Planning a Healthy Diet

1. Planning a Healthy Diet Chapter #2

2. Chapter Introduction • You make food choices– deciding what to eat and how much to each– more than 1000 times every year. We eat so frequently that it’s easy for us to choose a meal without giving its nutrients contributions or health consequences any thought. Even when we want to make healthy choices, we may not know which foods to select or what quantity to consumer. Given a few tools and tips, you can learn to plan a healthy diet.

3. Principles and Guidelines Section #2.1

4. Diet Planning Principles • Adequacy: • Providing all the essential nutrients, fiber, and energy in amounts sufficient to maintain health. • Balance: • Providing foods in proportion to each other and in proportion to the body’s needs. • kCalorie (Energy) Control: • Management of food energy intake. • Nutrient Density: • A measure of the nutrients a food provides relative to the energy it provides. • Moderation: • Providing enough but not too much of a substance. • Variety: • Eating a wide selection of foods within and among the major food groups.

5. How to Compare Foods Based on Nutrient Density • Divide the amount by the kcalories a food provides. • Compare the two amounts. • The amount that is greater has more nutrient density.

6. Example- Compare Foods Based on Nutrient Density • Fat-free milk delivers 86 kcalories with it s 301 milligrams of calcium. Fresh turnip greens provide 15 kcalories with the 99 milligrams of calcium. Which food has greater calcium nutrient density? 301 kcal /86 mg = 3.5mg per kcal 99 kcal / 15 mg = 6.6mg per kcal The turnip greens are more calcium nutrient dense.

7. Dietary Guidelines for Americans • Aim for Fitness: • Aim for a healthy weight. • Be physically active each day. • Build a Healthy Base: • Let the “Plate” guide your food choices. • Choose a variety of whole grains. • Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables. • Keep food safe to eat. • Choose Sensibly: • Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat. • Choose beverages to moderate your intake of sugars. • Choose and prepare foods with less salt. • Avoid alcohol.

8. Diet-Planning Guides Section #2.2

9. Food Group Plans • Food Group Plans: • Diet-planning tools that sort foods of similar origin and nutrient content into groups and then specify that people should eat certain numbers if servings from each group. • Daily Food Guide Benefits: • Ensures all nutrients are included in a diet. • Accounts for miscellaneous foods and mixtures of foods. • Helps to find the most nutrient-dense foods. • Tells you recommended servings from each food group. • Illustrates serving sizes. • Illustrated in the Food Guide Pyramid and My Plate tools. • Accounts for vegetarian and ethnic food choices. • Helps to keep your diet in perspective and shows actual intakes. • Healthy Eating Index Accountable: • A measure developed by the USDA for assessing how well a diet conforms to the recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid or My Plate and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

10. Exchange Lists • Exchange Lists: • Provide additional help in achieving kcalorie control and moderation. • Sorts foods according to their energy-nutrient contents. • Example: • Cheeses are grouped with meats because of their protein and fat content.

11. Putting the Plan into Action • Ensure that a certain number of servings are chosen from each food group. • Assign the food groups to meals. • Fill-in the plan with real foods to create a menu.

12. From Guidelines to Groceries • Dietary recommendations emphasize nutrient-rich foods such as: • Whole Grains • Fruits • Vegetables • Lean Meats, Fish, and Poultry • Low-Fat Milk Products • Always begin with the foods you enjoy and locate or prepare a healthier version. • Avoid heavily processed foods! • Processed Foods: • Foods that have been treated to change their physical, chemical, microbiological, or sensory properties. • Look for minimally processed foods that are fortified. • Fortified: • The addition to a food of nutrients that were either not originally present or present in insignificant amounts.

13. Breads, Cereals, and Other Grain Products • When shopping for grain products, you will find them described as refined, enriched, or whole grain. • Refined: • The process by which the coarse parts of a food are removed. • Enriched: • The addition to a food of nutrients that were lost during processing so that the food will meet a specified standard. • Whole-Grain: • A grain milled in its entirety, not refined.

14. Meat, Fish, and Poultry • When shopping for meat choose fish, poultry, and lean cuts of beef and pork named “round” or “loin” because they are typically lower in fat. • Vegetarian Alternatives: • Textured Vegetable Protein: • Processed soybean protein used in vegetarian products.

15. Milk • There are a variety of fortified foods in the dairy case. • Examples: • Vitamins A & D Fortified Milk • Calcium Fortified Soy Milk • Imitation Foods: • Foods that substitute for and resemble anther food, but are nutritionally inferior. • Food Substitutes: • Foods that are designed to replace other foods.

16. Food Labels Section #2.3

17. Components of a Food Label • The Ingredient List: • Lists all ingredients on the label that are found in the product. • Serving Sizes: • The amount of the food that constitutes one serving. • Nutrition Facts: • Daily Values: • Reference values developed by the FDA specifically for use on food labels.

18. Packaging Claims • Nutrient Claims: • Statements that characterize the quantity of a nutrient in a food. • Health Claims: • Statements that characterize the relationship between a nutrient or other substance in a food and a disease or health. • Structure-Function Claims: • Statements that characterize the relationship between a nutrient or other substance in a food and its role in the body. • Consumer Education

19. Bibliography • “Understanding Nutrition, 10th Ed.” Rolfes, S.R., Whitney, E. (2005). Thomson- Wadsworth; Belmont, CA.