To lose weight

Focus on...Calories
Look for low counts and large servings

It's the golden rule: Take in 500 fewer calories each day, and you drop 1 pound per week. So looking for low-cal meals and snacks makes sense. But when you're standing in the supermarket reading the back of a snack-size box of raisins, for example, how do you know if 130 calories is too high or low? The key is to compare similar types of food and pay attention to serving sizes. You get 1.5 ounces of raisins for those 130 calories, but a pineapple snack bowl offers 4 ounces of fruit for only 54 calories. Considering the servings per container helps keep you on track, too: Most soup brands contain two servings per can, so double the calorie count if you normally eat an entire can in one sitting. The same goes for beverages: A 20-ounce soda bottle contains 2 1/2 servings; at 100 calories per serving, you consume 250 if you drink the whole thing.
Daily goal: About 1,350 calories per day if you are average height and not very active; up to 1,800 if you are tall or if you exercise three or more times per week

Glance at...Fiber
Look for 3 to 5 g per serving

High-fiber foods help you stay slim because they fill you up with fewer calories and slow down digestion so you feel fuller, longer. An analysis of research published in Nutrition Reviews showed that people who added 14 g of fiber to their diet more than 2 days a week lost about 1 pound a month.
Daily goal: At least 25 g

To strengthen bones

Focus on...Calcium
Look for 20 to 30% Daily Value (200 to 300 mg) per serving

Adding calcium-rich foods to your diet is better than simply relying on supplements, says Robert P. Heaney, MD, a professor of medicine at Creighton University Medical Center. The interaction of nutrients, such as protein and magnesium, helps your body use the calcium better. And postmenopausal women who get most of their calcium from foods have higher bone density than those who just pop calcium pills, says a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 
Daily goal: 1,000 mg for age 50 and younger; 1,200 mg for age 51 and older

Glance at...Vitamin D
Look for at least 10% Daily Value per serving. (That equals 40 inter­national units, or IU.)

Typically, only foods that are fortified with vitamin D--such as milk, some ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, and orange juice--have it listed on the food label. (Natural sources include wild-caught salmon, sardines, and whole eggs.) This vitamin helps transport calcium from the digestive tract into your blood. Without D, your body may only absorb up to 10% of dietary calcium.
Daily goal: 400 to 800 IU for age 49 and younger; 800 to 1,000 IU for age 50 and older

Originally published on December 1, 2007