Fat Content (28.5%)
Calories (31.6%)
Transfats (11.3%)
Sodium (7.8%)
Carbohydrates (9.6%)
Fiber (4.2%)
Protein (2.4%)
Other (4.7%)
i look at fiber, trans fats and carbs. those are the most important to me. the less fiber the less constipated i will be, trans fats are never good, and carbs, well it determines if i'm having 1 bagel or 5 pieces of bread. and low carbs keep my blood sugar at bay.
I usually count Carbs since I was on the atkins diet a while back and it actually worked. Ha, to bad I let the diet go. :(
I see how much fat,and then the suger.
I usually look at salt content because of my blood pressure and then sugar
I first look at the sodium because of my blood pressure and then I look at the fat and calorie content
I look at sodium first. Calories are pretty easy to control but sodium content is a real kicker. Something that looks healthy could be chock full of sodium. I think its one of those places where food makers think they can hide the content of their food. Most people will only look at the calories and fat content (as demonstrated by the poll results) - if the cals are low or "reasonable" for the product and the fat is low, people will buy it. But what do the makers use to replace the flavor punch of fat? Sodium.
I think in todays market its a lot easier to over do it on Sodium every day without knowing it. So for me, sodium comes first with cholesterol second. Those are the most damaging substances in manufactured food.
I try to watch what we eat but prices on organic foods are ridiculous, so we do the best we can on our budget.
I've never counted calories - even when I lost the 30 pounds I gained after my 2nd child. I also don't know what the difference is about transfats from fats. Everyone is way too concerned about protein - most Americans get way more than enough. I just make common sense decisions about dessert, oils, fried foods and more when I want to loose weight.
I do read labels though. I marked 'other', because I try to stay away from high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, and ingredients that I couldn't buy (ie colorings, artificial flavoring, preservatives, etc...)
I don't count calories. I read all my labels checking for the fat levels first with no transfats. Then hope for low sugar and salt if any with a high protein content. My health is very important to me.
I constantly pay attention to my calories. It helps me and many other woman enjoy living a healthly life and is important to a well balanced diet. I think that sometimes it is okay not to count your calories, as long as you make up for it in your exercising.