Nutrients & Food

Understanding nutrients in foods can help consumers use the Nutrition Facts Label more effectively, and enable them to make choices that best suit their own health needs. Resources for becoming familiar with nutrients and their role in a healthy diet can be found here.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, released on January 31, 2011, emphasize three major goals for Americans:

• Balance calories with physical activity to manage weight
• Consume more of certain foods and nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood
• Consume fewer foods with sodium (salt), saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and refined grains

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 include 23 key recommendations for the general population and 6 additional key recommendations for specific population groups, such as pregnant women. The recommendations are intended to help people choose an overall healthy diet.

Review the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 [PDF – 2.9 MB]

Check out the tools, reports and research, and related resources in this section to learn more about healthy eating and nutrition.

Sodium: Look at the Label

http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm315355.htm

Over 75% of dietary sodium comes from eating packaged and restaurant foods. Most Americans eat too much sodium, and sodium has been linked to high blood pressure, which can increase your risk of heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke.

The Nutrition Facts Label is a handy tool you can use every day to get less sodium through smart dietary choices. FDA’s education materials show you how!

Sodium Fact Sheet: A printable backgrounder that offers the basics on sodium’s health effects, easy how-to’s for using the Nutrition Facts Label to reduce sodium intake, and practical tips for getting less sodium through smart dietary choices.

View the Sodium Fact Sheet³ (PDF - 2.24MB⁴)

Sodium Infographic: An at-a-glance visual tool that includes a handy simple call to action for using the Nutrition Facts Label to reduce sodium intake.

• Four-Color Infographic (PDF - 2.61MB)⁵
• Black and White Infographic (PDF - 1.58MB)⁶