It’s not exactly exhilarating to read food labels, but if you’re helping your elderly family member to increase the nutrients she’s getting, it’s a necessary tool for you to get to know. Nutritional labels are confusing at first. Here’s what you need to know.
Selling Dates and Use Dates
Probably the first thing you look at already when you’re buying a food item is the selling date or the use by date. These dates are really important because they can be a clue for you how close the food is to expiring. These dates can be a little bit confusing, though, because the name of the date tells you what you’re really looking at. “Best by” dates are about when the flavor of the food is best. “Use by” dates tell you when the quality is likely to start to turn. The “sell by” date tells the store how long it should have the food on the shelf.
Check the Serving Size
The next most important information on the label is the serving size for the food in question. Serving sizes are often far smaller than people think they are, especially if the food is tasty. Junk food in particular is a food that you need to pay attention to serving sizes. This is an important measurement any time you’re tracking what and how much your senior is eating.
What’s in the Food
You also need to know what’s in the food your senior is eating. The ingredients should be clearly labeled on the product. The ingredients at the top of the list are what features most prominently in the food. So if a food’s ingredient label said “flour, milk, egg,” you could form some expectations that there’s more flour in the recipe than there is egg.
Look at the Nutritional Information
The nutritional information is in chart format and it can be confusing at first. What you need to remember is that the percentages include percentages of those nutrients per serving. There may also be a section of the nutritional label that includes the recommended percentage for a person’s daily diet. If there aren’t any major nutrients in the food, there might not be a nutritional chart.
As your senior’s caregiver, a lot of this type of thing falls to you to handle for her. More practice is going to help and you’ll feel less intimidated as you read more labels.
If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Caregivers in Gulfport, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.
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Becky Moultrie is Owner and Administrator of Assisting Hands Home Care Serving Pinellas. Guided by a motto to Do Good with Love, she’s well positioned to do just that at Assisting Hands. She has a passion for helping families keep seniors and those who are diabled happy and healthy at home. She serves on a number of boards in Pinellas County including the Pinellas Park Gateway Chamber and Better Living Seniors (BLS), leading the Membership Committee. Annually, she hosts a Silver Santa Party, collecting donations for nearly 100 low income seniors in the county. She attends Blessed Sacrament Church, Seminole where she is an Ascribed Member of the Rosminian Order. When not busy Doing Good in the community, Becky is at home with her husband David & their 4 children, tending to their beehives and digging in the garden.
