Meal Nutritional Planning Tips

Posted on April 21, 2008

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Meal Nutritional Planning Tips

  • Calories And Sugar: What Products Can Say

If you are counting calories and seeking sugar-free products, pay attention to the labels. The U.S. government has a sticky finger in the definitions related to sugar and calories on nutrition labels. For a food or beverage to be labeled “sugar free,” it must contain less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving. To be labeled “reduced sugar,” it must contain at least 25 percent less sugar per serving than the regular version of the same food or beverage. Similarly, a “calorie-free” product must contain less than 5 calories per serving, and a “reduced calorie” product must contain at least 25 percent fewer calories than the regular version of the same product.

  • Cholesterol Claims: What They Mean

The United States government has standards for cholesterol claims that can be made on packaged prepared foods. For a food to be labeled “cholesterol free” it must contain less than 2 mg of cholesterol per serving. To be labeled “low cholesterol” it must contain 20 mg or less of cholesterol per serving. To be labeled “reduced cholesterol” or “less cholesterol,” the product must contain 25 percent less cholesterol per serving than the standard version of the same product. If you are looking for low cholesterol in prepared foods, remember that low cholesterol doesn’t always equal low fat.



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  • How Fatty Is Fat-Free Food?

Products making claims of “reduced fat” or “fat-free” must meet U.S. government definitions to put these statements on their labels. The skinny on fat claims is as follows: -Fat-free: The product must contain less than 0.5 grams of fat or saturated fat per serving. -Saturated fat free: The product must contain less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and less than 0.5 grams of trans fatty acids. -Low fat: The product must contain 3 grams or less of total fat. -Low in saturated fat: The product must contain 1 gram or less of saturated fat -Reduced fat or Less fat: The product must contain at least 25 percent less fat than the regular version of the same food.

  • How To Decipher Sodium Content

Nutrition labels include sodium content, as well as other nutritional information. Ever wonder about the differences between regular and low-sodium products? The U.S. government has standard definitions for the sodium claims that can be made on nutrition labels, as follows: -Sodium free or salt free: The product must contain less than 5 mg of sodium per serving. -Very low sodium: The product must contain 35 mg or less of sodium per serving. -Low sodium: The product must contain 140 mg or less of sodium per serving. -Reduced sodium or less sodium: The product must contain at least 25% less sodium than the regular version. Some examples: Reduced sodium crackers must have at least 25 percent less sodium than the regular version of the same food, and low-sodium soup must contain 140 mg or less of sodium per serving of soup (although there may be more than one serving per can).40-30-30 Diet Delivery

  • Nutrition Facts: How To Read Those Boxes

Most prepared foods packaged in grocery stores have nutrition labels, and these labels include a box labeled “nutrition facts.” The important things to look at in the nutrition facts box are the serving size, amount of servings per package, and the amounts and percentage daily values of various nutrients, including total fat, saturated fat, trans fats, and cholesterol per serving. Remember that the information applies to a serving rather than to a whole package. For example, if a can of chili with beans includes two 1-cup servings and you eat both at once, you need to double all the information listed on the nutritional facts box on the package.

  • Read Labels To Identify Fibrous Foods

Whether you’re buying the ingredients at the grocery store or buying prepared foods, be sure to read the labels to know exactly what you’re getting. In addition to identifying what you want less of (such as saturated fats) nutrition labels tell you how much of a good thing (such as fiber) a food contains. As with fat and sodium, the U.S. government has standards that a product must meet to claim high-fiber status. A “high-fiber” food must contain at least 5 grams of fiber per serving, and a product whose label states that it is a “good source of fiber” must contain from 2.5 to 4.9 grams of fiber per serving.

  • Seek Nutrition Information From Meals Delivered Or Eaten Out

If you order meals delivered from services, such as ChefsDiet.com or other delivery services, as part of a healthy eating plan, you can get nutritional information for these meals just as you can for foods purchased at a grocery store. Because the food is made to order, you know that the ingredients are fresh. When dining out, call ahead if you need to have an idea of the nutritional information of prepared foods. Somewhat ironically, several fast food chains, including McDonalds and Wendys, have taken a lead in this area, and they make nutritional information about their prepared foods available in their restaurants and on their websites. So, if you want a quarter pounder and French fries for dinner, you can compare how they stack up nutritionally against a frozen dinner or a can of chili with beans, for example.

  • Use Nutrition Information To Compare Foods

When you read the nutrition labels on packaged or prepared foods, use the total amounts information from the label to compare products. The total amount is shown in grams (abbreviated g) or milligrams (abbreviated mg). These are small amounts. A nickel weighs about 5 grams, and a milligram is one-thousandth of a gram. Use the gram and milligram amounts to compare similar foods, or to compare the amounts of nutrients, including protein, carbohydrate, and fat, in regular vs. reduced fat or fat-free products. Some more tips for getting the most out of the nutrition information on packaged or prepared foods include the following: -Nutrition information on prepared foods lists the ingredients in descending order by weight. If the first ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup, you might want to keep shopping. -Note that meals prepared in a grocery store (such as ready-to-go salads and entrees from an in-store salad bar or deli counter) are not required to have nutrition labels (although some places provide this information anyway), so you may not know the exact amounts or proportions of fats and other nutrients in these foods.

 Nutritional information on food labels lists a “percent daily value.” This value, expressed with a % sign, indicates how much of a specific nutrition one serving of food has compared with the recommendations for the whole day, based on a 2,000-calorie per day diet. If your calorie needs are significantly different, you would need to adjust your percent daily values up or down accordingly. But regardless of the number of calories, the percent daily value is a useful way to determine at a glance whether a food is relatively high or low in a certain nutrient such as fat, carbohydrate, or protein. In general, if a single serving of a food provides 10 percent to 19 percent of the percent daily value for a given nutrient, such as protein, consider it a good source of protein. If a single serving of a food provides 5 percent or less of protein, it is a low source of protein, and if a single serving provides 20 percent or more of protein, it is a high source of protein. The same applies to other nutrients.

  • Use The Total Fat Count To Choose Healthy Fats

Total fat is one of the items listed in the nutritional information panels on foods. The total fat is then subdivided into saturated fat, unsaturated fat, and trans fats. Everyone should cut down on saturated fat and trans fats when possible, and more products have eliminated trans fat, but check the labels to be sure. Foods with 1 gram or less of saturated fat per serving are generally considered low in saturated fat, and they are the healthier choices. If you are concerned about the proportion of fat in your diet, compare labels of regular and reduced-fat products and take note of the similarities and differences. In many cases, reduced-fat products have about the same amounts of sugar and calories, and may not have the satisfying flavor of their full-fat counterparts. For example, some types of reduced fat peanut butters have about the same amounts of sugar and calories as the standard peanut butter, but they have some other chemical filler to replace the flavor lost with the absence of fat. As long as most of the fat is the unsaturated kind, you may prefer the regular peanut butter. Monounsaturated fats are listed on some food labels, especially if the food is a good source of monounsaturated fats, but their listing is not required, while trans fat content is required. To truly avoid trans fats, check the ingredients list, too, and try to avoid foods with hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil near the top of the list.


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