It Is Important to Read the Nutrition Facts Label Before Buying Food
One thing that is often overlooked when people are buying food is the nutrition facts label. This is the portion of the package or wrapping that provides information on such things as calories, fat grams, sugar, sodium and so forth. It is important to read the nutrition facts label before buying food because you may not be getting what you think.
One of the first times that I realized just how handy a nutrition facts label was happened when I was six years old, and my mother informed my grandmother that she could not have any sugar for a few weeks. She stood in the grocery store inspecting every item's nutrition facts label to see whether or not it had sugar. I was amazed that she would be able to tell whether it had any sugar, because I had no idea what a nutrition facts label was at the time, but simply thought my mother was inspecting the packages to see if she could see any sugar.
Several years later, I started to gain a little excess weight and needed to drop some pounds for my health. I referred back to the nutrition facts label for calorie counting and paid special attention to the caloric value of each meal, in addition to the fat grams. I made it a point to count calories and fat grams for a month, which I carried about by reviewing the nutrition facts label on products, and at the end of each week would weigh in. I managed to drop 12 pounds by doing that and exercising.
Just a few years ago, my father became ill and had to start reducing his sodium intake. I knew my mother would begin to look at each nutrition facts label again, and I have to say that I was not aware of how many things are loaded with salt. My father had been eating what my mother prepared for him and was retaining water. After about a month of the low-sodium diet, he had gotten rid of all the excess water and was much, much healthier.
I have gotten into the habit of reading the nutrition facts label of practically every product I buy now just to make sure that I am getting the proper nutrition that I need in my diet. On many occasions, I have been surprised by how much fat or sodium or cholesterol a product has that I thought was perfectly healthy and nutritious. Because of this, I have maintained a healthy body weight and maintained the recommended daily intake of every vitamin and nutrient I need to stay healthy.
