Reading Nutrition Labels

A. Nutrition labels contain information about calories, fats, sodium, sugar, fiber and carbohydrates. The most important information on a food label is calories. If you take in more calories than you expend each day, you will gain weight. When you look at calories on a food label, be sure to take note of the serving size.

Nutrition labels also contain information about saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fat should total 10% or less of your total daily calories and cholesterol less than 300 milligrams per day. Unsaturated fat, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, are "healthy" fats that can boost your HDL, or good cholesterol.

Regarding sodium, you should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, but 1,500 milligrams or less is optimum for reducing your risk of high blood pressure. While food labels don't have a specific line item for a food's glycemic index, you can use a combination of the sugar, fiber and carbohydrate count to estimate it. Fiber helps regulate blood sugar levels, so high-fiber foods typically have a lower glycemic index. Foods high in sugars tend to spike blood glucose levels, so they would have a higher glycemic index. On average, you should consume about 25 grams of fiber and approximately 130 grams of healthy carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits and whole grains) daily.