What each of the 19 Basic NutriCode Bars Represents

The Fat Group

Thin colored bars (in gradations of orange and yellow, numbered 1 to 4) immediately following wide fat bars represent 3 types of fats: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. These bars provide instant information about the quality of fat contained in the food serving size and the percentage of each fat sub-nutrient compared to the total fat in that food.

Saturated Fat

Bar 1 reflects the gram and calorie content of saturated fat. For easy fat composition comparison, like the wide total fat bar, each saturated fat bar is equal to 2 grams and 18 calories.

Polyunsaturated & Monounsaturated Fat

Bar 2 represents the gram content of polyunsaturated fat. Bar 3 represents the gram content of monounsaturated fat. Like the wide total fat bar and the saturated fat bar, each number 2 or number 3 bar is equal to 2 grams and 18 calories of that specific nutrient.

The thin bars 1, 2 and 3 are critical when tracking the amount or type of fat in your diet. They instantly reveal how much of the total fat in the serving size of any given food is saturated, monounsaturated and/or polyunsaturated fat.

For example, if there are 4 thin number 1 saturated fat bars and 1 thin number 2 polyunsaturated fat bars by the wide total fat bar, you would instantly know that approximately 4/5 or 80% of the total fat calories in this food came from saturated fat.

You would also know that approximately 1/5 or 20% of the fat calories are derived from polyunsaturated fat. (NutriCode narrow bars are never utilized when calculating daily calorie totals. They are provided solely to reflect other nutrients in the food and percentage relationships.)

Cholesterol

Bar 4 represents the cholesterol content of the serving size. Each thin cholesterol bar is equal to 30 milligrams and 10% of the 300 milligram Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for cholesterol. For example, if a serving size had 13 thin number 4 cholesterol bars, you would instantly know this food contains 130% of the RDI for cholesterol.

Sodium

The thin "s" bars represent sodium. Salt is the most common source of sodium in the diet. Each sodium bar is equal to 240 milligrams, and like cholesterol, contains 10% of the 2400 mg RDI.

If a serving size contains 5 thin sodium bars, you instantly know this food contains 50% of the RDI.

Potassium

The thin "t" bars represent potassium. Each potassium bar is equal to 350 milligrams, and like both cholesterol and sodium, equals 10% of the 3,500 milligram RDI. If a serving size contains 10 thin potassium bars, you would instantly know this food contains 100% of the RDI.

The Carbohydrate Group

On occasion, you may notice several thin bars following the wide carbohydrate bar. They are numbered 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Bar number 5 represents fiber, 6 represents soluble fiber, 7 represents insoluble fiber, 8 represents sugar and 9 represents other carbohydrates.

Like the fat nutrient group of bars 1 to 4, the carbohydrate sub-group bars 5 to 9 provides important additional nutritional information. Bars 5 to 9 reveal the quality of carbohydrate contained in the food serving size and the percentage of some of the carbohydrate group sub-nutrients compared to the total carbohydrate in that food.

Dietary Fibers

Unlike the wide carbohydrate bar, each dietary, soluble and insoluble fiber bar is equal to 2 grams of that type of fiber. For dietary fiber (the number 5 bar), each bar reflects a bit less than the 10% RDI necessary in a typical 2,000 calorie reference diet.

Sugar

The thin "8" bar represents sugar. To manage sugar intake accurately, each sugar bar in the NutriCode includes both naturally occurring and added sugars. Like the wide carbohydrate bar, each sugar bar is equal to 4 grams and 16 calories.

While the NutriCode is the first tool to assist in tracking total sugars in your diet, there is currently little reliable research regarding naturally occurring sugars versus added sugars. To estimate this distinction, read the food's ingredient label.

Non-naturally occurring sugars most commonly added to foods include:

brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, various types of fruit juice concentrates, glucose (dextrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose (malt barley), molasses, raw sugar, [table] sugar (sucrose), maple and other syrups.

If these sugars are indicated near the beginning of the food label's ingredient list, assume there is probably a significant amount of added sugar in this food.

When comparing the number of thin sugar bars with other carbohydrate bars to the number of wide carbohydrate bars, it is immediately apparent what percentage of calories of total carbohydrates are derived from sugar or other carbohydrates.

For example, to the left there are 6 wide total carbohydrate bars and 3 thin sugar bars. Because these bars are both equal to 16 calories per bar, you instantly know ½ or 50% of this foods' carbohydrate calories are derived from sugar.

Other Carbohydrates

Nutrition Facts labels that reflect other carbohydrates are represented by bar 9. Like the total carbohydrate wide bar, each other carbohydrate bar is equal to 4 grams and 16 calories.

The Vitamins & Minerals Group

Vitamin and mineral bars are represented by thin lower case lettered bars (a, c, u and i) which sometimes occur after wide protein bars.

These vitamin and mineral bars are represented as follows: vitamin A (a), vitamin C (c), calcium (u), and iron (i). These bars provide instant information about the content of the 4 most important vitamins and minerals to the average American diet.

Similar to sodium, potassium, cholesterol, and fiber, each bar represents 10% of the RDI for that nutrient even though the RDI amounts are different for each nutrient.

The actual vitamin and mineral bar amounts break down as follows: each vitamin A bar equals 500 IU's. Each vitamin C bar equals 6 milligrams. Each calcium bar equals 1/10 gram and each iron bar equals 1.8 milligrams.

For example, a food that had 3 vitamin C bars and 7 calcium bars per serving size, contains 30% of the RDI for vitamin C and 70% of the RDI for calcium.

How to Quickly Determine Basic Food Composition with the NutriCode

To use the NutriCode properly it is important to know when to use the 4 or 19 bar view option. If you are dieting, trying to lose or gain weight, use the easier 4 bar option. If you have a medical condition such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, liver disease, are pregnant or are using the HealthKeeper to improve your nutrition, use the 19 bar option.

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