Assignment #22 and #23: Personal Challenge Vitamins and Minerals

Now, combine the last challenge (from post #20) and add in your required vitamins and minerals.  How are you meeting (or not meeting) these requirements?  Post below.


Can you meet all of your requirements AND meet the guidelines on the My Plate/My Food Pyramid?  Show your diet below--and if you need to, you can post a daily intake of what you would NEED to eat to meet these requirements.

Assignment #22 My plan for the semester is...

So, the cafeteria awaits you…now what?  A friend needs nutritional help--an athlete, a friend that is on some freakish starvation plan, whatever...

Your choices are as follows:

1.  Stay the same as always

2.  Make poorer food choices (you know, that entire bowl of ranch dressing…)

3.  Apply what you have learned.

MAKE A PLAN.  It doesn’t matter if the plan is for you or to help someone you know.  However, you’ll learn more if the plan can help you do something better!  Let’s face it: fat isn’t healthy, and twig skinny weakness isn’t either.  We need to change our way of thinking:  it’s the lean-to-fat ratio that matters.

How much weight do we lose in LEAN tissue when we diet without exercise?  REAL Research reports state around 45%.  HOLY COW!  Do we want to lose bone and muscle and other “good” tissues so that the number on the sale goes down?  As much as it seems like a no-brainer, I’ve recently discovered a family member (who was already sedentary and weak) that has lost more than 40 pounds.  How?  By eating ice chips.  I am NOT kidding.  How healthy or fit do you think this person is?  What would have happened to bone density? Muscle and other lean tissues? (person is around 45).

At some point, we all need to develop a healthy life plan.  If you don’t, well, you’ll look like most of those adults you see around you.  Or, you will get trapped in the horrifically scary, never-ending magazine and internet fad diets. 

How healthy are these options?  Maybe you have good role models (Dr. Hull comes to mind for me…) or, perhaps it’s difficult at home. 

For all of you, the cafeteria is a challenge.  Having a healthy plan includes developing your own plan and, if you wish, working with me to work with the cafeteria.  THEY DO CARE! Did you know there was an advisory board for the cafeteria?  Attending these meetings can really make a difference—but only if you get involved and assist the cafeteria.  The task of feeding you guys isn’t easy, and those of you shadowing there will figure that out quickly!

The assignment by email:

#1.  What will happen to my family member on the ice-chip diet when she returns to eating somewhat normal foods?  [hint…think about what happened to her lean-fat ratio and what will happen when calorie consumption goes up after that]

#2.  MAKE A PLAN.  The plan can be for you or someone you know (teammate, roommate, etc).  You need to provide a weekly plan and an overall monthly plan.  Of course, if at all possible, physical activity needs to be part of the picture. 

Send via email as this assignment may contain personal information.

Assignment #21: The Vitamins and Minerals

We aren’t going to have sufficient time to cover the vitamins and minerals in depth as I had hoped.  Regardless, the next assignment won’t be that difficult.  Each of you is assigned a group of Vitamins and Minerals. I’ll send you each group by email. The goal is to tell your fellow students the following:

A)     A general description—is it fat soluble?  Water soluble?  What is it chemically? 

B)     Why the vitamin or mineral is needed.  Do a good job here—tell us WHY it’s needed (not just “it helps eyesight”).  You will see that each vitamin and mineral does many, many jobs!

C)     What foods are excellent or good sources of the vitamin or mineral

From what your classmates provide, make a “master table” for use during the 3^rd exam.  Email me your “master table” for credit. 

Assignment #20--Second phase of personal challenges

Three days to go...and 3 days of personal challenges...one each day.


Today: Based on your personal goals...today's challenge is to meet your kcal goals IN COMBINATION WITH meeting the correct % of each of the energy nutrients.


You need to clearly show HOW you've met your requirements...and the % of your total kcals is made up from protein, lipid, and carbohydrate.

Tomorrow (I will add a separate posting section) you will add the vitamins and minerals.


Before the class ends...can you meet all of your requirements AND meet the guidelines on the My Plate/My Food Pyramid.

ONLY ONE DAY....CAN YOU DO IT????

Assignment #19—The Scouring Calf

As it turns out, in the middle of the metabolism section of this course, I find myself with a severely “scoured” calf on my hands.  The primary symptom of scours is diarrhea—lots and lots of it.  We are doing everything we can—electrolytes, meds, around-the-clock care—everything.  So far, we’ve stayed ahead of the dehydration battle, and we hope she will survive. 

Of course, in severe cases fluids given subcutaneously (under the skin—absorbed by tissues) or intravenously are needed.  There are two main types oral electrolyte choices in situations not requiring immediate fluids (regardless of species!).  For the oral route, and in providing sufficient nutrients, current recommendations have really changed!

