Good Lifestyle

When it comes to eating to lose weight, the nutrition label is your secret weapon. Unfortunately, reading may feel that we sometimes learn a foreign language.

"There is so much information that are packed in this small return panel, it's easy to neglect certain things or do not understand what it tries to communicate," saysElana Natker, MS, RD, owner of Sage Leaf Communications. NewFDA Nutrition Label Standards-How to increase the size of the calorie police count and suggesting good portions with service sizes - should help erase confusion. But all food manufacturers have not yet integrated the changes.

In the meantime, we asked three dietitians to identify the main nutrition label errors that can make you weight. Avoid these common blunders could make all the difference in your weight loss course. "Every time you are focused on weight loss, it's always a good idea to know the facts, and your food label will really be your best way to know that," says Leah Kaufman, Ms., CDE, R & D, owner ofLeah Kaufman Nutrition. And for more advice on nutrition and tips on how to find the healthiest foods, subscribe to theEat this, not that!magazineand get 50% of the coverage price.

It's easy to get seduced byFood labelsWho read "organic", "all natural", and "gluten-free", but if you bas on your purchase choices on Flashy claims and ignore the reading of the nutrition label, you lack valuable information (c. -of-calories, ingredients and serve sizes). "It's not because it is made from organic ingredients does not mean that it is less likely to give you weight," says Keri Gans, RD, owner of Keri Gans Nutrition and author of the small diet change.

A big mistake that people do when reading nutrition labels do not pay attention to the sizes serving the gans. For example, if you drink a bottle of whole juice without looking at the label, you may not realize that there were two and a half years old in the bottle and what you thought was a snack of 130 Calories was really 325.

Once you start measuring specific quantities, you might be surprised to learn that a "portion" is much smaller than it was. Natker usesdry cerealsFor example: a portion of cereals could be two-thirds of a cup, but "if you actually pull your measuring cup and measure it, you would be very sad about what it means," she says.

According to Natker, the ingredients of your nutrition label are listed by weight order. The first enumerated ingredient is that of the largest amount. However, many people do only check the first three to five ingredients (if they read the list at all). "You do not want to ignore the end of the list of ingredients, because that's where you will find your added vitamins or smaller weighted things," says Natker. Some of the ingredients you see at the end could beArtificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame.

In addition, reading the list of ingredients in its entirety will tell you that this "multi-grain" bread is really multi-grain or whether it is mainly enriched wheat flour. "It's not because he says that the total grain on the label, it does not mean that it is a totally global food," says Natker.

According to the gans, the negligence of the list of ingredients may not necessarily lead to weight gain, but you could consume some foods or ingredients that you were not aware that you were, "she says.

It's not a secret that consuming too much sugar is bad for your overall health - not to say anything to maintain a healthy weight. Eating raised foods in added sugars can lead to a surplus of calories while offering nothing of value (that is, satiety).

Many foods contain natural sugars. Yogurt, for example, contains lactose, which is a natural form of sugar in dairy products. Cornadded sugars Creep in everything from your vinaigrette to your granola bar. Many yogurts, especially those with fruits, are full of added sugars that make no nutritional value. So, if you really like to have fruits in your yoghurt, you'd better add it yourself. "The addition of your own fruits can add natural sources of vitamins and minerals, as well as natural sources of fiber," says Kaufman.

Keep your heart healthy - and your pants become too adjusted - theAmerican Heart AssociationRecommends limiting sugars added to no more than 100 calories a day for women and 150 calories a day for men. You can find the amount of added sugars hidden under the amount of total sugars on your nutrition label.

If you do not pay attention to the fiber in the foods you are running in your grocery cart, you are hardly alone. In fact, about 92% of American adults do not eat the recommended amount of full-grain food sources and rich fiber, according to a study ofNutritional research. It is a mistake. Not only does the food fiber also help your intestine and cardiac health, but it also stimulates feelings of satiety and gives you energy. It is also an excellent nutritional tool for weight loss or maintenance, according to a paper of theNutrition log.

TheMAYO ClinicRecommends 38 grams of fiber per day for men and 25 grams for women aged 50 or older. According to Kaufman, two products could have the same amount of carbohydrates, but we can have more fibers than the other. If this is the case, she says, opt for the one with more fibers.

Honestly, overlookingsodium The content of food is more of a global health problem - especially with regard to cardiac health, a weight loss issue. That said, eating too many high sodium foods could lead bloating, says Gans, "which could move this scale." You can also argue that the negative effects of consuming too much sodium (eg high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke) could eventually lead to weight gain.

In any case, it is always intelligent to pay attention to the sodium content of your food. As added sugars, sodium can sneak in a surprising variety of foods, which makes even more important to check the labels. TheAmerican Heart Association Recommends more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for adults - but ideally no more than 1,500 mg.