Lecture |
Study Guide | Major Assignment
Lecture - Week 2
Tools of A Healthy Diet - Chapter 2
(Yes, this is actually our Week 3 according
to the syllabus.)
In a Nut Shell:
 | Variety, balance, and moderation
are three watchwords of diet planning. |
| Nutrient density is a useful concept. It
reflects the nutrient content of a food in relation to its
energy (kcal) content. Nutrient-dense foods are relatively
rich in nutrients, in comparison with energy (kcal)
content. |
| A person's nutritional state can be
categorized as desirable nutrition, in which the
body has adequate stores for times of increased needs; under-nutrition,
which may be present with or without clinical symptoms;
and over-nutrition, which can lead to vitamin and
mineral toxicities and various chronic diseases. |
| Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are
set for many nutrients. these amounts yield enough of each
nutrient to meet the needs of healthy individuals within
specific gender and age categories. Adequate Intake 9AI)
is the standard used when not enough information is
available to set a revised RDA. Tolerable Upper Intake
Levels (Upper levels or ULs) for nutrient intake have been
set for some vitamins and minerals. All of the many
dietary standards fall under the term Dietary Reference
Intakes (DRIs). |
| My Pyramid is designed to translate
nutrient recommendations into a food plan that exhibits
variety, balance, and moderation. The best results are
obtained by using low-fat or nonfat daily products;
including some vegetable proteins in addition to
animal-protein foods; including citrus fruits and dark
green vegetables; and emphasizing whole grain breads and
cereals. |
| Dietary Guidelines have been issued to
help reduce chronic diseases in our population. The
guidelines emphasize eating a variety of foods; performing
regular physical activity; maintaining or improving
weight; moderating consumption of fats, cholesterol,
sugar, salt, and alcohol; eating plenty of grain products,
fruits, and vegetables; and safely preparing and storing
foods, especially perishable foods. |
| Food labels are a powerful tool to track
your nutrient intake and learn more about the nutritional
characteristics of the foods you eat. Any health claims
listed must follow criteria set by FDA. |
|
This chapter introduces various tools that are
used to determine how a person is doing nutritionally. No one
tool will tell you everything you need to know about your
nutritional status. Using several tools gives a better idea of
where you stand nutritionally.
Basic diet planning
principles include choosing an balanced diet that
provides enough energy and nutrients to meet the needs of healthy
people. The diet should provide enough but
not too much of each type of food. Overeating should be
avoided. Foods should deliver the most nutrients for
the least amount of food energy/kcals. Nutrient density
refers to getting more nutrients compared with the Calories
consumed. Variety
and moderation contribute to all of these factors.
Tools used to determine a person's nutritional
status include:
1) B, C, M, and V of nutritional status:
"B" refers to Balance. This means that
you're eating different types of foods so that you're getting all
the nutrients your body needs.
"C" refers to Calorie controlled. This
means you're able to maintain a desirable weight with the number of
kcals you're consuming. You're not taking in so many kcals
that you're gaining weight, or taking in so few that you're losing
weight.
"M" refers to moderation. This means you're
not eating substances in excess. In the USA we
have a tendency to over-consume things like sugar, sodium, alcohol,
fat, etc.
"V" refers to variety. This means eating
a great selection of foods within and among the major food groups.
2) The Dietary Guidelines for Americans:
(see pages 51-56)
Briefly, the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans state the following:
| get the nutrients you need, but keep calories
under control |
| eat fewer calories while increasing physical
activity to control body weight |
| regular physical activity/physical fitness is
important for one's health, sense of well-being, and a healthy
body weight |
| increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and
fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products |
| decrease saturated fat, trans fats, and
dietary cholesterol |
| increase dietary fiber |
| decrease added sugars |
| eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium/day (1 tsp) |
| eat potassium-rich fruits and vegetables |
| if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so
sensibly and in moderation |
| prevent food-borne illness
3) The Dietary Goals specify percentages within which
our nutrient intake should fall over a given period of time. The
following reflects these Dietary Goals:
Less than or equal to 20-35% kcalories from fat.