In the past, it was recommended that all milk be removed from the diet until the scours resolved.  Now, that is not advised at all.  Currently, the two options of oral supplementation of fluids and elctrolytes are:

1.       Supplementation with solutions that contain glucose, electrolytes, and sodium bicarbonate.  This can’t be mixed with milk feedings; milk feedings must alternate with the electrolyte feedings because the bicarbonate interferes with milk digestion.  Typically ~2 hours between feedings is needed. 

2.      Supplementation with solutions that contain glucose, glycine, electrolytes and no sodium bicarbonate.  This can be mixed with milk and/or there is no “waiting period” between electrolyte and milk feedings.

We began with #1—alternating feedings, then, switched to #2 in hopes she could handle feedings that were similar a little better—i.e. we were mixing milk and a #2 type of supplement.

After consultation with our lovely vet, he wishes for us to return now to #1, as he is concerned that acidity will be a problem.

Your assignment—BY EMAIL—is to tell me:

1.       Why is he concerned (and correct!).  Why are acidic conditions likely to result in cases of scours or chronic diarrhea?  [hint:  think about today’s two screencasts!]

2.      How does the addition of sodium bicarbonate help alleviate the acidity?

3.      Specifically, how does sodium bicarbonate interfere with milk digestion?

Due 1/16/18 by midnight

Assignment #18—response to Protein supplementation ScreenCast

Complete the assignment I give you at the end of the "proteins supplements" Screen Cast and EMAIL me  the following:

What is the difference between whey protein powder  in:

-Specific amino acid content--ie how much of each AA is supplied

- total protein (grams)

-kcalories

Compare to

A.  Albumen (egg white)

B.  Any other food you choose

C. A different protein (muscle building) supplement

You need to show the specific AA content, total protein, and kcals for each of the 3.  You will do math similar to what I did on the ScreenCast

EMAIL your answer and we will post them later. 

Assignment #17:  Lipid Transport

For good reasons, lipid transport gets a great deal of attention—this is what involves the HDL and LDL that you’ve probably heard or read about.  These are  lipoproteins—lipid + protein = lipoprotein.

A student once told me to remember: HDL = happy and LDL = lousy to help remember which of the lipoproteins are indicated for better versus poorer health.  However, there are more lipid transport LIPOPROTEINS than just HDL and LDL.  The others are chylomicrons, and VLDL.  Each of these (HDL, LDL, VLDL, and chylomicrons) act differently in the body.

Each gets its name from the density of the compound.  The more triglyceride in substance = lower density.  The happy versus lousy thing?  That is determined by what happens to these lipid-transporting molecules in the body. 

Chylomicrons contain the greatest % of triglyceride, whereas HDL contains the least.  In order of triglyceride content (most to least):  chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL, and HDL.  The blood content of these lipoproteins has major health implications, and, here begins your assignment.

To help you understand the role of these lipoproteins, and to help you clarify the 3 types of studies I wanted to you to know (epidemiological, laboratory-based, human clinical trial), you need to find THREE real studies that have been performed to examine the effect of these lipoproteins.

You will find and describe to the group studies that examined any or several of the lipoproteins:

1.       An epidemiological study:  see the screen cast in which I clarified this for you!

2.      A laboratory-based study:  think rats, mice, test-tube, other in-the-lab type of studies

3.      Human/clinical trial:  this should be the ONLY one you describe that examines treatments/diets/exercise/whatever on individuals.  Don’t confuse #1 and #3!

Assignment due 1/24/18 by midnight

Assignment #16: Cis- and Trans- fatty Acids

We’ve heard so much about cis- and trans-fatty acids that it can make your head spin.  You should already know the difference between the two.  Again, much more research on this topic is needed, and regardless of this fact, fast food restaurants and other food manufacturers are now avoiding the use of trans-fats in their deep fryers and food products. 

McDonald’s fryer oil now contains the following:  Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid added to preserve freshness. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

These ingredients are far from what was used not so long ago—100% vegetable shortening (better for us until trans-fat issue)—before that it was lard or beef tallow. 

So, as I’ve previously mentioned, “…If you live long enough…”  has come around, again. 

READ http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food  and http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12kummer.html?_r=0

Perhaps we are at the beginning of the next health food—lard.  Maybe you will see the changes I’ve seen with coconut oil…ok to use…then bad…now healthy.  Once again, we see an example of why the overwhelming majority of people are just totally confused.  This confusion feeds in to the “magic combination” of foods and/or food ingredients that suck people into fad, unhealthy diets that never work. 

Your assignment is to prepare an examination of cis- and trans-fats AND of saturated and unsaturated fats.  Be sure to discuss the conjugated linoleic acids—the trans fats that are (at least for the moment) considered beneficial.  This matches with the artificial = bad?  Natural = good?  debate!  Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s healthy for us.  Keep in mind that THC and cocaine are plant products! A naturally occurring bacteria, E. coli, is certainly natural, and it can cause deadly food poisoning. 

