My Ridiculous Love of Nutrition Labels

image from Alternative Baking Website

And I thought I was just buying a cookie. Wrong! 

A couple of days ago I was at the grocery store and the above cookie caught my eye. Normally, I would have given this a pass but I saw that it was vegan, I was hungry, and I guess that is all she wrote! Into the cart it went. I got home and ate it. The whole thing. And was immediately sort of sorry. Sort of. Once in awhile a little splurge is fine. 

The cookie though got me thinking because of course, prior to eating it, I examined the nutrition label. In depth and at length. It's what I do. I am an inveterate food label reader of long standing. Rich won't go with me to the store anymore unless I promise not to read the labels. I get irritated and because I am "that woman" now, I talk to myself out loud, airing my grievances in a quiet and muttering sort of way. Why is there sugar and salt in this can of tomatoes? Why is there added sodium in my frozen peas? (And why did these peas come from Austria???) Why is there sugar in a can of breadcrumbs? The list goes on.

Why do I read the labels anyway? I have read articles that indicate that food labels (and the system of counting calories in general) is flawed. (Article here.) Yet I still rely on this information to make some basic decisions. My sense is that the USDA guidelines on label reading (find them here and look at item 6 in particular for the % tool) is a good place for average consumers to start. I am that consumer.

So what information can be obtained by reading the nutrition label on a package of food? The above link gives a good primer on how to begin to understand the label's contents. I thought though that I might share what it is that I look for. These things are specific to my health situation and reflect my interests in three things: saturated fat, sodium and fiber. I also look closely at portion size, calories (for what that is worth, evidently) and ingredients. My hope is that this post will generate some interest in learning to read a food label and that it will prompt people to see how label reading can fit into a person's own way of being healthy.

Let's start with the simplest things first: serving size and calories. I tend to look at these items right away. They tell me where this food might fit into my diet, i.e. how much I might eat (portion size) and how many calories it will cost me. It makes a difference when I put this product into context with the rest of what I eat during the day. Food that doesn't have much nutritional value to me might squeeze out other foods that do have nutritional value, if I am watching the number of calories that I am consuming. So, I try to be mindful of needing to eat healthy foods and limiting those that won't benefit me much in the long run. 

As an example, let's look at the cookie above. That package of 1 cookie contains 2 servings. What? This means that one half of the cookie contains 230 calories and is 1 serving. When I see that and know that I am going to eat the entire cookie in one go, then I know I have to double everything. So the whole cookie (both halves) contains 460 calories. If I was following a 2000 calorie a day diet, that would be nearly 25% of my day's total calories. You can believe that I loved this cookie to death, ate every crumb, and licked the inside of the wrapper! It was a treat. And honestly, it was fine. I didn't sweat the rest of the day's food because overall, I am consistent with what I eat. Cookies are not normally on the menu.

Once I am done with portion size and calories, I continue on down the label to the parts that interest me. Aiding me in my search, is a "percentage" guideline supplied by the USDA and listed on their website mentioned above. Per their site, the USDA recommends that when looking at the overall % Daily Value (DV) column on a nutrition label, a person should apply the 5%/20% DV rule. That is, 5% is the low end of what you are consuming and 20% (or more) is the high end. (This is taken directly from their website-please see link above. Additionally, there are rules in place for regulating claims that companies can make about their food such as whether or not a food is "low in sodium" or "high in fiber." That is a discussion for another post.) 

As an example of this 5%/20% guideline, the above label states that the total DV% for saturated fat is 8% for a half of a cookie. (The serving size per package is 2 so that means one serving is one half of the cookie.) I ate the whole thing (2 servings) so that means that for the entire day, I ate 16% of my saturated fat allowance. (Based on a 2000 calorie diet-again taken from the label and the USDA's website.) Is that a lot? Well, figure that 16% is somewhere between 5% and 20%, leaning towards the high end of that range. For me personally, it means I was careful that day about the rest of my saturated fat intake. I use this tool in a general way and find it to be a good place to start. And again, it's something that the USDA has provided as a guideline only. 

Continuing to use the USDA's guideline as my tool, I look at the remaining nutritional components on the label that are of interest to me: sodium and fiber. The first item is sodium. Sodium is ubiquitous in the Western diet. I am not sure anyone could dispute that. It occurs naturally in some foods and is added to others to boost flavor, extend shelf life, etc. We tend to get too much sodium however, which by itself isn't good for heart health.  Because I have cardiovascular disease, I always take a look at sodium content and try for the lowest I can find. Again, I use the 5%/20% rule, knowing too that I eat beans and legumes and vegetables and fruits that may have a bit of sodium (and potassium, sodium's partner) in them naturally. I really do try to see where all of my choices fit with one another. I am likely at this point to forgo prepackaged snacks and instead spend my sodium allotment on things that will enhance my cooking, such as liquid aminos, reduced soy sauce, or other condiments like that.