10-35% kcalories from protein.
45-65% kcalories from carbohydrates.
If a person consumes 30% of kcals from protein and 30% kcals from
fat, then their CHO intake will be ~ 40%.
If a person consumes 60% of kcals from CHO and 20% of kcals from
fat, then their protein intake will be ~ 20%.
4) The USDA My Pyramid is another tool that's
used to assess how we're doing nutritionally.
To access the
interactive online Pyramid go to: mypyramid.gov
The Pyramid is not perfect and is controversial among many; but
it is a quick way to see which food groups are missing from your
diet.
Grains:
1 ounce equivalent is about 1 slice bread, 1 cup dry cereal, or
1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta or cereal.
Vegetables:
These are measured in cups.
Fruits:
These are measured in cups.
Milk:
This is measured in cups.
1 1/2 ounces cheese = 1 cup milk
Meats & Beans:
1 ounce equivalent = 1 ounce meat, poultry, or fish
1 egg
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 ounce nuts
or 1/4 cup cooked dry beans
(The following suggested Practice Activity/questions are for your
benefit.
You will not turn them in to me.) |
Practice 1: Go to mypyramid.gov
Follow the instructions given at the site. Allow yourself time to
tour the site. There's a
wealth of information provided there.
Dietary Reference Intakes
The back of your textbook displays the
2005 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) along with some AI,
and UL.
Originally, the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) were designed
to prevent deficiency diseases such as scurvy, rickets, beriberi,
etc. Currently, the American public rarely dies from deficiency
diseases.
Our problem today, is eating too much; so the DRI were designed to
help prevent the American public from dying from chronic diseases,
e.g. heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure,
obesity, etc.
DRI is a set of values for the dietary nutrient intake of
healthy people in the USA. These values are used for planning and
assessing diets.
These are not requirements, but recommendations.
The DRI is one of several tools used to assess how we're doing
nutritionally.
The DRI is a standard against which we can compare our dietary
intake to see if we're getting too much or too little of a
particular nutrient.
What are the DRI?
Who developed the DRI?
To whom do they apply?
How are they used?
Identify the four categories of DRI and indicate how they are
related. |
6) A nutrition assessment that includes the following
can also be used to determine how a person is doing nutritionally:
Anthropometric measures - a persons measurements such as
height, weight, hip/waist ratio are compared to standards.
Biochemical measures - blood and/or urine samples are tested
for blood glucose, iron content, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.,
and compared to standards.
Clinical exam - a health care provider examines the body for
clues to nutritional deficiencies, i.e., hair, eyes, cracks at the
corners of the mouth, skin, etc.
Dietary analysis - a food record is kept, the foods are
analyzed for their nutrients content, this is then compared to
standards.
As you can see, there are many ways to determine how you're doing
nutritionally. No one way will give you all the answers; but
using different techniques will help you get a fairly good idea of
how you're doing.
Using a variety of diet
planning tools allows you to plan nutrient-dense, well-balanced
diets that provide variety and moderation. Using these tools
would also help to avoid overeating.
This semester, you will complete a three-day diet analysis on
yourself and determine how you're doing
nutritionally. Information about this 3-Day Diet Analysis
will be forth coming in the weeks that follow.
Food Labels
On page 44 in your text, there's a representation of a food product
and a Nutrition Facts label. Get a Nutrition Facts label from
a packaged food product in your kitchen. Use the two for
comparison purposes.
As you can see, the Nutrition Facts label provides a lot of
information. The serving size is specified; the number of
servings per container is given; Calories, Total Fat, etc. per
serving is listed.
To the right of the label are % Daily Values. These are the
percentages of those nutrients provided in one serving. The % Daily
Value is based on a 2000 kcal intake.
