Nutrition Facts For A Balanced Diet

Nutrition facts are defined as a label that contains the amount of nutrients and calories in a serving of food.

These nutrients are listed as follows: minerals, protein, fats, vitamins, and carbohydrates.

It will help you to determine or make informed decision of eating the right food, in other word, balancing your diet.

Every food product is labeled with a list of the amount and type of ingredients in the package. These ingredients are: cholesterol, Trans fat, Sodium, Total fat, Fat, Sugar, Protein, Total carbohydrate, Minerals and vitamins, Saturated Fat, Dietary fiber,  

Listed on all labels is the serving size information which is the amount of food that can be eaten in one serving. This is the standard measurement in terms of ounces, pieces, and cups.

It is of vital importance to follow these measurements in order to maintain a healthy diet to avoid eating too much of a large portion or servings.

Eating too much could mean consuming more calories and as a result would contribute to gaining weight.

It is of paramount importance to follow the prescribe amount of serving that is recommended on the container label in comparison to the amount of food that you consume on a normal basis.

Consuming twice the amount that is listed on the container label means that you are consuming twice the amount of nutrients and calories.

It is important that a person consumes a recommended amount of protein, minerals, vitamins, fats, and carbohydrates on a daily basis to maintain good health.

There are certain foods, in other words ingredients that are not considered healthy such as trans fats and saturated fats and should only be eaten in very small quantities.

The Percent Daily Value listed on the nutrition label, known as nutrition facts, and is measured in percentages, makes comparison as to the amount of a particular or specific nutrients one serving of food contains in terms of the amount of that nutrients a person should consume on a day to day basis.

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A daily serving of food that contains 5% or less of its daily value is said to be low. Also 20% or more of one serving of food of its daily value is said to be high.

The Percent Daily Value can be determined and measured from a 2000 calories diet on a daily basis. If a person eats more or less than 2000 calories per day, the percentages should be adjusted.

Heart disease is considered one of the leading killers and as a result more attention should be given to this condition in order to minimize its impact worldwide.

One of the major factors that plays a significant role and contributes to this cause, is the high consumption of saturated fat. Saturated fat also contributes to the risk of high cholesterol.

It is on this premise to guide and protect consumers on various products that the nutrition facts relating to product contents are mandatory, and must be placed on labels to educate the public.

It is stated that an average adult should not consume more than 20 grans of saturated fat each day. By doing so could lessen the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease. Another factor that can increase the risk of heart disease is Trans fat. It is suggested that a person should eat 0 grams (zero grams)of trans fat daily.

One way to ensure that you are getting 0 grams per day is to check on the nutrition label that is posted by companies. They are permitted or in other words, required to post the amount of trans fat as 0 grams when it is below .5 grams of each serving.

In essence, it does not mean that your food cannot contain some trans fat in it, It simply means that less that .5 grams can be consumed.

Most of the times trans fat can be located in a variety of products that is made by companies for consumption by consumers to the public. It can be found in fried foods, margarine, baked goods, and also snack foods.

Based on the fact that saturated fat can increase the risk of cholesterol, is is stated that a person should eat less that 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day. In addition, if a person is known to have heart disease, it is advisable to eat less than
200 milligrams per day.

Nutrition facts are a source of vital information based on the fact that it provides important information that help consumers to make informed and educated decision that can enhance their health and promote wellness and longevity.