Details on the assignment:  Choose 10 foods for which you can find full ingredient information.  FIVE should be in the “marketed as healthier” category and FIVE should be “things we are told not to eat.”  For each of the 10, analyze the total fat content, saturated fat content, unsaturated fat content, trans-fat content, and cis-fat content.  Again, find foods that provide most of the information.  You don’t have to choose all high-fat foods; in fact, it’s better if you chose a variety of products.  ONCE SOMEONE HAS POSTED A FOOD, IT’S OFF THE LIST AND CAN’T BE REUSED BY ANOTHER PERSON. 

I suggest you examine all products per serving. 

You can easily determine the unsaturated fat content of a food by (total fats – saturated fat = unsaturated fat);  all you need to know is the total and saturated fats from the label.  Finding the cis- and trans- information may be a little more difficult.  If you know the unsaturated fats, and are given either the cis- or trans-fats, you can subtract the same way as above (unsaturated fats – trans = cis), because trans- and cis-fats are all unsaturated fats.  LOOK at the structures!  To be cis- or trans- a double bond is required…thus the fatty acid must be an unsaturated fatty acid. 

After you’ve mathematically examined the fats as discussed above, THEN examine the total kcal per serving and per package.  (As I’ve stated before, it’s a rare bird indeed that can actually put the top back on a can of Pringles.  Once it’s opened—it’s basically a serving.) 

NOW, make the “dieters” comparison complete:  how many kcals is one likely to consume?  Are kcals the problem?  Or is it those nasty trans-fats? 

Approach the assignment like you are an investigative reporter—determined to find the facts and determined to provide a concise, easy-to-use, and truthful summary of your findings.  As always, you will need to show the nutritional data and your calculations. 

The assignment is due no later than Wednesday 1/24/18 at midnight

Assignment #15: Metabolic Disease States

Many times I’ve heard normal, mostly healthy (but overweight) people blame a variety of diseases for their current weight issues.  “I can’t lose weight, I have a thyroid problem,” etc.  We’ve discussed the basics of nutrition and absorption and the role of the liver and pancreas in these essential physiological processes.

Below, see the list of metabolism-based diseases.  This is your chance for “PBL,” or Problem-Based Learning.  You have an incredible resource (internet) and you SHOULD have the textbook, which is a fantastic book.  You don’t need previous knowledge…just dive in.  Be careful to use only reputable sources as you gather information.

Your goal is to tell the entire class about the disease, including how it is affected by nutrition, managed by nutrition, and the common weight issues seen in people (eg—do they typically gain weight or are heavier?  Lose weight or are thinner?)  Basically, you will write, and post, a good review on the topic. 

I highly suggest that you write this (and all your posts) in Word or something that catches your spelling and grammar issues AND allows you to save your work!  Then, post your response below.  Remember, you are writing for the whole world to see…

The assignment is due Wednesday 1/23/18 at midnight. 

ONCE SOMEONE HAS PICKED AND POSTED A DISEASE, you must choose a different one.  

Diabetes (I, II, Pre, and Gestational)

Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia

Gout

Cushing’s disease

Hyperthyroidism and hyperthyroidism

Gaucher’s disease

Glucose galactose malabsorption

Phenylketonuria

Lipedema

Notice of email outage

Notice that BC Email is still out for some students. Course items will be postponed until it is restored, howevr, I will still continue to upload here. If you need assistance, text number on my office door and on syllabus.

Assignment #14 (A through C)--Let the personal challenges begin!

Three days of personal challenges...one each day.

Today: Based on your personal goals...today's challenge is to meet your kcal goals IN COMBINATION WITH meeting the correct % of each of the energy nutrients—carbohydrate, fat, and protein.

You need to clearly show HOW you've met your requirements...and the % of your total kcals is made up from protein, lipid, and carbohydrate.

After this, you will add the vitamins and minerals.  How are you meeting (or not meeting) these requirements?


Can you meet all of your requirements AND meet the guidelines on the My Plate/My Food Pyramid?

ONLY ONE DAY FOR EACH CHALLENGE....CAN YOU DO IT????

Show your diet below--and if you need to, you can post a daily intake of what you would NEED to eat to meet these requirements.

Assignment #13: Heal Your Thyroid?

I’ve uploaded a scanned (image) file of a Women’s World Magazine's mystical, magical diet.  The cover…”Lose 25 lbs This Month!  University proven:  Paleo Diet secrets that HEAL YOUR THYROID!”

The assignment—due via email. 

A)     FIRST, before you read the article:  Using your own information (gender, height, weight) and basing it off of a SEDENTARY lifestyle, calculate what YOU would need to do in order to lose 25 pounds in 31 days.  You will need to use the information estimated by caloriecount.about.com or other method to determine the number of kcals you need for current weight maintenance…and go from there.  Again, this must have been calculated using SEDENTARY as the activity level setting.  Why?  Because you log in your activities/exercise separately.

