Food nutrition chart

How to Read a Food Nutrition Chart

One of the most important things humans can do for their bodies is to make sure to give it a properly nutritious diet. A good, nutritious diet consists of a variety of foods that contain all the essential nutrients and enough calories to keep the body running smoothly. Different types of food contain different amounts of each nutrient, so it’s sometimes hard to figure out exactly how much of a certain food to eat to get the right amount of a given nutrient. The FDA, therefore, made it mandatory that food nutrition charts be included on food packages to inform people as to the nutritional value of a food. Here’s a guide to reading a food nutrition chart and understanding a food nutrition guide.

Parts of a Food Nutrition Chart

Every chart on a food package has certain vital information concerning nutrients, as well as an ingredient list so people know exactly what’s in a particular food. There’s also going to be a list of all the essential nutrients of a person’s diet, along with how much of a vital nutrient per serving will be included in a serving of food. Percentage of daily value, or PDV, is calculated by a person’s estimated need for calorie intake. Each nutrient has a certain amount of calories per gram on average, except for water. Because of this, each nutrient has a certain amount that should be consumed per day. Usually, the food nutrition chart has two columns, one for a 2000 calorie per day diet and the other for a 2500 per day calorie diet. The average adult human needs 2000 calories daily, so food nutrition charts help to calculate the value per serving. If for some reason you can only eat that particular food, you can look at the PDV per serving, and then multiply it out to get 100%. If one serving of something gives you 40% of your PDV of a nutrient, you can use the chart to find that two and a half servings would give the full daily allowance of that nutrient. Don’t worry about going over – almost all nutrients are water-soluble, meaning that any that your body didn’t absorb would simply come out in the form of urine. With those that aren’t, there would be very little or no chance of actually consuming enough to do any serious harm.

When you learn how to fully read and understand a chart of food nutrition, you’ll be on your way toward building a healthier diet.

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