***This content comes from the Joint Pain Programme Journal by Nuffield Health. As a Rehab Specialist running this program, I’m excited to share these helpful insights with you all.
Understanding what and how much we’re eating is really important for supporting our general health.
However, the labels that provide this information on foods can seem daunting and confusing.
Let’s take a look at one that’s found on the back of most food packaging:
Labels are also provided on the front of food packaging to give you a quick glance snapshot of what a food contains:
These labels also display the quantity of each nutrient consumed per serving, and they use a traffic light system to give a quick, visual indication of how healthy the quantity of a specific nutrient is to consume.
Nutrients that are green show the intake provided in the serving is low, amber shows the intake is at medium levels for the serving, and red shows high levels for the serving.
Looking at the example, with fat and sugar both having high intake for the serving size, it may be best to look for an alternative or only have them once every so often.
Energy stays in a white box, but it’s useful to look at the percentage of daily intake within the box to give you an idea of how much of your daily energy consumption is used up with this food.
Using the example, with 6% of your daily energy being consumed with a 25g portion of food, it may be worthwhile looking for something else; for comparison, a typical banana weighs 110g but contains just under 100 calories.
Healthy foods and choices are really important for our overall health, but it’s okay to have high-energy foods on occasion!
Your Space to Reflect
📍 Starting Point
- How confident do you feel reading food labels?
- What information on food labels matters most to you?
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🤔 Looking Deeper
- When have food labels helped you make better choices?
- How has label reading changed your shopping habits?
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💡 Exploring Possibilities
- Which parts of food labels would you like to understand better?
- What strategies could help you shop more confidently?
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🔄 New Perspectives
- How might understanding labels better empower your food choices?
- What would being a confident label reader look like?
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