B)     Consider the function of the thyroid.  How would someone know if their thyroid was overactive?  Underactive?  What would a doctor test?  [Indeed, blood samples are required for us to know what is happening!] 

C)     Now, read the article.  Analyze it.  Thoroughly.  Include an analysis of the recipes and menus.  Comb through this new “secret” and see what you come up with.  Is it a good idea?  Bad idea?  Is it a healthy choice?  [Hint, Calorie count can help you determine how the menus and recipes contribute to a healthy diet.  I would enter the suggested foods into calorie count as if I had eaten them…then examine that day’s nutritional status report.]

Due Sunday 1/21/18 by midnight

Assignment #12: Comparison of Digestive Systems in Other Species

On Moodle, I’ve uploaded several Powerpoint files, files, worksheets, and other resources concerning human digestion.  However, we need to know a few things about other species to help us understand digestion, and thus nutrition, in general. 

See the list of animals below.  PICK ONE, but once someone has posted that animal, you have to choose a different one. Duplicate posts will not receive a grade.  Do a decent amount of research and post what you’ve learned.  This should be a good, interesting, and informative post.  Don’t just type what you think.  You will need to do some digging to see what you can find on each of these species.  Don’t post a brief, sketchy paragraph that lacks some detail!

Why these particular animals?  Some are of economic importance, even as food sources.  Some are just interesting and are so different that they are fun to discuss.  

Each student--choose ONE, but you can't use the animal if someone has already posted that information.  

Cow, Pig, Deer, Rabbit, Goat, Sheep, Dog, Cat, Horse, Chicken, or Rat

The assignment is due no later than  Saturday 1/20/18 at midnight

Assignment #11: Food Labels—A Quick and Easy Assignment

Using the food label guide in your text, or, by carefully examining a label—complete the following:

1)      Pick a favorite snack food that you have recently eaten/currently eating

2)     Using the label info on the package, tell us the nutritional information per serving

3)     Honestly determine the actual amount you ate (as if anyone eats a few Pringles and closes the can), then, using that amount, determine and report your actual consumption of each of the nutrients listed on the label.

4)     For both #2 and #3, provide the information that is on the label, even if it is zero.  For example, if there is zero protein, provide that information as well. 

Due 1/18/18 at midnight

Assignment #10: Tackle the Wheat Monster

Grains come in many forms.  You need to know the parts of a kernel of grain—and note that not all grains have all parts.  Look at your text figure for the wheat bran, endosperm, germ, and husk/hull. 

It’s the husk/hull that contains the fiber. Be sure you know the difference between wheat flour, whole wheat flour, and refined flour. 

**White bread IS made from wheat flour—it’s just been bleached**

Be sure you can distinguish between whole grain, refined grain, and fortified/enriched products. 


This reminds me of a sad situation at a Subway—it occurred soon after I’d been diagnosed with Celiac.  Me:  “Can I have the BMT, but without the bread.”  Worker:  “But then it won’t be a sandwich.” Me:  “I know.  I don’t want a sandwich. I can’t eat wheat.”  Worker:  “Oh, we have round bread.  I’ll use that instead.”  Me:  “Round, square, rectangular…it’s all made from wheat.”  Hubby:  “Can you make her a salad?” 


Suffice it to say, people seem to not understand what wheat is and what foods contain it.  When I tell people I can’t eat wheat, they often try to cook me things with whole wheat instead.  Sigh.


Carefully read the section in your text on whole grains! The term “whole grain” SHOULD mean an increase in fiber and some other nutrients.  However, packaging can be VERY VERY misleading.  Even when foods are made from 100% whole wheat, the actual nutritional differences can be miniscule.  In many cases, consumers pay extra for something they think is a healthier choice-only to be mislead by creative packaging and a failure to understand the basic calculations required to make accurate comparisons between foods. 


Your text shows (see the little bread figure) that a true whole grain bread ‘wins out’ over other choices in several nutrient categories.  But are the differences substantial? 


At the same time, a discussion of the glycemic index often pops up.  The GI is a measurement of how quickly a carbohydrate consumption changes blood glucose.  What I can say at this point with certainty is that the debate over the GI isn’t over.  There is a lot of research that needs to be done.  Some studies show that the glycemic index of foods changes wildly based on the whole meal consumed—and it may be because an increase in fat in the meal actually decreases the GI for certain foods.  For example, white rice when consumed with fat-containing foods has a lesser GI than when consumed alone.  I can also say that the person-to-person differences aren’t understood.  If that’s not enough—just because a food has a low GI doesn’t mean it’s a healthier choice.  One example is the comparison of Pizza Hut Super Supreme Pizza (GI of 30) as compared to white rice (64).  There are other differences to consider!


