Home Care in Greenwood, IN – Your Senior Loved One needs to Know What they are Consuming

There are different reasons why you may be interested in food labels and how to get better at reading and understanding them. Maybe you’ve decided it’s time to start eating a lot healthier so you have more energy, or maybe your doctor has told you to cut back on sodium. Maybe you are worried about the food choices your elderly parent has been making and you want to check up on whether he’s getting all the right amounts of nutrients.

A guide to reading food labels

Whatever reason, it’s time to learn what those food labels mean. The following guide will give you the basics and provide a good foundation. If you need more detailed information you can visit the website at: www.fda.gov and search for packaging labeling.

The serving size is a key piece of information

When you look at the Nutrition Facts label, start with the serving size. That tells you what all the numbers are based on. It’s important to look at it first because you might pick up that back of chocolate covered peanuts and see that they only have 100 calories! You are so excited! But wait…that’s not 100 calories for the entire bag! The serving size is for 2 tablespoons, and it looks like there’s 2 cups in that bag. That translates into about 1600 calories for the whole bag. Okay, now you see why looking at the serving size is so essential!

Other items on the nutrient label

Now that you understand the calories are per serving, and the serving size was for 2 tablespoons, it’s time to look at the other numbers. The Nutrition Facts label generally shows how many calories from fat, total fats, sodium content, dietary fiber, total carbohydrates, sugars, protein and some of the vitamins and minerals. Vitamins A and C are usually listed and so is the calcium and iron content.

Some ingredients are listed as the number of grams (g), milligrams (mg) or the % of Daily Value (DV). DV means how much of the daily recommended amount you are getting in one serving of that particular food.

Take control over the food you choose to eat

Knowing how to read and interpret the food labels gives you power to have more control over what you include in your diet and what you limit. Some things you would want to limit would be trans-fat, sodium and cholesterol. Some things you would want to increase would be Vitamins, calcium and iron.

How home care can help your senior loved one

An in-home care provider can help your loved one make better food choices. This is the first thing to do when health is faltering. The old saying, “you are what you eat” has been shown time and time again to be true.