If you’re a dieter, you probably love rules too (i.e. you might subscribe to not eating after 8pm, avoiding ‘nightshade’ veggies, keeping carbs to Sunday-only), and we’ve got one rarely-discussed rule that nutritionists tend to agree is helpful
The 5/20 rule is designed to help dieters understand which nutrients a food has a lot of, and which nutrients they’re low in.
If a nutrient meets the 20% threshold or more of your daily value (DV), that’s a lot. If a nutrient has a DV of 5% or less, comparatively, that’s low.
The 5/20 guidelines can be applied to whatever your nutrient goals are. Looking to boost protein intake, but minimize sugar intake? Eat something that provides 20% of our DV of protein, and under 5% of your DV of sugar to get you on the right track.
“It’s important to pay attention to the numbers on the label that speak to you to help you meet your needs,” Bonnie Taub-Dix, a registered dietitian in New York City and author of “Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table,” said in an interview with Insider.
And while the 5/20 guideline is useful, Taub-Dix notes that it’s important to keep in mind that there’s no one, silver bullet food that’ll give you everything you need. Plus, other aspects of labeling are important to consider, or in some cases, important to ignore.
Related: Personalized Diets are the Future of Nutrition
“Many of us … are attracted to the magnetic terms used on the front of the label, like ‘free-from,’ ‘natural,’ and ‘net carbs,'” Taub-Dix said.
But since those terms aren’t universal, however, it’s best to focus on the back of the package and apply those 5/20 label-reading comprehension skills.
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