So, back to the saga of white versus whole wheat bread…

Visit http://wholegrainscouncil.org/newsroom/myths-busted 

Just when we hear “more whole grains” there are people who swear that grains, in general, will be the death of us all.  Check out what they’ve put together, and really, really look at the description of the research discussed.


A fun page to visit is silverhydra.com, a product of BS in Applied Human Dietitics, Kurtis Frank.  He has a great “war of the breads” that I love. http://www.silverhydra.com/2011/02/white-vs-whole-wheat-bread/  See—and READ CAREFULLY—what he’s put together.


Let’s now do some analysis:

Wheat bread (bleached flour, white) has a glycemic index of 75 +/- 2.  That means the range is 73-77.

Whole wheat bread has a GI of 73-77 +/- 2.  That means a range of 72-76. 

For all practical purposes, the GI for both is essentially the same, and neither is that different as compared to white rice.  For what follows, we can compare white and brown rice, or any other foods.

I’ve chosen to do a quick comparison of Wonder white bread and Nature’s Own 100% whole wheat bread. 


WE MUST COMPARE THESE BY THE SAME WEIGHT—SO VALUES ARE EXPRESSED PER GRAM.

In the table I've provided on Moodle, I’ve broken down how to calculate the % difference between these two.  What do you think?  The table as an excel file is also available, unlocked, on Moodle.  Also on Moodle are two research papers (PDFs) about the glycemic index—one file is a table that has many foods listed with their corresponding glycemic index value.


Your assignment:

-Choose two wheat-containing foods to compare in the same way.  It would be most helpful to compare two foods you eat on a regular basis.  Or, choose foods you are curious about. You can compare whole wheat, to 100% whole wheat, to “regular” white bread—but, it doesn’t have to be bread.  The goal of the assignment is to determine if these whole wheat products are really different enough to matter. 



BE SURE to visit every web page I've suggested and READ the content!

Due 1/18/18 at midnight

Assignment #9: Begin Your Diet Analysis

You will begin to analyze your own diet.  It will serve no real purpose if you don’t honestly record what—and specifically how much—you consume.  I am posting worksheets and an instruction sheet on Moodle.  If you’ve taken my BIOL 169 course, you’ve seen this sheet before.  It will require you to sign up for caloriecount.about.com or some other similar site.  As long as the site calculates all of the nutritional requirements, including vitamins and minerals, you can use what you want.  

Yes, there are several other diet trackers on the web, but caloriecount has been around for decades and has been very reliable.  It also does a good job of tracking vitamins and minerals.  It’s a good, basic tool.

Using the instructions on Moodle and caloriecount.about.com, you will keep track of all of your intake, including alcohol.  Alcohol?  Yes—alcohol.  It’s loaded with calories—similar to fat.  Remember fat was 9 kcal per gram?  Alcohol is 7 kcal per gram!  A quick and easy calculator is available at http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/ToolsResources/CalorieCalculator.asp  The website has other calculators available as well.  NOTE the serving size.  A margarita is listed at 4 oz.  Without a doubt, the margaritas I’ve seen at Mexican restaurants are much, much larger than 4 ounces.  As always, you must be very careful about sample size!

You will keep track of your intake from this point forward until the last day of class.  For this assignment (#10), you will use information from 1/8/15 morning (today, Thursday) through Sunday after dinner or the last time you eat that day.  You will have a total of 4 days of intake information.  From this information, calculate a 4-day average for each nutrient that caloriecount tracks, including vitamins, minerals, etc.  Caloriecount has a way that it will do it for you automatically, or, you can do it by hand.

On Sunday, you will analyze as follows:

A)     Adequacy.  Did your (average) intake provide all of the essential nutrients, energy, fiber, etc?

B)     Balance.  Are you consuming an excess of some nutrients?  Are you failing to meet some requirements?  [note, don’t forget to enter any multivitamins and supplements you are taking].  What should you add to your diet or remove from your diet to better balance your diet.

C)     Energy control.  Based on your personal goals (gain, lose, maintain weight), did you consume the correct kcal to do so?  Remember weight loss should be gradual.  I’m hoping the calculations I did earlier clearly shows you that I can’t lose 10# of what I should lose in a week.  Sure, I can dehydrate myself and dump my liver and muscle glycogen stores, but, my swimsuit would look the same.  I know people want to believe there is magic, somehow, somewhere.  We can discuss severe cases like The Biggest Loser—but think—what are they doing most of the day?  Exercising!  Those situations are atypical and the people are monitored closely by physicians every day. Regardless, dieticians recommend 0.5-1.0 pounds of weight loss per week, with a maximum of 2 pounds.  So, no more than 2 pounds per week—thus no less than 7000 kcal below your maintenance kcals for a 7-day period.

D)     Nutrient density.  Did you consume foods that were energy dense?  What were they?  Calcium dense?  Iron?  Other examples?  Look at the individual foods on your log and see what they contribute to your total.

