Nutrition and Calorie Labeling: Important Information for a Healthy Heart

February is American Heart Month. Cardiovascular disease including heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the United States. That's why it's important to protect your heart health not only this month, but throughout your lifetime.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a simple tool called the Nutrition Facts Label, and it can help you make heart-healthy dietary choices in February and every day throughout the year. The Nutrition Facts Label is found on packaged foods and beverages. It lets you see exactly what you're eating and how a particular food (and the nutrients it contains) fits into your daily diet. Use it to compare foods and make choices that can affect your long-term health!

Get Less of Certain Nutrients

The Nutrition Facts Label helps you track specific nutrients that can have an impact on heart health. The Percent Daily Value (%DV) information shown on the Nutrition Facts Label gives a framework for deciding if a food is high or low in specific nutrients including the ones you are trying to limit.

To help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, compare nutrients and choose foods with a lower %DV of sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and try to stay below 100% DV for these nutrients every day. Use this general guideline when comparing nutrients in food:

• 5% DV or less per serving of a particular nutrient is low
• 20% DV or more per serving of a particular nutrient is high

And remember, the %DV listed is for one serving, but many packages contain more than one serving! So, look at the serving size and how many servings you are actually consuming.

Monitor Calories

The Nutrition Facts Label tells you the number of calories in a serving of food. When it comes to managing your weight, it's important to balance the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses ("burns"). Excess body weight can contribute to cardiovascular disease as well as other chronic diseases, so use the Label to compare calories and select the foods that have fewer calories per serving. This simple tip will help you size up calories when comparing and choosing foods:

• 100 calories per serving is MODERATE
• 400 calories per serving is HIGH

For additional information visit:
Nutrition Facts Label Programs and Materials
Eat for a Healthy Heart

SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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