fibre<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cHow that might be helpful is looking at breads and trying to find one with a higher [fibre number], normally a whole grain bread, versus a refined grain bread, which might not have as much fibre,\u201d he says. \u201cFibre\u2019s super important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynolds\u2019 next priority is the level of saturated fat, followed by added sugars. Protein is less of a concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost all New Zealanders have adequate protein intakes unless we look at older adults, who have an increased protein requirement. <\/p>\n
\u201cI personally don\u2019t care about protein because most intakes in NZ are sufficient, but I do care about fibre because we don\u2019t eat enough of it and it\u2019s a protective [element], so the higher the better,\u201d he says, later explaining that fibre reduces the amount of sugar and cholesterol that\u2019s absorbed in digestion, increases satiety, and plays a role in lowering the risk of colon cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI care about saturated fats because the lower [the number] the better. More saturated fats in the diet are linked to increased heart attacks, and I do not want a heart attack. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then added sugars, because higher intakes are related to dental caries and body weight,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
Reynolds believes it\u2019s more useful to look at the average quantity per 100g or 100mL column of an NIP, as serving sizes can be determined by the food company.<\/p>\n
\u201cA single ice cream could actually be considered three serves. If you look at the serving size, it\u2019s not reflective of how much you\u2019re going to eat, which is the whole ice cream.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says additives and preservatives are less of a concern for him, as those ingredients undergo a rigorous process by food-governing bodies before they can be included in the food supply.<\/p>\n
Reynolds also notes the ingredients list, which is not part of the NIP, is ordered by quantity, starting with the ingredient with the highest quantity in the product.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re looking at something and it has sugar as its primary ingredient … that\u2019s probably a nice alarm bell to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much attention should we be paying to sodium (salt)?<\/p>\n
According to Reynolds, high sodium intake is not only a problem many New Zealanders face, it\u2019s a global problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sodium in our diet is the strongest predictor of high blood pressure, which is the strongest predictor of stroke,\u201d explains Reynolds, adding that if he had high blood pressure, looking at the sodium category of the food label would zoom up on his priorities.<\/p>\n
The WHO recommends a daily salt intake of less than 2000mg (a bit less than a teaspoon) for people over the age of 16. But according to the Heart Foundation, many Kiwi adults are consuming around 3400mg a day and one in five of us suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have quite a high stroke burden,\u201d says Reynolds.<\/p>\n
Reynolds points out there are good reasons for food manufacturers to add sodium. It acts as a preservative in packaged food and also helps improve taste. <\/p>\n
However, only 15% of the sodium we eat comes from when we add it to the food ourselves, he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that means 85% of it really comes from the packages, packaged foods we choose to eat. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe sodium added to processed foods we buy and eat is the main reason why many people have hypertension, so if you are worried about hypertension and stroke, then looking at the sodium content on nutrition information panels can inform decisions on what to buy, with the lower the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about energy?<\/p>\n
Energy is essentially the fuel that your body gets after eating food. On a nutrition label, this is typically broken down to kilojoules (kJ) or calories (kcal), depending on whether the country uses imperial or metric systems of measurement. As New Zealand uses the metric system, energy is shown in kJ on food labels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we eat the food, then the body breaks down the fats, alcohol, protein and most carbohydrates during digestion to create energy,\u201d says Reynolds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body needs energy to function, but if we eat more than we need the body will store it in fat cells, saving it for future use.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the WHO, how much energy one consumes should be in balance with how much one uses. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo avoid unhealthy weight gain, total fat should not exceed 30% of total energy intake. Intake of saturated fats should be less than 10% of total energy intake, and intake of trans-fats less than 1% of total energy intake, with a shift in fat consumption away from saturated fats and trans-fats to unsaturated fats, and towards the goal of eliminating industrially-produced trans-fats,\u201d reads a section on WHO\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the <\/b>Herald<\/b>. Based in Auckland, she covers culture, travel and more.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nutrition labels, including the NIP, provide crucial information about the nutrients, allergens and recommended quantities. The nutrition information…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":214422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[194,117237,931,14974,117242,117241,16560,70828,52596,95812,381,210,3861,192,12644,33879,31548,117236,24687,3221,50476,45868,22194,1182,117235,19686,58156,6535,35220,5855,117239,41345,1243,4701,4063,448,447,117238,67,132,68,640,117240,9812],"class_list":{"0":"post-214421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-almost","10":"tag-and","11":"tag-between","12":"tag-confusing","13":"tag-dull","14":"tag-eat","15":"tag-even","16":"tag-experts","17":"tag-flags","18":"tag-for","19":"tag-health","20":"tag-how","21":"tag-important","22":"tag-information","23":"tag-item","24":"tag-its","25":"tag-label","26":"tag-look","27":"tag-marketing","28":"tag-might","29":"tag-most","30":"tag-numbers","31":"tag-nutrition","32":"tag-nutritional","33":"tag-out","34":"tag-panel","35":"tag-pick","36":"tag-read","37":"tag-red","38":"tag-slogans","39":"tag-small","40":"tag-spot","41":"tag-supermarket","42":"tag-text","43":"tag-the","44":"tag-to","45":"tag-tucked","46":"tag-united-states","47":"tag-unitedstates","48":"tag-us","49":"tag-what","50":"tag-youll","51":"tag-youre"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115177748123352864","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}