E)     Moderation.  Was fat, sugar, and alcohol consumed in moderation?  The cafeteria gets blamed for weight gain.  Funny, I’ve never seen Glenda shove bad pizza down someone’s throat.  Glenda also isn’t encouraging that unfortunate trip to Bubba’s either. 

F)      Variety.  Did you consume something from each food group daily?  For each below, don’t just say yes or no—you must show me how you met the guidelines. 

a.      Did you follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (available in your text and as a pdf at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2010.asp )

b.      Dietary guidelines from the USDA?  (textbook and on the web-this is the pyramid/my plate/MiPlato if you want to practice your Spanish) 

c.      Recommended amounts from each food group each day (table in text).

G)     Discretionary calories.  What did you “spend” your discretionary kcal allowance on?  Your text discusses some common choices. 

Later, we will discuss the Food Pyramid vs My Plate and I’ll give you a worksheet on Moodle to help you estimate portion size.

Due Tuesday 1/16/18 by midnight as a blog post. 

Assignment 8: Diet Planning Principles

The 6 Diet Planning Principles are:

adequacy

balance

energy control (kcal consumed)

nutrient density

moderation

variety

I try to work on all of these, personally, but, we all fight energy control, and I'm not very good in the variety category either.  Eating at school can present issues with each of these six, right?  Which one is the most difficult to manage at school?

The assignment:

A)  Discuss the difference between adequacy and balance in two ways:

(1)  how would you explain to a 5 year old that only wants to eat dessert,

(2) to a person that typically falls for fad diets, only to fail time after time

B)  This involves an evaluation of nutrient density. Read what I have below but see your book also!! I'll keep with the continuing saga of "carbs are bad, protein is good" that has caused many people difficulty.  Is rice "bad" and chicken "good"? 

It will work best if you write down the calculations below and work them along with me.

Rice, 1 serving is 1 cup steamed

242 kcal

0.5 g fat, provides 4.5 kcal of the 242  kcal total [make sure you can do these calcs!]

4 g protein, provides 16 kcal

How many kcal is from carbohydrate? 

242 - (4.5+16) = 221.5

How many grams of carbohydrate would the 1 serving contain?

221.5 / 4 = 55.38 g of carbohydrate in the 1 cup serving

Chicken, 3 oz (yes...that is a TINY piece, about the size of a deck of cards)

140 kcal

5 g fat, providing 45 kcal

0 g carbohydrate, 0 kcal

How many kcal is from protein?

140-45 = 95 kcal from protein

95 kcal / 4 ~ 24 g of protein in the 3 oz serving

Let's compare them using mg instead of grams.  This will match the textbook example and make them a bit easier to compare later, all while giving you practice with the metric system.

It's easiest to make a table, but a table isn't very blog friendly. 

Rice:                                                    Chicken

fat 0.5 g = 500 mg                               fat 5 g = 5000 mg

CHO 55.38 g = 55380 mg                   0 g cho = 0 mg

protein 4 g = 4000 mg                         24 g protein = 24000 mg

242 kcal (no change here)                   140 kcal



Compare the nutrient density for fat, carbohydrate, protein

Rice                        Nutrient density                                                    

fat  500 mg             500 mg /242 kcal = 2.07 mg/kcal                             

CHO 55380 mg      55380 mg / 242 kcal = 228.8 mg/kcal

protein 4000 mg     4000/ 242 kcal = 16.5 mg/kcal



Chicken                  Nutrient density                                                    

fat  5000 mg            5000 mg /140 kcal = 35.7 mg/kcal                           

CHO 0                    0 mg / 140 kcal = 0 mg/kcal

protein 24000 mg    24000 mg/ 140 kcal = 171.4 mg/kcal



Feel free to check the math and make sure I don't have an error or typo. 



Compare the two

Rice                         Chicken

fat  2.07                      35.7

cho  228.8                   0

protein 16.5                 171.4



This means that in the volume of chicken consumed that would yield 1 kcal would give us 171.4 mg of protein.  Thus, we can see that rice is carbohydrate-dense and chicken is protein-dense.  It follows that rice is a low fat food, and chicken is low carbohydrate; we could have certainly determined that just by examining the kcal that each nutrient provided to the total kcal per serving.



What this means is that a person would have to eat far more rice to equal the amount of fat in chicken; a person would have to eat far more rice to equal the amount of protein in chicken; a person can't consume enough chicken to yield the carbohydrates available in rice.



Here's the problem portion:



Given a 3 oz serving of T-bone steak (174 kcal, 0.09 mg thiamin) and 1/2 cup of cooked broccoli (27 kcal, 0.05 mg thiamin),



Which of these two foods provides the most thiamin per kcal?  Which provides the most thiamin per serving?



