Examine Your Carbohydrate Intake:
1. How many grams of carbohydrates do you consume in an average day?
140
2. How many calories does this represent?
560
3. It is estimated that you should have at least 100 grams, and ideally much more, of carbohydrate in a day. How does your intake compare with this minimum?
I take in over 100 grams of carbs a day which is over, but not significantly over
4. What percentage of your total calories is contributed by carbohydrate?
36%
5. How does this figure compare with the recommendation that 55 to 60 percent of calories in your diet should come from in carbohydrate?
Not so good, I get under the recommended value.
6. Another dietary goal is that no more than 10 percent of total calories should come from refined and other processed sugars and foods high in such sugars. To assess your intake against this standard, sort the carbohydrate-containing food items you listed into three groups:
Foods containing complex carbohydrate (foods found in the bread/starchy vegetable group)
Nutritious foods containing simple carbohydrate (foods in the milk and fruit groups)
Foods containing simple carbohydrate (sugar, honey, syrup, jam, jelly, candy, cakes, doughnuts, soft drinks, etc.)
Estimate and include such sources as the syrup of canned fruit, the sugars of flavored yogurt and other sugars added during processing.
Complex carbs
Popcorn chicken- 8g 32 cal
Pasta salad - 84g 336 cal
Asparagus- 2 g 8 cal
Pizza- 154g 616 cal
Banana peppers- 7g 28 cal
Honey roasted peanuts- 32 g 128 cal
Chicken patty- 12 g 48 cal
French fries- 32g 128 cal
Roast beef sandwich- 63g 252 cal
Potato chips-14 g 56 cal
Simple carbs
Salad- 10g 40 cal
Italian dressing- 2g 8 cal
7. How many grams of carbohydrate did you consume in each of these three categories? How many calories? What percentage of your total calories comes from concentrated sugars? From other simple carbohydrates? Does your concentrated sugar intake fall within the recommended maximum of 10 percent of total calories?
I consumed 400 grams and 1604 calories from complex carbs, and 12 grams 48 calories from simple carbs. .4% of my calories came from concentrated sugars. 2.4% came from other simple carbs. My concentrated sugar intake falls way below my recommended intake
8. Compare your fiber intake with the recommendation of 25 grams of dietary fiber per day. Did you consume more or less than was recommended?
I only got 14 grams of fiber as a posed to the 25 grams per day which is under.
Examine Your Fat Intake:
1. How many grams of fat do you consume on an average day?
77 grams
2. How many calories does this represent?
700 calories
3. What percentage of your total energy is contributed by fat?
45%
4. A recommendation says fat should contribute not more than 30 percent of total energy. How does your fat intake compare with this level? If it is higher, look over your food records: what specific foods could you cut down on or eliminate and what foods could you add to your diet to ring your total fat intake into line?
I take in more fat then I should. Fat contributes to more then 30 percent of my total energy. I can eat less pizza and add more lean meat or fish to my diet to get my levels to a normal daily value.
5. How much linoleic acid do you consume? (Assume that most of polyunsaturated fatty acids are linoleic acid.) Remembering that linoleic acid is a lipid, calculate the number of calories it gives you. What percentage of your total energy comes from linoleic acid? A guideline recommends 1 to 3 percent of total calories.
I consume 19 grams of linoleum acids that contribute to 11% of my energy.
6. Take a guess at the adequacy of your omega-3 fatty acids by answering the following questions. Do you eat leafy vegetables, fish and seafood, or walnuts? Do you use canola oil for home cooking and for salads? If you include just one of these categories of foods each day, you may receive enough omega-3 fatty acids. If you never eat these foods, you might want to find ways to include them.
I eat salads which have omega-3 fatty acids. I do not cook home meals that often but when I do cook I do use canola oil.
7. How much cholesterol do you consume daily? How does your cholesterol intake compare with the suggested limit of 300 milligrams a day?
I consume 147 mg of cholesterol daily which is under the limit.
Evaluate Your Protein Intake:
1. How many grams of protein do you consume on an average day?
I take in 80grams of protein on an average day.
2. How many calories does this represent?
This represents 320 calories.
3. What percentage of your total energy is contributed by protein?
20 % of my total energy
4. Protein should contribute about 10 to 15 percent of total energy. How does your protein intake compare with this recommendation? If your protein intake is out of line, what foods could you consume more of- or less of- to bring it into line?
