What is the 5/20 rule for nutrition?
Have you heard of the 5/20 rule when it comes to reading food labels? Most people haven’t, but it is an easy and handy rule to use. Students in my class often ask what they are supposed to look for when reading food labels. Food labels can be confusing so applying the 5/20 rule can help you decide what foods are healthy to eat. What is the 5/20 rule? The 5/20 Rule has to do with the % Daily Value on Food Labels. The % Daily Value shows you how much of a nutrient you are getting in each serving of that food. When you look at any food label you will “% Daily Value” and then a lot of numbers and %’s by various nutrients. To paraphrase The Moxy Kitchen blog, “By the 5/20 Rule, a % Daily Value at or below 5% indicates a low amount of a nutrient in the food, whereas a % Daily Value at or above 20% indicates a high amount of a nutrient in that food.” In the 5/20 rule, what is the 5% or less? ...