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How To Read Nutrition Labels For Healthier Eating | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
Expert nutritionist explains how to read food labels and how they help with your nutrition.
In this video, Dr Richie Kirwan, expert nutritionist, tells us one of the most important skills when it comes to managing your nutrition and how to read food labels. Richie will talk about the ingredient lists and how they are ordered, as well as the nutritional information and how to understand what it means about the food you eat.
It will also help understand some of the most common phrases you might see on food packages.
First thing first, knowing about the nutrition you eat can be a little overwhelming with all the information that you see on different packs of food but with everything you learn today you’ll be much better able to understand what’s in the food you eat.
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Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:40 - Reading food labels
13:23 - Outro
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0:00
ever get confused by all the jargon on
0:02
food labels let's talk about
0:06
that how's it going guys my name is
0:08
Richie Kerwin and today we're going to
0:09
learn one of the most important skills
0:11
when it comes to managing your nutrition
0:13
and that's how to read food labels we'll
0:15
talk about ingredients lists and how
0:16
they're ordered we'll talk about
0:18
nutritional information and how to
0:19
understand what it means about the food
0:21
you eat and finally we'll talk about
0:23
some of the most common phrases you
0:25
might see on food packages when you
0:27
first start paying attention to your
0:28
diet and learning about nutrition you
0:30
can be a little overwhelming with all
0:32
the information that you see on
0:33
different packs of food but with
0:34
everything you learned today you'll be
0:36
much better able to understand what's in
0:39
the food you eat first off let's take a
0:41
look at the ingredients list of some
0:43
different foods to help you understand a
0:45
little bit more about what goes into the
0:48
foods you eat let's start off with an
0:50
ingredient list for a random protein bar
0:53
just because I know a lot of you will
0:54
have tried one at some point in your
0:56
life and some of you might eat them
0:57
quite regularly so ingredients are food
1:00
components are always listed in order of
1:02
greatest quantity by weight so whatever
1:05
is first on the list means that it is
1:08
the greatest single ingredient in the
1:10
product in this case white chocolate is
1:13
the biggest single component of the bar
1:16
I say component because white chocolate
1:18
is not a single ingredient because
1:19
chocolate itself is made up of multiple
1:21
ingredients we can also see that it says
1:23
28% in parenthesis which means white
1:25
chocolate amounts to 28% of the weight
1:28
of the chocolate bar and that's a
1:29
relatively big proportion without the
1:30
percentage amount that has been shown it
1:32
can be hard to tell how much of a
1:34
proportion of the total ingredients that
1:36
a single ingredient or component
1:37
contributes often times manufacturers
1:39
won't include a percentage amount
1:41
because they may not want you to know if
1:43
a product contains a lot of a less
1:45
desirable ingredient like sugar for
1:47
example or they might not want to show
1:49
it contains only a little amount of a
1:51
desirable ingredient like protein powder
1:53
now after each component the individual
1:56
ingredients that make up that component
1:58
are listed in parentheses after here the
2:01
main ingredient of the white chocolate
2:02
component is malol which is a sugar
2:05
alcohol or polyol it has a lower calorie
2:07
content than sugar and is often used in
2:09
sugar-free chocolates and other products
2:10
you'll often see emulsifiers listed on
2:12
ingredients labels many emulsifiers are
2:15
naturally occurring like here we have
2:17
lesians which are not the same as
2:19
lectins which are found in things like
2:20
egg yolks soy beans and sunflower seeds
2:22
emulsifiers help water-based and
2:24
fat-based ingredients to combine
2:26
together properly now the next part is
2:28
something a lot of you will be
2:30
interested in and that's the protein
2:32
blend the ingredients are milk protein
2:34
and soy protein because milk is listed
2:36
