Nutrition Essentials: Eating for Optimum Health

1. Nutrition: Eating for Optimum Health

2. Assessing Eating Behaviors • What drives us to eat? • Hunger • Appetite • Cultural and social meaning of food • Habit or custom • Emotional Comfort • Convenience and advertising • Nutritional value • Social interactions

3. Eating for Health • Nutrition • The science of the relationship between physiological functions and essential elements of food • Calorie • Unit of measure that indicates the amount of energy we obtain from a food • Americans consume more calories per person than any other group of people in the world • Americans eat more fat (38%) than recommended by nutritionists (no more than 30%)

5. Eating for Health • Characteristics of a healthy diet • Adequate • Moderate • Balanced • Varied • Nutrient dense

6. Trends in Caloric Intake and Food Figure 9.1

7. Obtaining Essential Nutrients • Digestive process • Sequence of functions by which the body breaks down larger food particles into smaller, more usable forms • Our bodies cannot synthesize some essential nutrients • Some essential nutrients obtained from food

8. The Digestive Process Figure 9.2

9. Water • Dehydration – abnormal depletion of body fluids • The major component of blood • Necessary for • Electrolyte and pH balance • Transporting cells and O2 • Recommended amount – 8 glasses/day (64 ounces) • 50-60% of body is water • Is bottled water better?

10. Protein • Second most abundant substance in humans • Key to every cell, antibodies, enzymes, and hormones • Transport oxygen and nutrients • Role in developing/repairing bone, muscle, skin • Vital for human life • May need additional protein if fighting off infection, recovering from surgery or blood loss, recovering from burns

11. Proteins • Amino acids • Building blocks of protein • 20 essential amino acids must be obtained from food • 11 non-essential amino acids produced by the body • Link together to form • Complete protein – supplies all essential amino acids • Incomplete protein – may lack some amino acids, but these can be easily obtained from different sources • Few Americans suffer from protein deficiencies • Can you give examples of complete proteins?

12. Complementary Proteins Figure 9.3

13. Calculating Your Protein RDA Figure 9.4

14. Carbohydrates • Best fuel – provide energy quickly and efficiently • Two types • Simple sugars • Glucose (monosaccharide) – most common form • Fructose (monosaccharide) – found in fruits and berries • Sucrose (disaccharide) – sources include granulated sugar, milk and milk products • Complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) • Starches – from flour, pasta, potatoes • Stored in the body as glycogen • Fiber

15. Carbohydrates • Carbohydrates and athletes • Sugar may be counterproductive • CHO ingestion is necessary for competitive long events • Carbohydrate loading • Myth of sugar addiction • Not related in long-term studies • Moderation is the key

16. Carbohydrates and Weight Loss • High protein/low carb diets • Helped educate the public about nutrients, importance of • Whole grains • Fiber • Low-sugar food choices

17. Fiber • “Bulk” or “roughage” • Indigestible portion of plants • Insoluble • Found in bran, whole-grain breads, most fruits and vegetables • Found to reduce risk for several forms of cancer • Soluble • Oat bran, dried beans, some fruits and vegetables • Helps lower blood cholesterol levels • Helps reduce risk for cardiovascular disease

18. Fiber • Offers many health protections • Colon and rectal cancer • Breast cancer • Constipation • Diverticulosis • Heart Disease • Diabetes • Obesity • Most American eat far less than recommended • Recommended is 20-30 grams and average is 12 grams

19. Fats • Also called lipids • Misunderstood but vital group of basic nutrients • Maintain healthy skin • Insulate body organs • Maintain body temperature • Promote healthy cell function • Carry fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K • Are a concentrated form of energy

20. Obtaining Essential Nutrients • Triglycerides make up 95% of total body fat • Remaining 5% composed of substances like cholesterol • Can accumulate on inner walls of arteries and contribute to cardiovascular disease • Ratio of cholesterol HDL/LDL helps determine risk for heart disease • Saturated vs. unsaturated fat • Saturated mainly from animal sources, solid at room temperature • Unsaturated generally come from plants and usually liquid at room temperature

21. Percentages of Saturated, Polyunsaturated, and Monounsaturated Fats in Common Vegetable Oils Figure 9.5

22. Obtaining Essential Nutrients • Avoiding trans fatty acids • Created by process of making liquid oil into a solid • Increase LDL levels while lowering HDL levels • Higher risk of coronary and heart disease, sudden cardiac death • Found in many margarines, baked goods and restaurant deep-fried foods • Food labels listing no trans fasts can still contain less than 500 milligrams/serving

23. Obtaining Essential Nutrients • Still need essential fatty acids • Eat fatty fish • Use healthier oils (including olive oil) • Eat green leafy vegetables • Walnuts, walnut oil • Ground flaxseed

