Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Learn to Read Nutrition Facts Food Labels



Do you read the Nutrition Facts food labels when you shop? Since 1994, the FDA has required these labels to be placed on most food packaging. The Nutrition Facts food labels are easy to find on the back, side or bottom of the packaging.

The black and white Nutrition Facts labels may be formatted vertically or horizontally (the vertical version is more common). Small packages may have an abbreviated version of the label.

Learn to Read Nutrition Facts Food Labels

How Well Do You Know Nutrition Facts Food Labels?
To take the quiz, go to http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_label_quiz.htm

Monday, August 22, 2011

The USDA Food Pyramid

U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The United States Department of Agriculture created their Food Pyramid as a guideline to help us make healthy decisions for our diet.


Balancing Calories
● Enjoy your food, but eat less.
● Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
● Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
● Make at least half your grains whole grains.
● Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce
● Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals ― and choose the foods with lower numbers.
● Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

These food pyramids differ slightly from the USDA Food Pyramid, and for very sound reasons. Before we explore the USDA USDA Food Pyramid, it is important to understand how big a serving of any food is. The USDA Food Pyramid suggests different numbers of servings for every body. Many of us suffer from "portion distortion" and we eat way too much, so tomorrow we'll start with proper portions.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

~ SUNDAY INSPIRATION ~

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure”