To evaluate a products nutritional value, it is important to read the Nutrition Facts label and the ingredient list. Here are some tips on how to read food labels and ingredient lists:

• Look at the ingredient list: Try to avoid foods with added, refined caloric sweeteners in the first three to five ingredients. Because ingredients are listed in descending order of weight, the lower down the label you find added sugars, the better.
• Check for a "clean label": When reading an ingredient list, look for a small list of simple ingredients that are easy to pronounce and understand.
• Avoid "empty calories": Foods that provide mainly calories and very little nutrition are known as "empty calories." Examples include cakes, cookies, and donuts, processed meats, energy drinks and sodas, fruit drinks with added sugar, ice cream, chips and fries, and pizza.
• Check the fat content: If a product has 2 grams of fat or less per 100 calories, its fat content is within Pritikin guidelines for processed foods. The fat, per serving, should be 20% or less of total calories.
• Look for whole grains: Make sure that any grain is whole grain, such as whole-wheat flour.
• Be wary of health claims: Ignore anything on the front of the package and focus on the list of ingredients and the nutritional facts. Claims like "light" or "reduced fat" may not be as healthy as they sound.

When it comes to dietary supplements for weight loss, it is important to be cautious and informed. Weight-loss products can contain dozens of ingredients, and some contain more than 90. Common ingredients in these supplements include botanicals, dietary fiber, caffeine, and minerals. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Check the safety and efficacy: Evidence of the purported benefits of many ingredients in weight-loss supplements consists of limited data from animal and laboratory studies, rather than data from human clinical trials.
• Be aware of the combination of ingredients: Most weight-loss dietary supplements contain multiple ingredients, making it difficult to isolate the effects of each ingredient and predict the effects of the combination.
• Check the label: The Supplement Facts panel must list the serving size and number of servings per container, declare each dietary ingredient in the product, and provide information on the amount of the dietary ingredient per serving.