Protein contributes a little more energy then the recommended average. I should add more vegetables and salads to my diet to help even out the percentage to an adequate number
5. Calculate your recommended intake for protein (0.8grams per kilogram of body weight).
My recommended intake of protein is 61.68g
6. Compare your average daily protein intake with your recommended intake. On the average, about what percentage of your recommended intake for protein are you consuming each day? If you are healthy, the recommendation is probably a generous recommendation for you, and yet you may be eating more than that amount. Research has suggested that people should eat no more than twice the recommended intake of protein. If you are eating more than this, you are spending protein prices for an energy-yielding nutrient and are displacing other important foods with too many protein-rich foods. What substitutions could you make in your day’s food choices so that you would derive from carbohydrate, rather than from protein, the energy you need?
I take in over my recommended intake for protein. I take in all of the recommended amount of protein per day. I should eat more pasta instead of all the chicken that I eat. This would add more carbs and take out some of the unnecessary protein I am getting
7. How many of your protein grams are from animals and how many are from plant foods? Assuming that the animal protein is all of high quality, no more than 20 percent of your total protein need come from this source. Should you alter the ration of plant to animal protein in your diet? If you did, what effect would this have on the total fat content of your diet?
126 grams of protein come from animals while 117 grams come from plant foods. No I should not alter it because its almost split evenly between the two.
Evaluate Your Vitamin Intakes:
1. Start with vitamin A. Compare your average intake with your recommended intake. What percentage of your recommended intake did you consume? Was this enough? What foods contribute the greatest amount of vitamin A to your diet? If you consume more than the recommendation, was this too much? Why or why not? In what ways would you change your diet to improve vitamin A intake?
Answer theses same questions for thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C and vitamin E.
Vitamin A is under I get 169 µg RAE when the recommended intake is 900 µg RAE.
Thiamin I get a normal amount. I get 1.4 mg when Imo supposed to get 1.2
Riboflavin I get barely under the recommended. I get 1.1 mg when the recommended is 1.3
Niacin I get over the recommended value. I get 29 mg when the recommended is 16mg
Vitamin b6 I get 1.5mg while the recommended is 1.3 mg. Which is barely over
Folate I get 530 µg DFE while the recommended is 400.
Vitamin c I get 52 mg which is under the recommended 90 mg
Vitamin e I get 8 mg which is under the recommended 15 mg.
A lot of my daily values of vitamins are under the recommendation. One way I can get them to at least the minimum would be to take some daily vitamin supplements.
2. For Vitamin D, answer the following questions. Do you drink fortified milk? Eat eggs? Fortified breakfast
cereal? Liver? Are you in the sun enough to promote vitamin D synthesis?
I got no vitamin d in my diet on the three days. I didnt drink any milk or eat any eggs.
3. For vitamin K, does your diet include 2 cups of milk or the equivalent in milk products every day? Does it include leafy vegetable frequently? Do you take antibiotics regularly (which inhibit the production of vitamin K by your intestinal bacteria)?
I do not drink milk often at all. The only times I do would be if I eat cereal. I do eat leafy vegetables but I am still under the recommended amount. I do not take any antibiotics.
Evaluate Your Mineral Intake:
1. Start with calcium. What percentage of your recommended intake did you consume? Was this enough? What foods contribute the greatest amount of calcium to your diet? If you consumed more than the recommendation, was this too much? Why or why not? In what ways would you change your diet to improve it in this respect?
I took in 424 mg of calcium which is way under the recommended intake of 1000mg of calcium. I need to find a way to incorporate milk into my diet to help with my calcium.
2. Now think in terms of sodium. The 6-gram salt limit is equivalent to a 2400 milligram sodium limit. Six grams of salt contains 2400 milligrams of sodium. Heighten your awareness of the sodium contents of processed foods. Which foods that you eat are high in sodium? Were any of the brands of processed foods you chose out of line with the recommended values? Is there another way you could enjoy these foods without too much sodium? Would you substitute a lower-sodium food or brand for the high-sodium varieties?
Some foods that were high in sodium that I ate include french fries, the pepperoni pizza, and the roast beef sandwich. These foods were made for me so the only way to change the amount of sodium would be to ask the chef to not put as much in it.
3. Calculate your intakes of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, and compare them with the recommended intakes. If you need to improve your diet with respect to these minerals, how will you go about doing so?
My magnesium intake was 212 mg while the recommended intake was 400mg.
My phosphorus intake was 1002 mg while the recommended intake was 700 mg
My potassium intake was 1777mg while the recommended was 4700mg.
