your portion of 2 servings of bread.

Nutrients

The nutrients section lists the daily amount of each nutrient in the item package. Daily values are reference numbers that the government set based on current nutrition recommendations. There are food labels which list daily values for 2,000 and 2,500 calorie diets.

Calories and Calories From Fat

This part of the food label is equally important for diabetes and health management. It indicates the amount of fat per serving. Here, the grams of nutrients and the number of calories are given for the stated serving size.

Percent Daily Value

This part shows how a food fits into a 2,00 calorie/day diet. For diets that are not of 2,000 calories, just divide by 2,000 to get the percent Daily Value for nutrients. As a sample, your 1,500 calorie diet must follow the 75% (not 100%) for each nutrient as your percent daily value goal.

Trans Fats

Take note of trans fats in food labels as they play a key role in diabetes healthy diet. Bad cholesterol levels (LDL) can be raised by trans and saturated fats and this increases the risk of having heart problems. In the United States, heart disease is a leading cause of death. Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils to produce vegetable shortening and some margarine.

Eat reduced-fat products instead of higher fats to maintain a healthy weight and avoid heart disease.

Nutritional Claims

Nutritional claims are usually printed by food manufacturers in the product labels. The following are some of the typical nutritional claims and their meaning:

Calorie free means less than 5 calories per serving.
Cholesterol free in food labels means 2 grams or less of saturated fat and less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol per serving. Cholesterol is an item to watch for health and good diabetes management.
Fat free means less than half gram of fat per serving
Sugar free is having sugar of less than 1.2 grams per serving.
Sodium free is having sodium of less than 5 milligrams per serving

Take note that low-sugar items can be high in fats or low-fat products can be high in sugar and low-sugar or low-fat foods may have high calories.

If you read them carefully, food labels can help you make a choice for your good health and that of your family.