Food labels are a blessing because they tell us what is in the food we’re buying. It helps to know exactly what to look for, so here are some guidelines about carbohydrates.

You should pick foods that will have a minimal impact on your blood-sugar level. You can do that in a few ways.

• Minimize sugar
• Choose whole grains
• Eat smaller portions

It’s not always clear how much sugar there is in a product. You can tell by looking at the ingredients list and also by reading the “Nutrition Facts” part of the label.

In the ingredients list, the ingredients there are more of are listed ahead of ingredients there are less of. So if sugar (fructose, cane juice and rice syrup are just a few alternate names for sugar!) is listed high on the ingredient list, there is a lot in the product. If it is toward the end of the list, there is a small amount.

On the “Nutrition Facts” label, you want to compare the amount of sugar to the amount of complex carbohydrates (these are ones that enter your blood stream more slowly). Since complex carbohydrates aren’t listed, you’ll need to calculate them by subtracting the amount of sugar and fiber from the amount of total carbohydrates. See the table below for a visual explanation. The goal is to have at least twice as much quality carbohydrate (the complex carbohydrates) as there is sugar.