Calories in Mama Lucia Meatballs fully cooked italian style

WeightWatchers Points are estimated by carbohydrates, fats, protein and fiber in product. They are not an affirmation of better quality or nutritional value of the product or its manufacturer. Only way to count for dieters. Less points are better.
Read more at Weight watchers diet review

Bad! More 25% of daily saturated fat!

For years Saturated fat was claimed to raise cholesterol levels and give us heart attacks. Today different studies refute this claim. They say, that replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates or refined starch or sugar is not changing the heart disease risk. Not processed carbs nor saturated fats are good for you. Only if you replace it with polyunsaturated fat, you'll get a reduction in heart disease risk. So try to have a balanced diet.

Today cholesterol is no longer a villain. The 2010's USDA guidelines told us to limit cholesterol from foods
Now experts say cholesterol is "not a nutrient of concern" because cholesterol from foods doesn't cause higher blood cholesterol levels.
Nevertheless try to consume no more than 300 milligrams daily.

This product contains more than 15% of your daily cholesterol intake.

If you still are on a low cholesterol diet, please keep in mind:

• nutritionists are not recommending you go out and binge on cheeseburgers and fries.
• 10% of your daily allowance can quickly become 50% when a hamburger turns into double cheeseburger.

Want to lower the cholesterol intake? Here are some advices:

• Try to limit your cheese, dairy and meat intake to one item per meal.
• Avoid meals with multiple sources of cholesterol (chicken with cheese, junk food)
• Try to indclude in your diet low- or nonfat dairy, seafood, legumes and nuts.
• Choose water instead of milk for your coffee.

The average American consumes 5,000 mg of sodium daily — twice the recommended amount amount of 2400mg for healthy adults, this is 1 teaspoon of salt.
For medical reasons many people should not exceed 1500mg of sodium.
Surprisingly, you're responsible for only 15% of the sodium in your diet the bigger part - 75% of the sodium that you consume each day comes from processed foods, not home cooking or the salt shaker.
Excess sodium intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, hypernatremia, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other heart problems.
Are these reasons enough to cut the sodium intake? No doubt!

Salt (NaCl) is not excactly sodium (Na).
It is not right to use these terms as synonyms.
The FDA recommended limit of sodium is 2,300 mg per day (or even less - about 1500 mg while one is on low sodium diets).
This is much less than the weight of salt.
(5,750 mg per day or 3,750 mg for low sodium diet) and not so convenient to calculate.
Know how much sodium is in your salt - without a calculator:
1/4 tsp salt = 600 mg sodium
1/2 tsp salt = 1200 mg sodium
3/4 tsp salt = 1800 mg sodium
1 tsp salt = 2300 mg sodium

Great! Contains less than 1.5 tsp of sugar per serving!

It is not really good to have a breakfast with so little amount of fiber!
Your morning meal should have more fiber or it won't have good effect on your health.
You should add some natural fiber to your cereal or switch to a better one, that has more than 4g of fiber per serving.
Some suggestions to make this product better:

• add some fresh fruits or eat them as a dessert
• add some seeds or nuts
• add any high fiber cereal (for example Granola or bran)

There is not much fiber in here and that's not good!
Your breakfast should have more fiber and this cereal alone won't do the trick.
Either switch to a healthier cereal (with at least 4 grams of naturally occurring fiber)
or add some healthy natural fiber to your cereal or breakfast.

TIPS on adding fiber to cereal:

• Mix in some high fiber cereal, like wheat bran
• Add 2 Tbsp of ground flax seeds
• Eat fresh fruit or berries

Veggies such as broccoli, bok choy, spinach, parsley and most leafy greens are naturally high in iron.
However, compared to other high-iron foods, like red meat, fish and poultry, the iron in plant foods is not absorbed as easily by the body. What can you do to increase the absorption of iron from these plant foods?

• Vitamin C increases the absorption - so try having a fresh tomato, lemon juice, or an orange together with your high iron food
• Avoid drinking too much coffee - caffeine can decrease the absorption of iron
• In addition to caffeine, the tannins found in tea can also reduce iron absorption
• If you are a vegetarian, try having iron-fortified breakfast cereals, legumes, and eggs