The second item I check out is fiber.  (Remember that there are several ways to approach how much fiber each person needs so it's best to check with your doctor first. There is also a good basic article from WebMD here.) Personally, I go with what normal guidelines indicate for my age and sex which is 25 grams a day. I totally scan the label for this information! With the above cookie, of course there isn't much fiber (2 grams per servings or just 8% per serving). That isn't a lot and honestly, should you be getting the bulk of your fiber intake from a cookie? Probably not. I do look closely at prepackaged foods to see just how much fiber is present, and again, I apply that 5%/20% guideline. As a personal choice, I tend to get most of my fiber from beans, legumes, and grains. These are some of the heavy hitters in the plant world along with fruits and vegetables, of course! 

Apart from what I mentioned above, I tend to simply scan the other items (the ones prior to the ingredient list). I look briefly at cholesterol and carbohydrates, and also check for calcium, protein, and vitamin B-12. (All are unlikely to be present in great amounts but I look anyway.) 

Eventually, I get to the ingredients. I have read that the bulk of what is in a product is listed in the first several ingredients. With the above cookie as a guide, it contains what you would expect a cookie to contain: flour, sugar, peanut butter, water and oil. The rest of the ingredients? They have to do with making the cookie palatable, portable, and shelf stable. I don't necessarily fear a long ingredient list either though I know some would say to avoid this. As an example, I eat a pretty healthy bread every day for toast but it has a long list of ingredients, all healthy and of good quality. I tend to look more at content rather than quantity. If it's a bunch of chemicals and compounds to keep something stable, enhance taste and mouthfeel, or to do something else, I start to draw the line. I have put items back onto the shelf and looked up the ingredient on my phone right there in the store. (Technology does pay!) A person has to come to their own conclusions but reading the label first is a good start.

So, what do I get out of all of this label reading and why do I spend so much time doing it? First and foremost, I am the sort of person who likes to know things. And I try to be proactive with what I eat so that I can feel good. I feel lousy when I eat too much salt or too much sugar. That's a fact. Also, I can only eat so much food in the course of the day. I try to make that food be as nutritious and supportive of my health goals as possible. If I fill my calorie needs with junky food then there isn't room for much else. That's a fact too! And I am a vegan so it's especially important to me that any packaged food not contain any animal products. So, taking time to read labels with those things in mind is always my goal.

Is all of that energy and time spent reading ingredients and looking at percentages helpful to me in any way? Do I think I am going to live longer or enjoy a better health status because of my efforts? I don't honestly know. That is the truth. I do feel, however, that it doesn't hurt to hedge my bets, so to speak. I haven't read anything yet that says a bunch of sugar or salt is good for you or that excessive calories every day for the long term is going to help make a person feel good. Over time, I have simply developed a habit and an awareness. The habit is the label reading and the awareness is an attention to my health. Does that mean if a person doesn't do these things that they aren't doing something right? Absolutely not. The attention by me to those details is just part of my personality, my slightly neurotic persona. It's how I am, in other words. 

What is the final takeaway on my love of reading a nutrition label? I find the topic interesting. Nutrition label reading gets me a little outraged each time I do it which I think helps me to find and make better food choices overall. It also allows me to buy some convenience foods and to fit those into my overall dietary plan. Nutrition label reading fits my personality in several ways too. I am a person who likes some information, who likes some rules, and who appreciates things laid out in a fairly simple fashion. I like to know about my saturated fat, sodium, and fiber intake. I feel that monitoring those components in some way contributes to better overall cardiovascular health. I do recognize though that the approach isn't for everyone. And the USDA's information is not a one-size-fits-all deal. Variety is the spice of life isn't it? But for those of you reading who may be like me, I definitely advocate this approach in some form. Know that the label is there, know what it contains (and doesn't contain) and get educated about it. (I included some links above.) We are living in very confusing and changing times where nutrition information is fluid and evolving. For me, the nutrition label is a sensible raft to cling to.

Thanks for reading,

Libby

PS-As with all of my posts concerning nutrition, wellness and health, the reader should draw their own conclusions and do their own research. If the reader is seeking dietary advice of any kind, they should seek out a medical professional such as a Registered Dietitian or a Medical Doctor.