1. To Be Healthy
You affect your body every time you take a bite of food. If it's healthy, you've bettered your own health. If it's unhealthy, you have to work it off. However, it can be confusing to know if certain foods are healthy or not. The food label on the back of your food package lists everything that's in the food you're about to eat. Daily Values is the percentage listed on the food label and it makes it easy for you to determine the nutritional value of your food.
2. The Numbers for Nutrients
When you scan the Percent Daily Value column on a food label, the numbers are easy to understand. If a food has a Daily Value of 12% next to total fat, then you only need 88% more fat today in your diet. Most of us don't have a problem getting enough fat in our diet, but nutrients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C and calcium aren't as easy to sneak in. If the Percent Daily Value is 20% or more, that food is high in that particular nutrient. If it's lower than 5%, it's low in that nutrient. Look for foods that are high in nutrients for the healthiest diet possible.
3. Skim Your Sodium Content
Conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure require you to monitor your sodium content and Percent Daily Values can help. Choose products that have the lowest percentage of sodium. For example, one serving of frozen carrots might contain 2% Daily Value of sodium. Compare that to canned carrots with the same serving size that have a Percent Daily Value of 16%. You don't have to understand milligrams to see that the frozen carrots are the healthier alternative. Use this same theory to reduce other items like fat and carbohydrates.
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Items listed on a food label are listed in order of importance. For example, most people first pay attention to the calories per serving. That's why it's on top. From there you have the bad items like total fat, cholesterol and sodium. Then, it can get ugly. As you read on to the bottom of a food label where the healthier items are, you might notice the Percent Daily Values getting smaller. That's usually a sign of a food that's not as healthy as it can be. Using this information, you can balance your diet with foods that give you a healthy Percent Daily Value of nutrients.
5. It's all About Calories
The FDA based Percent Daily Values on the average American diet, which is 2,000 calories. Talk to your doctor or nutritionist to find out if you need more or fewer calories in your diet because that would cause your Percent Daily Values to change. Also remember that men usually require more calories per day than women.
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