Remember, the more mg of thiamin per kcal = a greater nutrient density.



Post on the blog due Monday 1/15/18 at midnight.

Assignment #7: Nutrition Information and Misinformation

What sources do you use to gather information?  Based on your age, I would guess that 99% of the information you gather is in a digital form.  Correct?  Are magazines and newspapers still considered valid places for you to gather information?  What about textbooks, the College’s library, or other sources?

Your textbook devotes a section to help the reader determine the validity of nutritional information—regardless of the source.  Be sure you can distinguish terms such as accredited, certified nutritionist versus nutritionist, dietician, etc.  How can the ADA, certification, and registration of people providing nutritional information help the consumer? 

It may help to pause and think about what really sells the types of magazines that include diet and “health” as a component.  I’ve never made it a secret that I abhor Women’s World Magazine—always with a diet on the cover.  Always a magic diet.  Always weird—like the bean diet, green smoothie diet, all-you-can-eat soup diets—the list is never ending.  Sadly, many people try to follow these “magic” plans because the diet promises that the secret to weight loss has been discovered, yet again.  UGH.  It is no surprise to me that people just give up on eating health altogether.

The Assignment:

FOR BOTH ASSIGNMENTS, don’t list the question and then answer it.  Answer all parts, but your style should be essay format, easy and informative to read. 

Part 1:  Find two websites—one that appears to contain quality nutritional/diet information from a credible source, and one that appears to be unreliable.  For each, answer the following using the web:

-         Who is responsible for the site?  Is it staffed by a quality professional?  [examine author names and credentials] Have other (outside) experts reviewed the content for accuracy?

-        When was the information updated?  When was the site updated? 

-        Where is the information from?  A .gov or .org site?  Or is it makemeskinnier.com?

-        Why are they informing you?  To educate?  To sell you something (even a magazine/online subscription)?  If money is involved at all—I’d be extremely cautious. 

-        What is the info?  Is it supported by good quality, scientific references?  [careful here, many writers are creative in who and how they quote people to make some articles appear legitimate.]

Part 2:  Find two people—one that appears credible, with educational background to support their expertise in Nutrition, and one that appears as if credentials are absent, false, or just plain crazy. 

               Evaluate the two people—describe why you would believe information from one, yet not the other.

Part 3:  Find two supplements—again, one that appears to be beneficial and able to back up claims and one that promises the moon.  Evaluate these using the “red flags of nutrition quackery” ( as discussed in chapter 2)

1.       Satisfaction guaranteed?

2.      Quick and easy fix?

3.      Natural?

4.      One product does it all?

5.      Time Tested?

6.      Paranoid accusations?

7.      Personal Testimonials

8.      Meaningless Medical Jargon?

Evaluate both supplements with the above “quack test.”  Add in any other information you gather to determine the usefulness of the product (ie scientific studies)

Due tomorrow, 1/13/16, by midnight

Assignment #6: Dietary Reference Intakes

Compare the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR), Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intake (AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL).  Be sure you know the difference!

Note, who determines the EAR?  How do they make those determinations?

We are all different and have unique needs, even in our diets.  Disease and metabolic states vary between individuals, and many other factors contribute to each person’s actual nutritional needs.  Having complete blood work—including vitamins and minerals—can be very helpful if you are serious.

Last fall, I found out I was severely deficient in Vitamin D.  This is likely because I have celiac.  When I add in that it was winter when I was tested (less sunlight to complete the process to make Vitamin D—more on that later) and the fact that I mostly eat like a 9 year old with a car and cash—the end result is a huge decrease in both my intake, absorption, and conversion of nutrients needed to provide my body with sufficient Vitamin D.  The first attempt to fix the deficiency was 2000 IU of Vitamin D₃ daily.  That is TONS.  Initially, we weren’t sure if this amount would overcome the absorption issue and resolve the deficiency.  Some time as passed, and the results were positive.  I now take 1000 IU and we will retest in a few months. 

More recently, and 100% because more information about celiac and the effects of the required diet change is now known, my doctor decided to screen me for some of the B vitamins.  I’m severely folate deficient.  Folate is the same as folic acid, which is also known as Vitamin B9.  Thus, I’m following the same plan—supplement because I NEED it, see what blood tests reveal in a few months, and adjust from there.  Trust me, for either Vitamin D or folate, having these deficiencies wasn’t very fun—you don’t feel very good at all.  So, finding a solution to these problems has been a very, very good thing. 

Regardless of our differences, we are very similar, even when we compare those of vastly different ethnic backgrounds.  What does this mean?  For all practical purposes, it means that a Hershey bar is a Hershey bar is a Hershey bar.  I absolutely HATE to hear people say that someone “has a fast metabolism.”  That statement means nothing.  We may have increased or decreased metabolic rates, but, for the vast majority of people, the differences are not that great.  When I’ve had the chance to sit down with a ‘slow metabolism’ person and analyze their current intakes, they are shocked to know what they are really consuming.  [note, friend that adds 6 of those little coffee creamers to a tiny cup of coffee…] Metabolic rates aren’t the issue, but calories in versus calories out IS. 

