Eating fresh food is not always an option, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your healthy meal choices for a quick, convenient bite to eat. By using the nutrition labels on packaged foods required by the FDA, you can identify ingredients that are unhealthy to avoid bad packaged foods and choose the good ones.
Nutrition Labels
The best way to determine healthy packaged foods is by searching the food's nutrition label for healthy clues. The FDA requires all food to have nutrition labels that contain information about fats, calories, carbohydrates, sugars, vitamins and ingredient lists. The nutrition label identifies both the amount of each component and its corresponding percentage of daily allowance. Percentage daily allowance specifies how much of your daily nutrition requirement is met by one serving of the packaged food for a specific category and is usually based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Calories
According to the USDA, you should balance calorie intake to manage your weight. Whether this means maintaining your current healthy weight or reducing your weight, considering the caloric content of food is important. The most important consideration is balancing the amount of calories in a food and its benefit.
For example, a packaged food that has 500 calories per serving, but only provides you with 5 percent of you daily vitamin requirements, is not as healthy as a food that provides the same amount of calories and 20 percent of your vitamin requirements.
Things to Avoid
Look for healthy packaged foods that avoid certain components which are bad for your health. Avoid saturated and trans fats and seek healthy foods that utilize monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Avoid packaged foods with high levels of sodium like potato chips, beef jerky, pre-packaged pastas and some canned soups. Steer clear of the use of refined grains and sugars. Refined grains include white flour and white rice. Avoid sugars like high-fructose corn syrup, often found in candies and other sweet packaged foods.
Things to Look For
Healthy packaged foods should contain the same vitamins and nutrients you find in fresh, natural foods. Consider foods that utilize whole grains such as oatmeal and brown rice. For proteins, look for packaged foods that contain lean meats, beans and soy products found in some vegetarian soups. Consider packaged foods that also utilize plenty of vegetables and fruits, which contain the same vitamins and nutrients as their fresh counterparts.
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