v2]The 10 Ultimate Tips for Finally Understanding Nutrition Labels

As a varsity college runner who logged an average of 50 miles a week, I rationalized that I could eat basically anything I wanted. (I mean, I was just going to burn it all off the next day anyway, right?) So, it really wasn't until I started doing in-depth research for articles like ranking every chicken nugget that I spent more than two seconds glancing at the ubiquitous "Nutrition Facts" panel. And I became enthralled.

My investigation started with questions like, "What the heck is autolyzed yeast extract?" And with every new ranking or product feature, they progressed into "Why is there soybean oil in this soda?" and "This granola has how much sugar?!"

During my time here, I've read through thousands of nutritional labels of foods that range from beef jerky to canned pasta sauce. From what I've learned, I now know that reading that little white-lined box on the back of your snack is beyond important—even if you aren't dieting. Not only does reading the Nutrition Facts inform you about what you're putting into your body, it can also help you learn about nutrients and remind you to make the best nutritional choice.

If you're like "college me," this nutrition label crash course will teach you how to navigate through the overwhelming numbers and phrases. Use these tips as your guide, and you'll save yourself from falling prey to sneaky serving sizes, health halos, and bad-for-you ingredients.

: Calories Aren't The Only Measure of Nutrition

Shocker, right? Yes, calories matter when it comes to losing weight, but they aren't the "end all be all." In fact, when you choose the right calorically-dense foods that keep you fuller longer, you'll save yourself from those mid-day binges. Of course, the number of calories you should be eating will both differ on product and your diet, but here are a couple general rule-of-thumbs: Snacks should be around 130 to 250 calories and meals can be anywhere from 300 to 600 calories. And by the way, you can ignore "Calories From Fat" because that number will be taken off the label in 2023; the FDA found that the type of fat is more important than the amount of it—more on that later.

: Look At The Serving Size

Have you ever thought, "Wow! This entire bag is only 50 calories!" to only realize post-snack session that the bag really had three servings in it? Many manufacturers intentionally label smaller servings sizes so that the nutrition facts look better than they really are. Always check the serving size before you dive into a product. And remember: serving sizes are based on actual average consumption of the product and not ideal consumption, so don't take them to be a suggestion as to what you should eat. (Yes, we're talking about that 20-ounce soda you just bought.)

: Glance Through The Macronutrients

Macronutrients include fat, carbs (which also break down into fiber and sugar), and protein. If anything stands out to you—like the product has 17 grams of fat or 25 grams of sugar—use those numbers to help you skim the ingredient list. For example, a cereal that has 6 grams of fat in it is odd. You can then check the ingredients to see if that fat is from nuts (which is good!) or is from added vegetable oils (not as good). Use the Zero Belly mantra as your guide: "Where's my fiber? Where's my protein? And where are my healthy fats?" Each product should provide a few grams of each.

: Keep it Short

We're talking about ingredients! Keeping the length of an ingredient list to as short as possible will usually make it less likely that you're eating nasty additives. Again, this tip is just a general guide, as some snack bars or nut mixes will contain many good-for-you ingredients.

: First Is The Worst…

Let us explain: Ingredients are listed in order of weight, or quantity. So, if the first ingredient you see on a label is sugar, it means that your snack is made up of more of this inflammatory additive than anything else. However, the order of ingredients doesn't always tell the whole story. For example, often times manufacturers use multiple types of sugar in a nutrition bar. This means they each count as separate ingredients and can be scattered throughout the ingredient list. But if they were to be grouped together as "added sugar," they could very well be listed first. For this reason, it's best to look through the first ten or so ingredients to get the best idea of what's in your food.

: "If You Can't Read It, Don't Eat It!"

"In the wise words of Tosca Reno, one of the pioneers of the Eat Clean diet, 'If you can't read it, don't eat it!'" says Lisa Hayim, MS, RD. She tells us, "If an ingredient sounds complex,or like a word straight out of chemistry class, chances are it is added to artificially preserve the food or sweeten it."

: Limit Sugar to 10 Grams Per Serving

Hayim also shared with us her go-to guideline for added sugar consumption: "Anything that I eat with a label must be 10 grams of sugar or less." Remember, she's talking about added sugars here; naturally occurring sugars, like those found in whole fruits and veggies, are fine because they come packed with digestion-slowing fiber. Fruit juice, on the other hand, is one of the worst added sweeteners because it's devoid of any fiber and is basically just straight fructose—the liver-taxing sugar.

NOTE: The updated nutrition label, which comes out in 2023, will feature an "Added Sugar" line under "Total Carbohydrate" with a % Daily Value equivalent to no more than 50 grams a day.

: Anything Ending in -ose Is Sugar

Do you know how many different names for sugar are used on nutrition labels? Some people put it at 56—others put it at over 100. Manufacturers are trying to get around the war on sugar by listing these different code words so we don't realize how much of the sweet stuff we're eating. The easiest way to tell if there's sugar in your food is to look for words ending in "ose:" sucrose, dextrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, and maltose. Also look for anything with the word "cane," "nectar," or "syrup."

: "Sugar-Free" Isn't Always Best

"Sugar-Free" is just another marketing claim. It could mean refined sugar-free, so companies can still use syrups or natural sweeteners like dates, molasses, or honey. It could also mean really free of sugar, in which case the product is using artificial or zero-calorie sweeteners or sugar alcohols. These non-nutritive sweeteners (meaning they have no effect on your blood sugar and usually contain no calories) still stimulate your taste buds so you are satisfied by that taste you crave. We recommended steering clear of gut-harming artificial sweeteners and minimizing intake of laxative-like sugar alcohols; natural sweeteners (like monk fruit extract and stevia) are okay to use on occasion.

: "No Artificial Sweeteners" Is Often Still Sweetened

If you see a zero next to "Sugars" and the claim "No Artificial Sweeteners" on the label, the company likely uses sugar alcohols or "natural" non-nutritive sweeteners like monk fruit extract or stevia. This is only an issue if you know you have stomach troubles in response to sugar alcohols like erythritol or xylitol or are just trying to avoid non-nutritive sweeteners in general.

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