So, in most cases we utilize nutrients in a similar manner. 

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES THAT MATTER!  Life stages—are we growing?  Adult?  Older?  Gender—males and females differ.  Men carry more bone density, muscle mass, red blood cells, etc—so their calorie and nutrient requirements are greater as compared to females.  Metabolic considerations—a simple example that is easy to remember is an adult female that’s not pregnant, versus pregnant, versus lactating.  For these examples, there are important differences that change the requirements for nutrients we need.

In cattle nutrition, we discuss terms like total digestible nutrients (TDN), digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), net energy of lactation (NEL), net energy of maintenance (NEM) or net energy of gain (NEG).  Note that the NEM is “energy it takes a cow to maintain being a cow,” whereas NEG is what is needed for that cow to grow, and NEL is what it takes for that cow to lactate.  It takes LOTS more energy to produce the milk we consume!  See, the metabolic state of the animal matters.  Humans are no different. 

Now, for the RDA, which is set above the EAR. You should review the text for why this is the case.  Note, what would happen if we used EAR values and not the RDA? 

Similarly, who would be at risk for exceeding the UL?  [Hint, what would happen if YOU took the amount of Vitamin D or folate I am currently taking?]

And…likely our least favorite…is the EER, or Estimated Energy Requirement.  Basically it is the energy we need to maintain a healthy weight while maintaining a healthy level of physical activity. 

And, values that will shock several of you, the AMDR, or Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges: 

45-65% of your kcal should be from carbohydrates

20-35% kcal from fats

10-35% kcal from protein

Are you surprised that the protein is so low? 

Based on what you’ve learned so far, answer the following in a private email:

REAL scenario:  A friend who was having a difficult time losing weight said, “I am not cheating and eating fruits, or bread, and my carbs are really low.  I eat eggs for breakfast, tuna for lunch. I’m eating the recommended 6 chicken breasts every day too.  There must be something wrong with me!  I have a slow metabolism and can’t lose weight.  I am actually gaining, and I haven’t cheated at all. 

Due via email 1/13/18 by 9 AM

Assignment #5: Breakfast Calculations

It is easy to determine the ENERGY available (kilocalories, kcal, the dietary Calorie) if you know the kcals in fat, protein, and carbohydrate:

Carbohydrate = 4 kcal/gram [note use of the metric system]

Protein = 4 kcal/gram

Fat = 9 kcal/gram

Your textbook has an example on page 9 that you will find useful.

The assignment is as follows:

-Based on what you ate for breakfast today (or dinner last night if you didn’t eat breakfast)—the complete meal:

1. Estimate as best (and honestly) as you can the PORTION SIZES of each item you consumed.

2.  Using the web, search a site like caloriecount.com to determine the grams of each nutrient (carbohydrate, protein, and fat).

3.  Clearly showing the calculations, show the calories provided by each of the nutrients.

4. Using the example on page 9 as a guide, determine the percentage of the total calories that each of the nutrients provides. 

MY EXAMPLE:

This morning, I’ve eaten 2 large eggs and 2 cups of Diet Mt. Dew. (I know, the Dew isn’t very good for me).

1 large egg

5 g fat x 9 = 45 kcal from fat

0.6 g carbohydrate x 4 = 2.4 kcal from carbohydrate

6 g protein x 4 = 24 kcal from protein

Total kcal from fat, carbohydrate, protein = 71.4

Now, for the percentages:  45 fat kcal / 71.4 total x100 = 63% of the calories are from fat

                                                  2.4 carbohydrate kcal / 71.4  x 100 = 3.36% of the calories are from CHOs

                                             24 protein kcal / 71.4 x 100 = 33.6% of the calories are from proteins

Diet Mountain Dew

Note the 2-liter bottle says 0 for each, and there is a note that says 0 calories per 12 oz serving.  If you look at a 20 oz bottle, the bottle states there are 10 calories in a 20 oz bottle!  HMMMMMMM.

NOTE, it says that it is a “Low Calorie Soda” not actually calorie free.  Why?  Diet Dew actually contains 0.5g sugars per 240 mL (per cup). Which means that I actually consumed 1 gram of sugar from the 2 cups I consumed.  The intake was actually 1 gram x 4 = 4 kcal, all from carbohydrate. 



Do you see why it frustrates me when people say that carbohydrate is BAD for you and PROTEIN consumption helps you lose weight?

Do you see why it frustrates me when people say that when you combine certain foods, they can’t absorb the calories?

These are reasons why the constant silly diet after silly diet—with no weight loss or health improvement—occurs with most people.  There is no magic bullet.