Aim: How do you read a food label?

DO NOW: QUIZ Open Notebook
Protein - List five types. (10 points each)
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Carbohydrate -List the two forms. (10 points each)
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2.

Complex Carbohydrates - List three types. (10 points each)
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2.
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You know how books have a table of contents that explains what's inside? Or maybe you've received a toy that came with a diagram that identified each small piece. Nutrition labels are sort of like that. They tell you what's inside the food you're eating and list its smaller parts.
The Nutrition Facts food label gives you information about which nutrients (say: nu-tree-ents) are in the food. Your body needs the right combination of nutrients, such as vitamins, to work properly and grow. The Nutrition Facts food label is printed somewhere on the outside of packaged food, and you usually don't have to look hard to find it. Fresh food that doesn't come prepackaged sometimes has nutrition facts, too.
Most nutrients are measured in grams, also written as g. Some nutrients are measured in milligrams, or mg. Milligrams are very tiny - there are one thousand milligrams in a gram. Other information on the label is given in percentages. These numbers are based on eating 2,000 calories in a day, the amount that many school-age kids eat . A calorie is a unit of energy, a way of expressing how much energy you would get by eating a certain food.
If you want to learn more about the different types of information on food labels, keep reading. We'll start at the top of the label and work our way down.
Serving Size
The nutrition label always lists a serving size, which is an amount of food, such as 1 cup of cereal, two cookies, or five pretzels. The nutrition label tells you how many nutrients are in that amount of food. Serving sizes also help people understand how much they're eating. If you ate 10 pretzels, that would be two servings.
Servings per Container or Package
The label also tells you how many servings are contained in that package of food. If there are 15 servings in a box of cookies and each serving is 2 cookies, then you have enough for all 30 kids in your class to have one cookie each. Math comes in handy with food labels!
Calories and Calories From Fat
The number of calories in a single serving of the food is listed on the left of the label. This number tells you the amount of energy in the food. People pay attention to calories because if you eat more calories than your body uses, you might gain weight.
Another important part of the label is the number of calories that come from fat. People check this because it's good to limit fat intake. The calories in a food can come from fat, protein, or carbohydrate.
Percent Daily Value
You'll see percentages on food labels that are based on recommended daily allowances - meaning the amount of something a person should get each day. For instance, there's a recommended daily allowance for fat, so the food label might say that one serving of this food meets 10% of the daily value. The daily values are based on an adult's needs, not a kids' needs. These are often similar, but kids need may need more or less of certain nutrients, depending on their age and size.

Some percent daily values are based on the amount of calories and energy a person needs. These include carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. Other percent daily values - like those for sodium, potassium, vitamins, and minerals - stay the same no matter how many calories a person eats.
Total Fat
The total fat is the number of fat grams contained in one serving of the food. Fat is an important nutrient that your body uses for growth and development, but you don't want to eat too much. The different kinds of fat, such as saturated, unsaturated, and trans fat, may be listed separately on the label. Each gram is 9 calories.
Cholesterol and Sodium
These numbers tell you how much cholesterol and sodium (salt) are in a single serving of the food. They are included on the label because some people need to limit cholesterol or salt in their diets. Cholesterol and sodium are usually measured in milligrams.
Total Carbohydrate
This number tells you how many carbohydrate grams are in one serving of food. Carbohydrates are your body's primary source of energy. This total is broken down into grams of sugar and grams of dietary fiber. Each gram is 4 calories.
Protein
This number tells you how much protein you get from a single serving of the food. Your body needs protein to build and repair essential parts of the body, such as muscles, blood, and organs. Protein is often measured in grams. Each gram is 4 calories.
Vitamin A and Vitamin C
These list the amounts of vitamin A and vitamin C, two especially important vitamins, in a serving of the food. Each amount is given as a percent daily value. If a food provides 20% of the RDA for vitamin A, that one serving of food gives an adult one fifth of the vitamin A needed for the day.
Calcium and Iron
These list the percentages of calcium and iron, two especially important minerals, that are in a serving of the food. Again, each amount is given as a percent daily value. If a food has 4% of iron, you're getting 4% of the iron you need for the whole day from that serving.
Calories per Gram
These numbers show how many calories are in one gram of fat, carbohydrate, and protein. This information is the same for every food and is printed on the food label for reference.
Now that you know a little more about food labels, you can read up on what you're eating!

Homework#6

Bring in a food label.