24. Obtaining Essential Nutrients • Use moderation with fat intake • Read food labels • Use olive oil for cooking • Avoid margarine with trans fatty acids • Choose lean meat, fish, poultry • Eat fewer cold cuts, less bacon, sausages, hot dogs, organ meats • Choose nonfat dairy products • Use substitutes for higher-fat products • Think of your food intake as an average, over a day or two—if you have a heavy breakfast, eat a light dinner

25. Vitamins • Potent, essential, organic compounds • Promote growth, help maintain life and health • Two types • Fat soluble – absorb through intestinal tract with fat • A, D, E, and K • Water soluble – dissolve in water • B-complex and C

26. Vitamins • Few Americans suffer from vitamin deficiencies • Often, vitamin supplements not necessary • Too much of many vitamins can be harmful • Why do you think so many people take vitamin supplements?

29. Minerals • Inorganic, indestructible elements that aid the body • Vitamins cannot be absorbed without minerals • Macrominerals are needed in large amounts • Sodium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, chloride • Trace minerals are needed in small amounts • Iron, zinc, manganese, copper, iodine • Excesses or deficiencies of trace minerals can cause serious problems

32. Determining Nutritional Needs • Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) • Adequate Intake • Daily Values • Recommended Daily Intakes (DRIs) • Daily Reference Values (DRV) • Reading food labels can help determine needs

33. Reading a Food Label Figure 9.6

34. ABC News: Nutrition • Discussion Questions • Discuss whether you think manufacturers are intentionally misleading consumers regarding serving size listings on their products. Why or why not? • What kinds of standards for food labeling would you recommend to manufacturers? Play Video | Nutrition

35. The New MyPyramid Food Guide • Replaced the food guide pyramid to account for varied nutritional needs throughout the U.S. population • Emphasizes • Personalization • www.mypyramid.gov • Gradual improvement • Physical activity • Variety • Moderation • Proportionality

36. The MyPyramid Plan Figure 9.7

37. Serving Size Card Figure 9.8

38. Nutritional Needs for Different Groups Figure 9.9

39. Vegetarianism: Eating for Health • MyPyramid Plan adaptable for a vegetarian diet • Types of vegetarian diets • Vegan • Lacto-vegetarian • Ovo-vegetarian • Lacto-ovo-vegetarian • Pesco-vegetarian • Semivegetarian

40. Vegetarianism: Eating for Health • Reasons why 5-15% of the population are vegetarians • Aesthetic • Animal rights • Economic • Personal • Health • Cultural • Religious

41. The Medicinal Value of Food • Compelling evidence that diet may be as effective as drugs • Functional Foods • Antioxidants • Carotenoids

42. The Medicinal Value of Food • Folate • Form of vitamin B • Folate fortification 1998 • Neural tube defects • Heart disease • Probiotics • Found in fermented milk products

43. Supplements • Dietary supplements • Products taken by mouth to supplement existing diets • Includes vitamins, minerals, herbs • FDA does not evaluate supplements prior to their marketing; companies responsible for own monitoring • If in doubt about supplements, simply eat from the major food groups • A multivitamin added to a balanced diet will generally do more good than harm

44. Gender and Nutrition • Men and women have different needs • Women have cyclical changes • Men have more lean tissue (burn more)

45. Changing the “Meat-and-Potatoes” Diet • Reasons to change • Heavy red meat eaters are five times more likely to get colon cancer, and twice as likely to develop prostate cancer • Fruits and vegetables reduce stroke risk as well as risk for oral, bladder, and pancreatic cancers • Cancer of the esophagus is one of the fastest rising malignancies in the U.S., among white men in particular

46. Improved Eating for the College Student • Variety of challenges for healthy eating • Eating breakfast and lunch vital for keeping energy up throughout the day • Make lunch and bring it with you, including healthy snacks • Will keep you from buying less healthy food on the run • Limit sugar-heavy beverages and fried products

47. Improved Eating for the College Student • Nutritional eating on a budget can be done • Buy vegetables locally and in season • Use coupons or shop at discount or bulk food stores • Your city or county health department may have suggestions if you don’t have the funds to eat properly

49. Food Safety: A Growing Concern • Food-borne illness • Affects millions of people each year • Responsible for 5,000 deaths a year • Signs • Cramping • Nausea • Vomiting • Diarrhea

50. Food Safety: A Growing Concern • Key factors why food-borne illness has increased • Globalization of food supply • Inadvertent introduction of pathogens to new geographic regions • Exposure to unfamiliar food-borne hazards • Changes in microbial populations • Increases susceptibility of varying populations • Insufficient education about food safety