first we know it has more milk than soy
2:39
but because there are no percentages
2:41
written here it could be 51% milk and
2:43
49% soy protein just in the protein
2:46
blend now for most people that's not a
2:47
major deal as both soy and milk are high
2:50
quality proteins and can both stimulate
2:52
muscle growth similarly although milk is
2:54
slightly better soy is a cheaper protein
2:56
so that's why it's often used to lower
2:58
production costs however ever this would
3:00
matter more if the other protein used in
3:02
the mix was a very low quality protein
3:04
like collagen if muscle protein
3:06
synthesis is the goal you want as much
3:08
high quality protein in the mix as
3:10
possible now you can also make an
3:12
argument that if you're relying on
3:13
protein bars for your muscle growth
3:14
needs you've got other problems and if
3:16
maximizing muscle growth is a goal you
3:18
might want more than one protein bar as
3:21
eating more protein can overcome the
3:23
issues of lower protein quality you
3:25
might just be using protein bars as a
3:27
lower sugar lower fat alternative to
3:29
chocolate bar in which case the protein
3:31
used isn't all that important at all now
3:34
if we look at the next ingredient on the
3:35
list it's collagen peptides so if
3:38
collagen comes right after the protein
3:39
blend there could be just a tiny little
3:42
bit more protein blend than collagen and
3:44
because the protein blend is made up of
3:46
milk and soy well there is a possibility
3:49
that there is even more collagen in the
3:51
bar overall than milk or soy protein
3:53
alone so basically a bar like this could
3:55
be using a lot of lower quality protein
3:58
again not a major issue if muscle gain
4:00
isn't your main goal next up on the list
4:02
is humectant specifically glycerol
4:04
humectants are used to keep food nice
4:06
and moist and they're often used in
4:08
protein bars and baked goods glycerol is
4:10
formed when fat gets digested because
4:12
fat is just made up of fatty acids
4:14
bonded to a molecule of glycerol there's
4:16
also some sunflower oil which is needed
4:18
because fat improves the texture and
4:19
flavor of a lot of foods there's tapioca
4:21
starch which is probably used to improve
4:23
the consistency and texture of the
4:24
product and there's cocoa butter and
4:26
cocoa powder which will give a chocy
4:28
flavor right at the and you have
4:30
flavoring salt coloring and sweeteners
4:33
these are all near the very end of the
4:34
ingredients list because they're only
4:36
used in very very small amounts to
4:39
improve the flavor of the final product
4:40
you can also see that some foods that
4:42
are written in Bowl's text are allergens
4:45
they're in bold to make it easier for
4:46
people who might have allergies to spot
4:48
them quickly on an ingredients list so
4:51
if there's one thing to take away from
4:52
this it's that the ingredients at the
4:54
start of an ingredient list are used in
4:56
the highest amounts and ingredients near
4:58
the end of the list list are used in the
5:00
lowest amounts on top of that some
5:03
complex ingredients often have a
5:05
breakdown of what they contain written
5:06
in parentheses after them something
5:08
worth knowing too is that some companies
5:11
will often list something called
5:12
proprietary Blends in their products
5:15
this is a mix of different ingredients
5:18
but they don't need to specify the exact
5:20
order of the ingredients so people won't
5:22
know how much the final product contains
5:25
so for example a product might have a
5:27
proprietary blend of vitamins minerals
5:30
and herbals on the label it might list
5:32
all of those ingredients and it might
5:33
sound damn impressive but in reality
5:36
each of those ingredients might only be
5:38
present in tiny amounts that don't
5:40
really have any effect on your health or
5:43
your performance that's something worth
5:45
remembering if ever you see the phrase
5:47
proprietary blend on a product now one
5:50
thing I haven't done here is go through
5:52
an explanation of all the potential
5:54
ingredients or food additives you might
5:55
find and that's just because it would
5:57
take forever instead if you're curious
6:00
about an ingredient you can check out
6:02
online resources like the European
6:03
commission's food additive database or
6:06
the food standards agency in the UK to
6:08
learn more about those specific
6:10
ingredients you may have heard people
6:11
