I’m understanding a bit more about how to read the Nutritional labels on packaged items, but when it mentions the Total sugars and then mentions Added Sugars with the percentage, it confuses me. Does anyone know how the percentages are created and how to read them and understand what they mean?
Percentages are usually the percentage of the average adult recommended daily intake of that nutrient.
Added Sugars is a subset of Total Sugars (total includes naturally occurring sugars in the main ingredients).
Other users helped you out a lot, so I’ll add why exactly it’s still useful even though it’s only for people with a 2,000 caloric intake need.
That’s the best way to use it for average, everyday food-goers. But if you really want to, you can absolutely do the math to figure out the %. And it’s not hard at all.
Here’s how to do the math:
If you need/want to consume a 2,000 calorie diet, you need the % numbers to add up to 100% for each individual nutrient, right? So let’s figure it out for people with different calorie needs.
FORMULA: (Your calories / 2000) , then multiply that number by 100 to get the % that you’ll need to add those numbers up to each day.
Example 1: (2000 calories / 2000 calories) = 1, * 100 = 100% (this makes sense, because it’s the same number, so it would add to 100%)
Example 2: (3000 calories / 2000 calories) = 1.5, * 100 = 150% (so you would want each of those nutrients to add up to 150% at the maximum)
Example 3: (1600 calories / 2000 calories) = 0.80, * 100 = 80% (so you want EACH of those nutrients to add up to 80% at the maximum)
Does that all make sense?
If I’m understanding your question correctly, the percentages are a recommendation of your daily intake if you are on a 2,000 calorie diet. So, if you’re supposed to get 1500milligrams of sodium daily, then a food with 750milligrams of sodium is 50% of your daily intake. Remember, though, that the 2000 calorie baseline is just a recommendation. We all have different intake needs, so it’s helpful when nutrition labels specify the total grams of each nutrient so we can figure it out for ourselves. Hopefully I explained this well.
I hope this helps!
The percentage is useless unless you are on a 2000 calorie diet.
On a sidenote, doesn’t the box literally say “percentages are based on a 2000 calorie diet”. Not being an ass, Im just not sure if I’m just remembering something that doesn’t exist. Kind of like a solo Mandela effect, if that makes any sense at all.
They have apps that will calculate your daily values based on how many calories you wish to eat a day and/or help you make a calorie plan if weight loss is a goal.You record what your eating throughout the day. Many have drop down type of menus of specific brand foods that you can just select and then you type in the serving size you’ve eaten.. This would probably be helpful in putting things in perspective. I used My Fitness Pal years ago, but there are many available now.
You generally want to see “healthy” nutrients (fiber, vitamins, mono/poly unsaturated fats, minerals, protein) at 20% or greater per serving. The unhealthy nutrients (sodium, saturated/trans fat, sugar) should be at 5% or less per serving.
Slightly off topic, but important. Nutritional labels on things like cereal or candybars/energybars are a scam. The FDA and USDA are bought and paid for by big ag. If you smash/crush a multivitamin and sprinkle it on cardboard, then cover it with corn sweetener and soy oil - you will get the same great nutrition they label. Are there any micronutrients? NO. Does it have natural soluble fiber - no. Is it fit to feed to yourself or your kids - NO. Get a banana, and apple or celery staulk. If you crave chips, get popcorn or a fried tortilla. all this factory crap is killing you - regardless of the misleading label with percentages of stuff that don’t matter.