Reading a Nutrition Label

Tips for Navigating Thirty40Thirty Nutrition

1.  Figure the NET CARBOHYDRATE of a serving which equals Total Carbs – Dietary Fibre (in the above example it is 13g – 3g = 10g).  Fibre is subtracted from the total carb because fiber slows down the rate of absorption and fibre ends up being excreted from the body.

2.  Understand how many grams are in a BLOCK.  Block count: 1 block of PROTEIN = 7g  1 block of CARBOHYDRATE = 9g (net carbs – see #1)  1 block of FAT = 3g.  The above example has 1 block of FAT, 1 block of CARBOHYDRATE and < 1 block of PROTEIN.

3.  Avoid any food with Trans Fats, Hydrogenated Oils or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

4.  Limit or avoid artificial colour, flavour or sugars.

5.  The ingredients are listed in descending order by weight.  First ingredient makes up the largest proportion of all the ingredients in the food; the second, the second largest amount; and so on.

6.  A separate “Contains” statement may be listed after the ingredients list alerting consumer of possible allergy foods.