1. The first listing on food labels is the grams of total fat. That is broken down into number of gms of saturated fats, and trans-fats per serving. Look for the lowest fat and saturated fats. Shoot for zero trans-fats and no more than 15 gms saturated fats. Total fats should be less than 35 gms.

Tricks to watch for: look at the serving size. A small bag of cookies may contain 6 cookies and the serving size may be 3 cookies. Come on! Are you just going to eat 3 cookies?

Also, don't take their word for the zero trans-fats. If there is less than 0.5 gms of trans-fat per serving, food companies can claim zero trans-fats. But if you read food labels you will find the words "partially hydrogenated". That is trans-fat. If they increased the serving size, they would have to claim trans-fat. I am not willing to accept any trans-fat!

2. Cholesterol is the next listing. Again, look for low numbers. If the product is free of animal fat there will be none. If it is an animal product and is low total fat, it will probably be low cholesterol. Maximum cholesterol is usually listed as 300 mg/day. I recommend you cut that in half.

An exception to this rule is sea food products. Salmon and shrimp as well as other sea foods will show considerable cholesterol, but have been shown in studies to not raise your cholesterol level because of the omega-3 fatty acids that they contain.

3. Sodium content is next. Maximum daily allowance for sodium is about 2400 mg. So if a serving contains less than 100 mg sodium, it has a very low salt content. Try not to get the maximum sodium allowance. Sodium needed for cellular processes is much lower than that. Too much salt will aggravate blood pressure readings.

4. The next listing is total carbohydrates, broken down into fiber and sugars. Aim for high fiber and low sugar. Don't go too low on total carbohydrates.

5. Protein is listed next. It is really hard not to get enough protein if you are eating a healthy diet. But, contrary to popular diets, you can get too much, leading to kidney damage caused by the breakdown products of the protein. A maximum should be 50 grams a day for a woman over 50. Men and younger women could go higher.

6. The last list is vitamins, calcium, and iron. which vary by product. It is advisable to take a multivitamin pill each day. Find one that is age specific as needs change with age. Menopausal women have a decreased need for iron and a heightened need for calcium. Aim for 1500 mg of calcium each day.

Don't stop with reading the top part of the food labels. Look at the actual list of ingredients. Food companies are required to list everything in their products, but if they are not required to say how much is there, they probably won't do it. They must list, however, the items in order of amounts, i.e., the largest amount by volume of a product will be the first listed, the next largest amount by volume with be listed second, and so on.

Some items at the end of the list may be in very small amounts. Don't be fooled! A tiny amount of a poison doesn't mean you should ignore it. Some things to watch out for: partially hydrogenated oils, coconut oil, palm oil, high fructose corn syrup, nitrates, artificial flavors and colors.

If you read food labels for some of the most popular foods, you may find that they are Super Bad. And if you read a little more carefully you may find that they are worse that you first thought.