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thank you for rating! How to Read a Nutrition Label: Top Five Things You Need to Know

Here are tips to steer you toward healthier product choices when shopping for groceries:

1.  Serving Size

Pay close attention to the serving size and the servings per container.  Many food makers try to make their products seem healthier or lower in calories by listing a serving size that is often not the amount you would consume.  My favorite muffin lists the serving size as 1/2 a muffin.  I doubt most people eat 1/2 a muffin.

2.  Ingredients List

Ingredients are listed in the orer of their amounts in that product.  For example, if sugar is listed toward the top of the indgredient list, assume that there is a lot of added sugar in that product.  If there is, you may want to look for a similiar product with less sugar.

3.  Carbohydrates

Sugar and fiber are listed under this heading.  Compare similar products and always try to choose the lower-sugar, higher-fiber goods.   If you are calculating starch servings, please remember dairy and vegetable carbohydrates generally do not count as starches.

4.  Fat

Total fat, saturated fat and trans fat will be listed. Try to minimize saturated fats and eliminate trans fat. Nuts and oil-based foods are made up of fat, so you can not limit the fat content in these foods.  Just watch your serving size.

5.  Percent Daily Value

Don't pay too much attention to the percent daily values, because for the most nutrients they are too general to be useful.  Do pay attention to the sodium (salt) values, especially if you have high blood pressure, and to the calcium values if you are a woman and not taking a calcium supplement.

Dr. Melina Jampolis, M.D. is a board certified physician nutrition specialist. She graduated from Tufts Medical School and is one of only 200 doctors in the U.S. who is double board certified in internal medicine and nutrition.  She is a frequent lecturer at medical schools on nutrition and diet.   She was the host of “Fit Tv’s Diet Doctor”, the author of The No Time to Lose Diet (Nelson, 2007), and the diet and fitness expert for CNNHealth.com.  She maintains a small, private practice in San Francisco.  You can email her at: DrMelina@SmartNow.com.  For more information, visit www.drmelina.com.