Homework #5 Nutrition

On a piece of loose leaf paper to be handed in with a heading
Your name, class number, today’s date and homework #.
1 cup of chicken broth has 1gram of fat x 15 calories = how many calories from fat?
½ a cup of black beans or Frijoles Negros has 0 grams of fat x 120 calories= how many calories from fat?
2 Tablespoons of Extra chunky Peanut butter has 17grams of fat x 190 calories=how many calories from fat?
1 Tablespoon of Mayonnaise has 10grams of fat x 90 calories= how many calories from fat?

Aim: What is Nutrition- Calories?

DO NOW: How do you get Fat? What are two types of fat?

Checking Out Calories
Maybe you've seen low-calorie foods or low-calorie dinners on menus before. Some candy and soda commercials advertise that they have just one calorie. But what is a calorie, anyway?
A calorie (say: cal-er-ee) is a measure of how much energy the nutrients protein, carbohydrate, and fat can supply your body. When you eat food, your body uses the food as fuel, burning it to produce energy, or calories. Every person's body needs energy to function. Whether your body is doing things you don't even think about, like pumping blood or blinking, or doing things you plan, like walking a dog or blowing bubbles, you always need calories!
Some types of nutrients have more calories than others. When you eat foods with protein, every gram of protein gives you four calories (a gram weighs about the same as the amount of sugar that's in a packet at a restaurant). Same deal with carbohydrates: when you eat foods with carbohydrates, your body burns the food as fuel and gives you four calories for every gram of carbohydrate. And fat gets its reputation for being fattening because when your body burns it, you end up with nine calories for every gram of fat! That's more than twice the amount!

1 cup of milk has 8 grams of protein, so:
8 grams X 4 calories = 32 calories from protein (that's 32 calories for you from the animal who says moo!)
1/2 cup of cooked spaghetti has 17 grams of carbohydrate, so:
17 grams X 4 calories = 68 calories from carbohydrate (use your noodle and eat spaghetti for lots of energy!)
1 order of "large fries" from your favorite fast-food restaurant has 22 grams of fat, so:
22 grams X 9 calories = 198 calories from fat (uh-oh, what's that? Lots of calories from fat!)
Group questions to answer.
What are Calories?


How many calories for a gram of Fat?


How many calories for a gram of protein?


How many calories for a gram of carbohydrates

Homework #4 Nutrition

On a piece of loose leaf paper to be handed in with a heading
Your name, class number, today’s date and homework #.
Why shouldn’t we eat fattening foods all of the time?
What can you do to change your life and not risk death and disease from fat?

Aim: What is Nutrition- Fat?

All That Fat
Fat is the body's major form of energy storage, and our bodies can make fat. Many fats that people eat are really a combination of two different types of substances: saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids come from animal foods like meat, milk, cheese, and some oils that come from plants. Unsaturated fatty acids are different - they come from plants and fish. Together, these two substances are grouped and called the fat content in food.

Fat sometimes sounds like it's always a bad thing that people should not eat, but actually our bodies need some fat to work correctly. Fat insulates our bodies from the cold and provides some cushioning for our organs. Fat gives our bodies energy. Some fats help to make up important hormones that we need to keep our bodies at the right temperature or keep our blood pressure at the right level. Fat helps you have healthy skin and hair. And fat is like your body's very own storage and moving service: it helps vitamins A, D, E, and K hang out and get transported through your bloodstream when your body needs them!
How Do We Get Fat?
Even though our bodies need some fat to work properly, they don't need as much as most people eat. It's a good idea to avoid eating a lot of fat, because it can contribute to obesity (when a person weighs much too much for his or her height) and other illnesses that can occur when you're older, like heart disease or adult-onset diabetes.
But foods with lots of fat in them taste good - like cookies, chocolate, and fast-food hamburgers and french fries! It's OK to eat cake and ice cream at someone's birthday party once in a while. But the real trick is not to eat these kinds of foods all the time, or even most of the time. Instead, you should eat them in moderation - that means eating only a little bit at a time and not very often. Staying healthy and keeping your body in shape is easier when you go for foods and snacks that are lower in fat - and you'll feel better, too!
Group questions to answer.
How do we get fat?

What are two types of fat?

What good does fat do for you?


What harm does fat do for you?

Homework #3 Nutrition

On a piece of loose leaf paper to be handed in with a heading
Your name, class number, today’s date and homework #.
List at least 5 of your favorite forms of complex carbohydrates.