say that the longer the ingredients list
6:13
the more unhealthy the product is and
6:15
that's just not necessarily true yes
6:17
some processed foods can have a very
6:20
very long list of ingredients but that
6:21
doesn't mean that they're automatically
6:23
bad for your health you could get a
6:24
musle for example with 20 to 30
6:26
ingredients that might be relatively
6:28
unprocessed on the opposite end of the
6:30
spectrum you might get some single
6:31
ingredient foods that aren't
6:33
particularly good for your health in
6:34
excess pure sugar or pure butter for
6:36
example are both single ingredients but
6:38
in large amounts neither is good for
6:40
your health just remember it's not the
6:41
length of an ingredients list that
6:43
matters it's what it contains and in
6:45
what amounts that matters the more you
6:47
read ingredients lists the better you'll
6:49
get at reading them now that you've got
6:50
a better idea of how to read an
6:52
ingredients list it's time to move on to
6:54
nutrition information pads I'm going to
6:56
cover some of the common mistakes that
6:58
people make with these now the type of
7:00
information that has to be shown varies
7:02
from country to country but in the UK
7:04
you have to by law show information on
7:08
seven key values energy in calories and
7:10
kilog fat and saturated fat in grams
7:14
carbohydrate and sugar protein and salt
7:17
on top of those seven values you might
7:19
also see extra voluntary information on
7:21
fiber starch mono and polyunsaturated
7:24
fats polyols which are sweeteners as we
7:26
mentioned earlier and any vitamins or
7:28
minerals usually if a manufacturer
7:30
includes this voluntary information it's
7:32
because they want to show off any
7:35
nutrients with particular health
7:36
benefits like fiber or vitamin D let's
7:38
take a look at this label which is for
7:41
plain unsalted peanuts as an example of
7:44
how to read a food label often you'll
7:46
just get one colume of values usually
7:48
per 100 G of product or 100 Ms of
7:51
product if it's a liquid you get energy
7:52
both in kilj which most people aren't
7:55
familiar with and kilo calories which
7:57
more people recognize obviously nuts are
7:59
really high in calories which is worth
8:01
knowing before you eat a whole bag you
8:03
can see total fat and within that we see
8:05
of which saturates this means that the
8:08
total amount of fat in 100 G of peanuts
8:10
is 46 G and of that fat only 8.7 G is
8:14
saturated fat this is really important
8:16
too because eating too much saturated
8:18
fat can lead to increases in some risk
8:20
factors for heart disease and this is
8:22
why labels need to provide details on
8:24
saturated fat content you can also see
8:26
the amount of carbohydrates is 12 G and
8:28
the amount of sugars is 5.9 G this can
8:31
be useful in processed foods to get an
8:32
idea of the sugar content but as these
8:34
are just peanuts you know that these
8:37
aren't added sugars and are just
8:38
naturally present in the nut you can
8:40
also see protein and salt content per
8:42
100 G of nuts too in this example we
8:44
also have a column showing values per 25
8:47
G which is a serving size and also
8:49
percentage of your recommended intake
8:51
the importance of having a portion
8:53
column is huge the reason you get values
8:55
per 100 G is so we can compare similar
8:57
products by weight the reason we we have
8:59
the serving size column is so you know
9:01
how much energy and how much of each
9:03
macronutrient you get in a specific
9:05
serving some people when they start out
9:06
reading nutrition labels forget to pay
9:09
attention to the serving size and often
9:11
just put the serving size for everything
9:13
as 100 G this can make your calorie
9:15
tracking really really inaccurate so for
9:18
example if a pack of peanuts has 100 G
9:20
total and you only eat a quarter that
9:22
means you're getting a quarter of the
9:24
calories and macronutrients listed on
9:26
the pack per 100 G that's useful to know
9:28
if you don't have that second column
9:30
with values present now most macr
9:33
tracking apps will list the nutrition
9:34
values of a food per 100 G but will also
9:37
allow you to change the portion you eat
9:39
so if a food is listed per 100 G and you
9:42
only eat 40 G just multiply by 0.4 on
9:46
the other hand if you eat say 250 g just
9:49
multiply by 2.5 all you're doing is
9:52
moving the decimal point on the waiting
9:54
