Meal Menu Approximate Amount Eaten Myself 16 Year Old Active Male Teen 3 Year Old Female Child ¼ cup 1 slice 70 Year Old Female Breakfast Special K Cereal(red berries) 1 cup 1 Banana (slices) ¼ cup ¾ cup Almond Milk 1 cup 1 ¼ cup 100% Whole wheat bread with raisins -- 1 slice Lunch Mac n Cheese ¾ cup 1 ¼ cup Grilled Chicken Breast 3 oz. 3 ½ oz. 1/2 oz. Vegetable Stir-fry (broccoli, green ¾ cup ¾ cup -- beans, carrots stir-fried in vegetable oil, no soy sauce) Carrots (seasoned with salt -- -- ¼ cup -- cooked in vegetable oil) Dinner Brown Rice 1 1 -- Tilapia Fillet, baked 1 fillet 1 fillet 1½ Oz. Roasted potatoes ¾ cup ¼ cup Broccoli (stir-fried in oil no sauce) -- Tomato Chutney (tomato and ¼ cup ¼ cup ¼ cup onion cooked in vegetable oil) Daal- lentils boiled, seasoned with ¼ cup ¼ cup ¼ cup salt. o Squash added, slices ¾ cup Snacks Apple, sliced 1 ¼ cup 1 3/4 cup String-Cheese, low fat 1 stick 1 stick 1 stick Milk, fat free 1 cup 1 cup 1(4 oz.) Snack Pack Chocolate Pudding, Fat 1(4 oz.) 1 (4 oz.) cup free cup cup -- Whole wheat crackers 5 crackers 2 crackers -- -- Almonds 8 almonds 8 almonds -- Approximate Calorie Intake: 1912 2606 1033 1607 Recommended Daily Calorie Limit: 1800 2800 1000 1600 ¼ cup ¾ cup 1 slice ¾ cup 2 ½ oz. ¾ cup ¾ cup 1 fillet ¼ cup ¼ cup 1 ¼ cup 1 stick 1 cup --
Term Project Questions: What are the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans? Does your meal plan match the new guideline s recommendations? The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a set of recommendations for a healthy diet designed for different age groups of Americans to implement in order to stay healthy and prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and more. The guidelines for 2010 encourage balancing calories with physical activity to manage weight, increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, fat free or low fat dairy products, seafood and whole-grains. In addition, it recommends that people reduce consumption of food with sodium, added sugars, saturated fats, transfats, cholesterol and refined grains. Based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, my recommendations were an 1800 daily calorie limit along with the general 2300 mg of sodium limit, 300 mg dietary cholesterol limit, and 10% or less calories from saturated fat limitation for all Americans. Additionally, based on my age group, the macronutrient percentages for carbohydrates, protein and fat were 45-65%, 10-35%, and 20-35% respectively. The individual meal plan I have designed matched an acceptable range for most of these recommendations. Was it hard for you to meet the acceptable macronutrient ranges guidelines? Carbohydrate, protein, and fat are the macronutrients that are most prevalent in the diet that provide energy. The American diet is mostly composed of high amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and in many cases very high in fat. I ve designed my meal plan in order to meet the acceptable macronutrient ranges based on the guidelines. While it was not hard to meet the 1
ranges, it was difficult to stay within the range--in which case I had to rely on portion control in order for the meal plan to supply the right amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat yet still not exceed the healthy acceptable range for each macronutrient. Did each meal fall within the suggested guideline for saturated fat? The meal plan I ve designed did not exceed the suggested guidelines for saturated fat. Each individual s meal plan stayed below the saturated fat limit of %. Most of the meals on the meal plan which had oils or fat incorporated healthy fats such as vegetable oil which is low in saturated fat. Moreover, a greater percentage of the total fat in the meal plan composed of mono and polyunsaturated fats instead of solid fats. What is the suggested fiber intake? Did you meet each person s need? What changes would you make to meet fiber needs? One of the major concerns of the American diet is that the recommended fiber intakes are not met. Fiber promotes the feeling of fullness which can help to control overconsumption. Fiber can also be responsible for preventing cardiovascular diseases. Sources include beans, lentils, peas, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts. AI for fiber is 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men. For children and elderly, according to specific recommendations, it s slightly lower than 25. My individual suggested fiber intake was 25g/d, while for the active 16-year old male it was 38g/d; 19g/d for the 3 year old female; 21 g/d for the 70 year old female. I was not able to meet everyone s fiber intake recommendations to the exact range using my meal plan. My meal plan was able to meet and slightly exceed the needs of the 25g/d recommendation for myself and 21g/d recommendation when modified for the 70-year old female. However, the meal plan fell short of 1 gram of fiber for the 38g/d recommended for the active 16 year old male and 4 grams from the 19g/d recommended for the 3 year old child. 2
My main sources of fiber came from brown rice, lentils, and apple slices included on the meal plan. Since I didn t include the brown rice for the child s meal because I don t think that form of carbohydrate is appropriate for a toddler, it took away some of the fiber from her diet. Also, the amount of fiber on the meal plan couldn t be modified to exactly meet the needs of the year old male s fiber requirement without exceeding the percentage of calories for the macronutrients. In order to meet the needs for fiber, I would try to incorporate nutrient dense foods containing fiber or make more selective choices for fiber that would be efficient for example choosing a whole wheat bun or pasta which would be more appropriate for a child to consume and is perhaps more desirable than brown rice or I would incorporate more fruits which also have fiber. Discuss the requirements to include 4 s servings of fruits and vegetables. Was this hard? Is this a realistic requirement for the US population? Fruits and vegetables supply a wide range of vitamins and minerals for the diet and are also known to reduce cardiovascular disease and other diseases and additionally when it s consumed instead of high caloric foods, it can help to maintain weight. In terms of the 4 servings of fruits and vegetables requirement for the average American, I feel that the fruits requirement can be more easily met by consuming whole fruits such as apples, oranges and bananas. It can also be met by incorporating fruits into the breakfast meals such as topping cereals or oatmeal with berries or bananas as I ve done with my meal plan. Fruits can provide a feeling of satiety and is great to consume as a start for the day in the breakfast meal and as snacks during the day to prevent feeling hungry often. The vegetable requirement is slightly harder to meet considering taste preferences and how it should be incorporated into the meal since most American diet are big on carbs and protein such as meat. Vegetables are hard to emphasize. The best way to incorporate a variety of vegetables would be in stir-fry s but special attention should be given to avoid using a lot of 3
