How To Read A Nutrition Label

How To Read A Nutrition Label

Understanding how to read a nutrition label is an important step to take complete control of your nutritional intake. It’s actually pretty simple and that’s what we’re going to learn today.

First, lets talk about what we should be looking for on a nutrition label:

  • Protein
  • Net Carbs
  • Fiber
  • Fat

Being aware of the calories is helpful too, but secondary to the others.

Here’s a video to show you the breakdown of what it actually looks like on a label:

Now that you’ve seen it live, lets break down each one:

Protein – The macronutrient (macro) responsible for repairing your body, muscle mass and keeping your metabolism high.

  • Women typically aim for 20-30 grams (g) a meal 4 times a day, Men should be looking for 40-50 g 4 times a day.

Net Carbs – Net carbs are the combination of fast and slow burning carbs that effect your blood sugar levels.

  • Women typically aim for a range between a few grams or up to 30-35 if their goal to eat carbs at that meal, while Men range from a few to 40-50 g typically if they’re trying to eat carbs at a meal. This is where your nutrition plan comes in handy 🙂

Fiber – Fiber helps digestion, metabolism and to keep your energy high by stabilizing blood sugar.

  • Women typically aim for 4-10 g at a meal and Men for 6-10 g at a meal

Fat – Fat is an essential energy source that you normally want at every meal

  • Women typically shoot for about 15 g at a meal and Men strive for 20-25 g

 

Once you understand how to read the label, you take that knowledge and construct a meal out of it that hits your macro goals for that meal. So for example, a Quest Bar (what we used in the video) is going to be shy of hitting your goals at a specific meal for most guys, so adding some meat (protein), veggies and other foods may be necessary to make sure you’re in range.

To get specific with what you should be eating everyday, consider nutrition coaching, which is currently exclusive to our members at Faster Fitness.

Click “Request More Information” below to learn more.

Comment on the feed above if you have any questions!

 

About the Author: Marshall Ray

Marshall Ray is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), Level 2 Poliquin International Certified Strength Coach (PICP), Biosignature Practitioner and a certified Precision Nutrition Coach (Pn1). He is the founder of Faster Fitness and co-founder of Femme Fit. He's passionate about building a community of people who love fitness and taking control of their health.