grams two places to the left now
9:57
something really important to watch out
9:58
for can be labels on the front of packs
10:01
these often show the calories and fat
10:03
content per portion many people read
10:05
this and assume that a pack is one
10:07
portion so if you bought this 100 g pack
10:10
of peanuts you might think it's only got
10:12
148 calories the calories per 25 G
10:15
portion when in fact it has 593 calories
10:18
per pack that's a pretty hefty
10:20
difference so remember always check the
10:22
package to see how much a portion is and
10:25
see how much is in the total pack don't
10:27
make the rookie mistake of a assuming
10:29
that they're going to be the same now
10:31
while you always get the nutritional
10:32
information per 100 G sometimes you'll
10:35
have a portion that's a lot bigger than
10:37
that for this example I'm using a recipe
10:39
for protein oats that might be typical
10:41
for some of you as you can see here 100
10:43
G of this recipe has 141 calories and
10:46
9.9 g of protein which sounds like a
10:49
really small breakfast but when you see
10:51
that the portion size is actually 45 G
10:54
in the second column the calories and
10:56
protein increase to 583 and 41 G
10:59
respectively now if you don't have that
11:01
second column all you need to do is
11:03
multiply the value in the 100 G colume
11:05
by 4.15 remember you just need to move
11:08
the decimal place of the waiting grams
11:10
two places to the left and multiply by
11:13
that at the start all these numbers can
11:15
seem kind of meaningless but if you
11:17
start looking at food labels somewhat
11:19
frequently or you use a macr tracking
11:21
app you'll come to learn what foods
11:23
contain what in terms of calories and
11:25
macros over time you'll remember which
11:27
foods are good sources of specific
11:29
macros like protein without having to
11:31
look it up and this will help you make
11:34
better food choices in your daily life
11:36
now besides the nutrition information
11:38
onbs you'll also see a lot of labels
11:40
such as gluten-free sugar-free
11:43
lowfat 100% natural just for example do
11:46
these even matter well it kind of
11:49
depends if something says sugar-free or
11:51
lowfat in reality you're better off
11:53
checking the back of the pack to see the
11:55
sugar and fat content and the total
11:57
calories because that's what really
11:59
matters for many people's nutrition
12:01
goals if a product says high protein
12:03
you're better off checking how much
12:05
protein you actually get per portion
12:07
because by legislation high protein only
12:09
means that 20% of the energy content
12:12
comes from protein so 100 calorie cereal
12:14
bar with 5 GRS of protein can legally
12:15
say it's high protein that's far away
12:18
from the 20 gr of protein you get in
12:19
most protein bars as for gluten-free
12:21
that only really matters if you're
12:23
actually sensitive to gluten which in
12:25
reality is probably much less than 5% of
12:28
the population it doesn't make a product
12:30
healthier or better for weight loss if
12:32
it's gluten-free the same applies to
12:34
soyf free or nut-free products and as
12:36
for the 100% natural label it means
12:39
virtually nothing in terms of health
12:41
because there isn't a recognized
12:43
definition for natural it just means a
12:45
product doesn't have any synthetic
12:47
additives which doesn't necessarily make
12:49
a product healthy to give an example
12:51
refined sugar is 100% natural but it's
12:53
probably not a good idea to eat a lot of
12:55
it an even better example is botulinum
12:57
toxin which is also so 100% natural and
13:00
produced Naturally by bacteria it also
13:02
happens to be one of the most lethal
13:04
toxins on the face of the Earth but it's
13:05
natural so it's okay right don't fall
13:08
for that labeling skill at the end of
13:09
the day learning the basic skills of
13:11
label reading can help you learn a lot
13:13
about what's in your food and what you
13:15
eat and help make your nutrition Journey
13:17
a lot easier and more manageable I
13:20
really hope this video has given you a
13:21
good starting point when it comes to
13:23
reading labels as always if you have any
13:25
more questions let me know in the
13:26
comments below and remember to like And
13:27
subscribe to my YouTube channel for more
13:30
great evidence-based nutrition
13:34
[Music]
13:36
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