oil, salt and sauces that may contribute to sodium intake in the diet. For toddler s it may be unlikely that they would enjoy a variety of different vegetable so it s best to stick with a certain kind for a single meal such as incorporating carrots, cauliflower, broccoli or green beans. This is reflected on my meal plan. The requirement for 4 servings for fruits and vegetables is realistic despite the fact that many American s don t meet the amounts recommended for them. High protein and carbohydrate diets are very much favorable and often the vegetable and fruits food groups are more likely to be ignored. However, I do believe if people make the effort to eat healthier by incorporating these foods into the diet then it would serve as a great benefit to them. More importantly, the vegetable and fruits food group s recommendation are stated at a minimal level meaning that there is no upper limit to the amount a person can consume and therefore no adverse effects. Only benefits of healthy consumption would be promoted Did you meet everyone s calcium needs or fall below recommendations? Explain. Calcium is important in the diet to promote bone health and prevent Osteoporosis. Calcium is found in milk and many milk products as well as other foods that maybe fortified with calcium such as orange juice. Intake of calcium is very low for American adults than that recommended for them. The designed meal plans do meet everyone s requirement for calcium. I achieved this by incorporating dairy products such as fat free milk, low fat cheese and other fat free or low fat dairy items as snacks to be consumed throughout the day. Dairy products are neglected most of the time and are often not included in meals for Americans. Therefore, the best way to incorporate them is as snacks to be consumed throughout the day. 4
Did you exceed the recommendation for sodium intake? What food items do you think contributed to the sodium? Would you change anything? Do you think the Dietary Guideline s recommendation for sodium is reasonable? Sodium is needed in small amounts in the diet as it is related to blood pressure. High amounts of sodium in the diet can increase blood pressure which leads to hypertension and heart disease. Salt is the major contributor of sodium in the diet and most evidently come from processed foods. American s are known to have very high sodium levels in their diet that are often more than double the amounts recommended for them. The Upper Tolerable Intake Level (UL) for adolescents and adults is set at 2300mg for sodium. For younger children and elderly it is much lower as the caloric requirements are lower. Unfortunately, my meal plan doesn t yield a healthy sodium level intake for all the individuals it was modified for. It is more than double the amount of sodium recommended for the individuals. It was especially a concern that I couldn t stay within the sodium limit for the year old considering that her weight and height put her at risk for cardiovascular disease for which sodium can contribute to. The foods that I included in my meal plan such as the macaroni and cheese is considered a processed food so it contributes a majority of the sodium. I would change the menu by replacing this item with another food with lower sodium or indicate that they are prepared without salt or low amounts of salt and is homemade. Considering that the UL for sodium was established and that consuming levels of sodium above this limit can become harmful to the individuals health, the recommendation is relatively reasonable. However, it is not easy to stay within that limit because foods rely on salt to supply taste. Omitting salt doesn t yield the same taste. Avoiding processed foods can be one way of reducing sodium but the rest of the foods consumed may still have high sodium levels above the acceptable limit. Would it be difficult for you to follow the Dietary Guidelines with your usual food consumption? 5
It would be difficult to follow the Dietary Guidelines with my usual food consumption that reflects high consumption of refined grains (white rice), more emphasis on meats rather than vegetables, very low in dairy products and consumption of fruits. Even if I have a diet based on cultural preferences, it still reflects the high carb and protein diet of Americans. However, my usual food consumption consists mainly of homemade food so I consume very little amounts of processed food and can control things like the amount of oil I use or how much salt I put in to the foods I prepare. If I were to adequately transform my diet to follow the Dietary Guidelines, I would have to carefully plan out meals in order to compensate for the foods that my diet is lacking as I have done with this meal plan. After completing this assignment, would you consider making any changes in the foods you included in the meal plan? What would you change why? While I was successful in creating a meal plan that met the caloric and macronutrient needs for each individual, I realized that I was very unsuccessful in staying within the limit for sodium. My error was mainly due to the fact that I included a processed food product into the meal. My initial thought with that was that if there was portion control, it shouldn t have any negative effects on any nutrients. However after looking at the nutrient reports, I realized that it was one of the main contributors for the sodium on my meal plan. Although, there were other foods that also had a high percentage of sodium considering that I could not specify on the program(myplate) that the product may be prepared with lower amounts of salt or without salt which could ve reflected lower levels of sodium. It s very important to control sodium intake since it can lead to heart disease or other chronic diseases which are one of the greatest contributors to deaths in America. 6
COMPARISONS TO MYPLATE: Mona s Caloric and Food Group Intake:
COMPARISONS TO MYPLATE: 16 year old Male s Caloric and Food Group Intake:
COMPARISONS TO MYPLATE: 3 year old female s Caloric and Food Group Intake:
COMPARISONS TO MYPLATE: 70 Year Old Female s Caloric and Food Group Intake: