Have you ever been told you could lose weight by eating foods with less calories, but don’t know where to find them? Have you looked at the back of a food label and wondered what everything means to you? Well, use this guide to decipher exactly what these food labels mean:

  1. Remember, all of the food labels are based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. Requirements vary for each person depending on age, weight, and gender.
  2. Check out the serving sizes. That’s usually how most companies make it seem that their food is healthier. If something has 3 servings in it, the food label’s calorie content is for one serving.
  3. On the ingredients section, items appear in descending order from largest to smallest amount. For example, if water is listed first on a bottle of juice, it is the primary ingredient.
  4. Check out the Total Fat, which is measured in grams. Of the two fats below Total Fat, look out for saturated fats, which are a significant factor in heart disease. Unsaturated fats are “bad” as well, but don’t raise cholesterol levels as much.
  5. Watch out for the sodium content. Sodium is basically salt, and too much salt is a significant factor in heart disease.
  6. Look at the vitamin content. These are the “good” stuff that your body needs and are usually measured as a percentage of the total amount you need to get in a day. For example, if the label says “Vitamin B – 2%” it means you’re getting 2 % of your total daily intake of vitamin B.
  7. Be careful with “LIGHT” or “LITE” foods, which can refer to the color or texture of the food. Usually, “LIGHT” or “LITE” means that the food has smaller amounts of a certain ingredient. It still has things like calories and sodium in it, just less amounts.