When it comes to telling apart your carbs and fats on the nutrition label at the grocery store, it can be very challenging. Fear not, though – because we’re going to highlight a very simple rule which will help you always make a smarter choice.

Slow Digesting Carbs vs. Fast Digesting Carbs

Food that has a slow digesting carbohydrate should name one of these following ingredients first on their list: whole-grain, whole-wheat, stone ground, whole (any grain), brown rice, oatmeal, wheat berries

If you don’t see any of these terms, that means that the nutritional value of the packaged good you are examining is most likely not a slow digesting carbohydrate. To make things even easier for you, the Whole Grains Council created a special whole-grain stamp that appears on products that have at least half of a serving of whole grains. Sixteen (16) grams is considered a full serving. Products with one full serving of whole-grain will include a special 100% whole-grain banner on the packaging label.

Fats: Saturated, Trans, Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated

When it comes to determining what type of fats are in a product, it does get a little bit harder; however, it is definitely not impossible. In fact, if you read a label that has 20 g of fat and only 5 g are saturated fats and 0 g trans fats, that automatically means that the rest are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. So although you don’t have an official stamp or banner the same way that you do for carbs, by doing some simple mathematics you will be able to identify good fats from bad fats.