Home About Paula Blog Breakfast Club Talks / Workshops Your Health Food Industry What's New Contact Links Sitemap The Breakfast Club        Welcome The Breakfast Blog What's New - Research News Why bother eat breakfast? What about salt? What about sugar? What is High In / Low in ? Breakfast Calories What about fibre? What about calcium? What about iron? Breakfast shopping list Understanding labels Guide to GDA labels Breakfast Makeovers Portion Distortion Breakfast choices Breakfast Swaps!        You are here:  >>  Home  >>  The Breakfast Club  >>  Understanding labels                 Understanding labels        I find the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) on the front of cereal packs, crackers and bread packages very useful when comparing two similar items. They are called guidelines because that's exactly what they are – a guide, not a target. Whilst it's OK to stick pretty close to the GDA for calories, you should try to eat no more than the GDA for sugars, fat, saturates (saturated fat) and salt. In fact try to eat as little of these nutrients as possible in order to stay healthy and hearty!               GDAs for different nutrients        GDAs were developed for calories and seven other main nutrients - protein, carbohydrate, sugars, fat, saturates (saturated fat), fibre and salt. The table on thye right lists the different GDAs for active women, men and children. Active teenagers may have higher calorie requirements. Generally speaking labels use the values for active women. You can compare what you find in a portion of food to what a typical women might require in calories or the maximum recommended salt intake. Guideline Daily Amount Values Typical Values Women Men Children (5-10 years) Calories 2,000 kcal 2,500 kcal 1,800 kcal Protein 45 g 55 g 24 g Carbohydrate 230 g 300 g 220 g Sugars 90 g 120 g 85 g Fat 75 g 90 g 75 g Saturates 20 g 30 g 20 g Fibre 24 g 24 g 15 g Salt 6 g 6 g 4 g               How to use the GDA label The example of a cereal bar and yogurt show how useful GDAs can be. The two options might typically be available as breakfast foods in a canteen. If you have a high cholesterol level, and are watching your saturated fat intake, you can use the GDA label to make the best choice to suit your needs.               Check and compare: The labels show you that the cereal bar contains one gram of saturates (saturated fat), that's five percent of the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA). The yogurt on the other hand contains 2.5 grams of saturates (saturated fat), which is 13 percent of the GDA. Choose: if you are watching your saturated fat intake you might want to pick the cereal bar, which contains less than the yogurt. Or if you do choose the yogurt as one of your three calcium rich servings per day , be sure to keep using labels in order to stay within the GDA for saturates (saturated fat).                                      Keep in mind that research on these matters is on-going and is subject to change. The information presented is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment. It is intended to provide ongoing support of your healthy lifestyle practices.                   © Paula Mee 2011 Privacy Statement        Home page                Powered by go2web