Some good ways to get my phosphorus intake up would be to drink milk and eat fish such as salmon. Some ways I can get my magnesium intake up would be to find a way to incorporate spinach into my diet and eat some bran cereals in the morning.
4. Go on to iron. What percentage of your recommended intake did you consume? Was this enough? Which of the foods you eat supply the most iron? Rank your top five iron contributors. How many were meats? Legumes? Greens? Other? Are enriched or whole-grain products important to your iron intake?
I got 10 mg of iron into my diet when the recommended intake was 8 mg. Some foods that contributed to my iron intake significantly were the pepperoni pizza, roast beef sandwich, macaroni salad, honey roasted peanuts, and the spare ribs. Only 2 of them were meats.
5. Now turn to zinc. What percentage of the recommendation did you consume? What were your best food sources of zinc? What guidelines do you need to follow to be sure of obtaining enough zinc from the foods you eat?
I got 7 mg of zinc while the recommended intake was 11mg which is under the recommended intake.
My best food sources of zinc were the pepperoni pizza, honey roasted peanuts, roast beef sandwich, and spare ribs.
Evaluate Your Food Choices and Plan Improvements:
1. The previous self-studies have revealed the strengths and weaknesses of your nutrient intakes and energy balance. By now you may be looking at foods in a new light. Knowing what nutrients your diet tends to lack, you may be interested in finding foods that are especially rich in those nutrients. If you need to limit calories, you may need to find foods that supply those nutrients for the lowest possible calorie cost.
Review your food records and select three nutrients that your diet supplies in the smallest quantities relative to your need.
1. Fiber 2. Calories 3. Carbs
Now make a list of ten foods you like and would be willing to eat frequently that might supply these nutrients in significant quantities.
1. Whole-Wheat spaghetti 2. Bran flakes 3. Oatmeal 4. Brown rice 5. Popcorn 6. Bananas 7. Green peas 8. Broccoli 9. milk 10. Black beans
List the serving size of each food that you would eat and look up the amounts of nutrients 1, 2 and 3 and the calories that each would supply.
2 cups of Whole wheat spaghetti 1) 13g of fiber 2) 344 calories 3) 74 g of carbs
2 cups of bran flakes 1) 10g of fiber 2) 280 calories 3) 62g of carbs
3 packets of instant oatmeal 1) 8g of fiber 2) 303 calories 3) 58 g of carbs
2 cups of brown rice 1) 8g of fiber 2) 466 calories 3) 97g of carbs
1 bag of low fat popcorn 1) 11g of fiber 2) 314 calories 3) 53g of carbs
1 banana 1) 3g of fiber 2) 105 calories 3) 27g of carbs
2 cups Green Peas 1) 10g of fiber 2) 303 calories 3) 39g carbs
1 cup Broccoli 1) 5g of fiber 2) 55 calories 3) 11g carbs
1 cup of milk 1) 0g fiber 2) 149 calories 3)12g carbs (put this in here for the lack of calcium I get)
1 cup of black beans 1) 9g of fiber 2) 198 calories 3) 36 carbs
Express the amount of nutrient 1 as a percentage of your recommended intake and round it off to the nearest whole number.
37%
Now express the amount of calories the food would supply as a percentage of your recommended intake of energy and enter the result. (Example: Suppose your recommended intake of energy is 2000 calories. A peach supplies 37 calories. That’s about 2 percent of your energy need for the day.) This comparison serves as a basis for finding desirable foods that supply the nutrients you most need. The higher their nutrients and the lower their calories, the more of that food you can eat without running through your calorie allowance before you have met your nutrient needs.
2 cups of whole wheat spaghetti = 34% of my recommended intake
2 cups of bran flakes = 26% of my recommended intake
3 packets of instant oatmeal = 21% of my recommended intake
2 cups of brown rice = 21% of my recommended intake
1 bag of lowfat popcorn = 29% of my recommended intake
1 banana = 8% of my recommended intake
2 cups green peas = 26% of my recommended intake
1 cup of broccoli = 13% of my recommended intake
1 cup of milk = 0% of my recommended intake
1 cup of black beans = 24% of my recommended intake
2. Finally, you are prepared to make a judgment about supplements. Review your records once again. In light of the food choices you are now making, is there any nutrient in which your diet falls short of the intake recommendation? If so, describe the supplement you would need and set about obtaining it.
After all of this my diet might still be a little short on the α-Linolenic Acid but barely. I can go out and take buy a supplement for it, or I can just eat more kiwi in my diet. Kiwi seeds are rich in alpha-linolenic acid.