Let’s go over some nutrition label factoids:

The serving size: One package may contain more than one serving — so encourage your child to use the serving size on the label to discover the total number of calories and nutrients per package.

The calories: look at the amount of calories in one serving. Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food. Remember, most diets for children focus around 1500 to 2000 calories per day. You can ask your child to count the calories of foods in one meal (e.g. what are the calories for lunch: count the protein, fat and carbohydrate components).

The Nutrients in the foods: Select foods that are lower in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Eating too much fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk of certain chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure. Select foods that contain lots of fiber, vitamins (A and C), and minerals (iron, potassium and calcium).

Ingredient lists: these are the ingredients listed on the container that the particular food is composed of. Ingredients are listed in descending order of weight (from most to least).

So the next time you are at the supermarket or in your kitchen, pick up a food container and discuss the label with your child. Ask questions, make it fun and your child will learn with you!

Links:

1. Food Facts from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/UCM193079.pdf
2. Talk To Your Kids About The Nutrition Facts Label: www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/UCM193075.pdf
3. How To Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label: www.fda.gov/food/labelingnutrition/consumerinformation/ucm078889.htm
4. Meet The Food Labels: www.nerdel.com/food_nutrition/food_labels.html

My friends, stay fit and healthy the Nerdel Way.

Hello salty!! Now the experts sights are on salt as the bad actor. We all know that our bodies need a small amountof salt(i.e.sodium-most commonly known as sodium-chloride) everyday.  Our bodies lose salt during the day-through sweat evaporation from our skin, via our kidneys and this may increase depending on other factors like illness (more loss), exercise (more loss), hot weather (more loss) and certain medications like diuretics. The problem is that we usually consume more than ten times the amount of salt that we actually need. When we eat salt, the salt attracts water. Its simple-salty items make us thirsty. The more salt we eat, the more water we drink. More water causes us to have more fluid in the body which over loads the normal bodies mechanisms for handling the extra salt and water and that causes our blood pressure to rise. Higher blood pressures cause our heart to work harder- which can ultimately cause heart attacks and heart failure. Some people like the elderly, African- Americans  and diabetics have more difficulty handling the extra salt load. So that’s why our doctors and medical establishment have been promoting a lower salt diet. But you know what low or no salt foods taste like-blah blah and blah. Can we all say no taste, bland, blah! Well, many food companies experienced a decrease in sales of food items that were made with a lower or no salt content and marketed that way. So now, many food corporations have been lowering the salt content of their products very very slowly. A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed that food giants like Conagra, Unilever and Campbell Soup have been quietly lowering the sodium content in their products without any obvious advertising or promotion. Wait a minute! You mean to say that they have been trying to actually help us? That can’t be! Yes, my friends, Corporate America is addressing a medical problem which will ultimately help all of us. So what if they are not promoting it-I think we should all get into the habit of reading the food labels anyway (see Meet The Food Labels in The Nerdel News). That way  we can see how much sodium is truly in our foods. Generally speaking, and according to medical experts, we should take in between 2000 and 4000 milligrams of sodium a day. Some people need to be on a very low sodium diet-even lower than 2000 milligrams. So, my friends, I am happy to report that  these food companies are decreasing the sodium content-you may not notice it-but its happening-and it’s a good thing!

 Living in a smoke free state, I remember when smokers would sit next to me in a restaurant and light up. The glares and stares and that smell of buring tobacco intruding on my clean air. Now when someone reaches for the salt shaker-will that elicit same behavior? Will there be a lot of Oooooo’s and Ahhhhhs? And whispers in the room, “look at that –how much salt he is using. He’s gona have a heart attack right there in his chair.” We are a critical people aren’t we!!  We love to comment on what others should or shouln’t do. Is it out of caring? I hope so-caring for our fellow Americans. That’s the way it should be.

But wait a moment-that’s not all. Breaking news: the FDA now wants food companies to list nutritional information on the front of food containers/items. As you know, the nutritional label is mostly on the side or back. By posting it on the front, the FDA hopes you will look at it, study it, and see what you will be eating and how many calories, grams of salt amd sugar you will be consuming with each serving. Here’s the next problem-what is a serving size? Exactly my point!  Don’t forget that the nutritional information is based on the serving size. My daughter has a bowl of cereal in the morning. Its probably two or three servings. She is hungry-and breakfast is truly the most important meal of the day. Kids who eat a good breakfast do better on tests and in school. But am I giving her too many calories. Thens she puts healthy blueberries, strawberries and bananas in the cereal. More calories.Then the milk-now she’s way over the top. We need to re evaluate serving sizes. They can be confusing. I think that many people eat many more calories that they would normally if they knew about serving sizes. That includes how much they will eat at a restaurant. Some restaurants will list the calorie counts next to the item-but not the serving size. How big is that piece of fish? Are they delivering one serving, one and a half, two? Who knows-maybe the chef. So when you look at a bag of potato chips and it says one servings is 100 calories-see how many chips that is. After all who can eat ten chips and put the bag away?  At the end of the bowl game, you may have eaten an entire bag of chips-several hundred calories, hundreds of grams of sodium and fat. What!

Read the food label. You can learn so much and this will help you eat healthier. There are so many great foods out there. Eating should be a wonderful experience. Understanding what you are eating and what is a serving size, can help you stay fit, can help you maintain your weight, lose weight, and of course gain weight. You are in control of what goes past your lips. With a small bit of education under your belt, you will be able to enjoy food the way it was meant to be. Learn about the food label. Be careful eating out-usually the portion sizes are way to big. Share with someone. If it looks too  big-it probably is!

So good bye trans-fats. Keep low salty! And Mr. Serving Size, you need to explain yourself!!! My friends, staying healthy is really up to all of us!

Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way!