At the bottom of the label, the Daily Values for nutrients for 2000
and 2500 kcal diets are listed. The nutrients listed - total
fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total CHO, and fiber - are
those that we either get too much or too little of; these are the
nutrients implicated in the onset of chronic diseases.
The % DV is always based on a 2000 kcal diet. The food label
in your book lists 10% DV for sodium when 3/4 cup of this cereal is
eaten. If you go to the bottom of the label, it states that a
person should get less than 2400 mg of sodium per day on a 2000 kcal
diet.
When you multiply 2400 mg. X 10% = 240 mg sodium.
The label states a person gets 250 mg. sodium when they eat 3/4 cup
of this cereal. Food manufacturers can legally round up or
down by ± 10%.
The % DV for dietary fiber is 6% when you eat 3/4 cup of this
cereal. When you multiply 25 g. X 6% = 1.5 g
fiber. If you go to the bottom of the label, it states that a person
should get at least 25 g of fiber on a 2000 kcal diet.
The 2500 kcal diet is listed too. This is there as a comparison for
someone who consumes more kcals. The important thing to
remember, the % DV are always based on the 2000 kcal diet.
Notice too that on the Nutrition Facts label the percentages of
Vitamin A, and C, and Calcium and Iron are listed. These are
the vitamins and minerals too many folks in the USA don't get enough
of.
On page 56, Table 2-9, you'll find
"Daily Values for Food Labels". Again, these are used to determine how much vitamin A and C and
Calcium and Iron are in one serving of this cereal.
When you eat 3/4 cup of this cereal, you get 25% of your DV for
vitamin A. Multiply 1500 ug X 25% = 375 ug; this
is the amount of vitamin A you get in 3/4 cup of this cereal.
Multiply 1000 mg X 2% = 20 mg ; this is the amount of calcium in
3/4 cup of this cereal.
Only nutrition students need to have their calculators in hand to
figure this stuff out. And then, only to practice arriving at
the numbers listed on the label.
Another important piece of information on the Nutrition Facts
label is the ingredients list. The ingredients are listed in
descending order of predominance by weight. The most abundant
ingredient is listed first; the least abundant ingredient is listed
last.
Nutrient claims and health claims on labels must meet specified
FDA criteria.
For more about Food Labels, search for "diet" and
"food labels" at the U.S. Government site: (If
you're asked to sign-in, just click OK; the site will pop-up.)
http://www.healthfinder.gov
Go to the FDAs (Food and Drug Administration) website and test
your food label knowledge:
Did you know food labels contain information about
common food allergens?
Go to the kitchen and check-out a product label to see what's
written about food allergens.
Nutrient Density:
A measure of the nutrients a food provides relative to its energy/kcals. The more nutrients and the fewer kcals, the higher the
nutrient density. Example: 1 medium baked potato vs. 1
serving French fries - the baked potato is more nutrient dense. Why?
It has more dietary fiber, vitamin C, etc., relative to the number
of kcals compared with French fries.
Shopping for nutrient dense foods
should become one of our priorities. Choose whole grain and enriched breads, cereals and other
grains. Fresh green and yellow-orange vegetables are important, as
are citrus and yellow-orange fruits. Choose legumes often.
Lean meats, fish and poultry with visible fat removed and prepared
using low fat cooking methods is preferred. Fortified low-fat
milk and milk products are recommended over imitation products.
There's a tremendous amount of information in this chapter and it's
all important because it sets the stage for what follows.
Back to Top
Becky Alejandre,
Professor -
Nutrition
|
Instructor's contact information
Email: alejanb@arc.losrios.edu
Phone: (916) 484-8145
FAX: (916) 484-8030
|
ARC Homepage
|
ARC Library |
Office Location:
Room #762
Health & Education
Division
(located between the tennis courts and the gym) |
Office Hours:
Mon. 8:00-10:00 a.m.
Tues. 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Wed. 10:30-11:30 a.m.
(online)
Thurs.10:30-11:30 a.m.
Fri. 7:00-8:00 a.m. (online)
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