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- Title: tells you what the dish is
- Symbols: tells you if the food is vegetarian (V) or vegan (VGN)
- Serving size: an amount of food to reference when using the nutritional information. For help figuring out what exactly "4 oz" means, check out the portion size page.
- Total calories: the number of calories in the given serving, how much energy the food contains. Calorie needs vary widely from person to person, so pay attention to how hungry you are and only eat until your growling stomach is silenced.
- Total fat: the amount of fat in the given serving, how much of this macronutrient is in the dish. Grams of fat contain 9 calories each, and fat comes in two main forms: saturated and unsaturated.
- Saturated fat: the amount of saturated fat in the given serving, how much of this kind of fat the dish contains. This is a very important number—try to cut back on saturated fat in your meals because it can raise the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood. The difference between this number and the total fat is the amount of unsaturated fat in a serving.
- Protein: the amount of protein in the given serving. Protein needs vary from person to person, too, but everyone needs it daily, because our bodies don't store the important amino acids protein provides. Concentrate on the whole protein package rather than just this number.
- Total carbohydrates: the amount of sugars and fiber in the given serving. The sugar group of carbs provides pure energy to the body in both simple (glucose, fructose, galactose) and complex (starch) forms.
- Fiber: the amount of indigestible carbohydrates in a given serving. This number is highest in whole grain and intact vegetables and fruit. Put more whole grains in your diet to help protect against heart disease and diabetes.
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