Consumption of food containing trans-fat has unequivocally been shown to increase the risk of heart disease by raising levels of LDL (bad cholesterol), and lowering levels of HDL (good cholesterol). Why do the nutrition labels on some products say that there are no trans fats, while Fooducate insists there are? Unfortunately there is an FDA loop hole here. If the amount of trans-fat in a product is less than half a gram per serving, manufacturers can round it down to 0. But even 0.49 grams of trans-fat is bad for you. And don't even get us started on the actual consumption versus the tiny serving size. So how do you know if a product does have trans fat in it? Look for "partially hydrogenated" oils and fats in the ingredient list. Sources: ----------- Mensink RPM, Katan MB. Effect of dietary trans fatty acids on high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in healthy subjects. N Engl J Med 1990;323:439-45. Zock PL, Katan MB. Hydrogenation alternatives: effects of trans fatty acids and stearic acid versus linoleic acid on serum lipids and lipoproteins in humans. J Lipid Res l992;33:399-4l0. Judd JT, Clevidence BA, Muesing RA, Wittes J, Sunkin ME, Podczasy JJ. Dietary trans fatty acids: effects of plasma lipids and lipoproteins of healthy men and women. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59:861-8. Lichtenstein AH, Ausman LM, Jalbert SM, Schaefer EJ. Effects of different forms of dietary hydrogenated fats on serum lipoprotein cholesterol levels. N Engl J Med 1999;340:1933–1940 Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rimm E, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, et al. Dietary fat intake and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:1491–9. Mozaffarian D, Katan MB, Ascherio A, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. Trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:1601–1613.

This product contains naturally occurring trans-fats, and it might not be that bad for you!! We all know, or should know, that food companies artificially create trans-fat by shooting hydrogen molecules into liquid vegetable oil and that trans fat is bad for your health, but some products contain naturally occurring trans fats that might not be so bad for you. How can this be? Naturally occurring trans-fats are produced in the gut of ruminants or animals that chew their cud (think cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo and deer). Meat from these animals or anything derived from these animals (milk and butter) may have naturally occurring trans-fats in the form of Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and trans-vaccenic acid (VA). These trans-fats are chemically different from the industrial created trans fats and thus are not as harmful. In fact, CLA and VA may even help to prevent heart attacks, increase your HDL cholesterol (the good kind), and reduce the risk of cancer! Fats from grass fed dairy and meat are the best sources of CLA and VA. There has even been research done that shows that 100% grass-fed animal products contain from three to five times more CLA than products from animals fed grain. Sources: ----------- Conjugated linoleic acid is an activator and ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) Belury, Martha A et al.Nutrition Research , Volume 22 , Issue 7 , 817 - 824 Corl, Benjamin A., et al. "cis-9, trans-11 CLA derived endogenously from trans-11 18: 1 reduces cancer risk in rats." The Journal of nutrition 133.9 (2003): 2893-2900. Dhiman, T. R., et al. "Conjugated linoleic acid content of milk from cows fed different diets." Journal of Dairy Science 82.10 (1999): 2146-2156. Judd, Joseph T., et al. "Dietary trans fatty acids: effects on plasma lipids and lipoproteins of healthy men and women." The American journal of clinical nutrition 59.4 (1994): 861-868.

Torula is a species of yeast, also known as candida utilis. It has become a popular food additive in recent years, but not without some controversy. Torula yeast has been used as an additive in pet food for years. Recently, it has found its way into savory dishes for us humans. It all started with a backlash against monosodium glutamate (MSG). People looking for natural and healthy foods avoided products containing MSG. Manufacturers, looking for a replacement additive that would provide the umami flavor of MSG, without the allergic reactions some people get. For most people, Torula yeast is perfectly safe. Unfortunately for some, replacing MSG with torula yeast does not make the allergic reaction go away. The only way to really know is to eat a food with Torula yeast and see if it affects you or not.

* FoodPoints are calculated by Fooducate based on fats, carbs, fiber, and protein. They are not an endorsement or approval of the product or its manufacturer. The fewer points - the better.

This product is highly processed. If you'll take a look at its ingredient list, you'll discover new words to add to your vocabulary. Many of theses ingredients are required to increase the shelf life of the product and improve the flavor that disappears when food is not fresh.

This product is in the bottom 10% of the products in its category

Corn syrup is often used as a sweetener in processed food. It is NOT THE SAME as high fructose corn syrup. Don't be fooled when looking up the amount of sugar a product contains if corn syrup is listed as an ingredient. This is because corn syrup contains 50% sugar, and 50% of another form of carbohydrate known as ""oligosaccharides"", which is pretty close to sugar. If a product has less sugar than you think it should, but contains corn syrup in the ingredient list, you'll know that the missing carbs are those oligosaccharides, not much better.

Companies add flavorings to make products taste better. They are created in a lab and the formulations are guarded as trade secrets. Flavorings can compensate for flavor loss during processing, substitute for ingredients, lower production costs and increase shelf stability. Natural flavorings are more expensive to source than artificial flavors, but tend to be better received by consumers. People sensitive to MSG, vegans, vegetarians and those with allergies should pay special attention to the phrase "natural flavorings" since glutamates, animal products or allergens may be the source of natural flavors. You can always contact the manufacturer for more information.

Calcium propionate (or calcium propaonate) is a preservative that inhibits mold and bacterial growth. Considered safe, but in the early 1990's it was linked to attention deficit disorder in children.