Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Discuss what is considered as healthy eating
- List tools that can help improve healthy eating
- Explain what are the dietary reference intakes and how to use them
- Summarize the five basic principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- Explain the role of MyPlate as a guideline for healthy eating
- Create a personalized daily food plan
- Use visual cues to estimate food measurements quickly
- Identify components of a food label
- Describe the function of a food label
- Identify recent changes in the FDA nutrition label requirement
- Identify and differentiate between types of label claims
- Give examples of phyto and zoochemicals and their function
Lesson Summary
- Healthy eating is a combination of eating adequate amounts of food in moderate proportions to meet the daily calorie requirement for your body weight using a variety of food types.
- If we eat too much we become overnourished which can lead to disease conditions such as obesity and heart disease
- If we eat too little we become undernourished which can lead to a weak immune system and exposure to diseases, and impairment in physical and cognitive growth
- Four (4) excellent tools that the US government has provided to help us make better dietary decisions are:
- The dietary reference intakes (DRI)
- The dietary guidelines for Americans
- MyPlate
- Nutrition fact label on food products
- The DRI tells you how much of each nutrient you need to eat to ensure good health, avoid diseases and prevent excess. It consists of five reference values: (See the front of your text book for RDA and AI values)
- The estimated average requirement (EAR): The amount of a nutrient estimated to meet the daily needs of only half of a given healthy population
- Recommended dietary allowance (RDA): The amount of a nutrient estimated to meet the daily needs of up to 98% (or almost all) of a given population
- Adequate intake (AI): The amount of a nutrient estimated to be adequate for the day in cases where the RDA has not been determined
- Upper tolerable limit (UL): The highest daily intake of a nutrient that should be allowed, in order to avoid health risks
- Acceptable macronutrient distribution range (AMDR): The recommended range of energy-producing nutrients we should consume to maintain good health:
- Carbs: 45-65%
- Fats: 20-35%
- Proteins: 10-35%
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Consists of 5 big ideas
- Follow a healthy dietary pattern throughout your life e.g. Mediterranean style, vegetarian and the DASH (dietary approach to stop hypertension)
- Eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods in adequate amounts e.g. fruits and vegetables instead of high-sugar foods
- Limit calories from added sugars, saturated fats and sodium
- Shift to healthier choices for your food and drinks
- Help others to maintain healthy eating habits
- MyPlate: A visual guide on how our food types should be proportioned for good balance. It consists of:
- Vegetables (30%)
- Fruits (20%)
- Proteins (25%)
- Grains (25%)
- Critique of MyPlate
- Pros
- Simplicity
- Easy visualization of food proportionality
- Emphasize healthy foods that Americans don’t get enough of
- Cons
- Does not give a clear picture of serving size of each component
- No differentiation between fruit juice and whole fruit
- No indication of proportion of healthy oils
- It suggests that milk or dairy should be consumed with every meal which is misleading
- Pros
- How many calories do you need?
- Determine your daily calorie requirement based on your age using Table 2.1 – How Many Calories Do You Need Daily? (Page 36)
- Determine how calories should be proportions using Table 2.3 – How Much Should You Eat from each Food Group? (page 44)
- Use visual cues to identify correct portions
- I cup: About the size of your fist or two cupped handfuls
- ½ cup: About the amount you can hold in a cupped hand
- 1 tablespoon: About as big as when the tip of the thumb and the tip of the forefinger touches
- 1 teaspoon: About the length from the tip of the thumb to the first knuckle
- 3 ounces (meat): About as big as the inside of your palm
- What is an ounce equivalent?
- An ounce equivalent of protein means how much of a food you need to eat to get an ounce of protein from it. One ounce equivalent from the protein group include:
- 1 ounce of lean meat
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- ¼ cup cooked dry beans, or
- ½ cup nuts or seeds
- An ounce equivalent of grains means how much of a food you need to eat to get an ounce of grain from it. One ounce equivalent from the grains group include:
- 1 slice of bread
- 1 cup ready-to-eat cereal
- 1 cup cooked rice, pasta or cooked cereal
- An ounce equivalent of protein means how much of a food you need to eat to get an ounce of protein from it. One ounce equivalent from the protein group include:
- Download this template and create a personalized meal plan for one day
- Ways to control portion size
- Practice to measure your food until you have a good eye for the correct portions
- Use smaller plates
- Don’t eat snacks directly from the bag or box but divide snacks into individual portions and eat only one serving at a time
- Read your food labels
- Does the time you eat impact your health? YES
- People who skip breakfast have the tendency to eat more later in the day and end up consuming more calories than they need
- A substantial breakfast fills the appetite and reduce tendency to overeat later on
- Breakfast foods that are high in fiber and a good source of protein increases satiety
- People who skip breakfast usually make poorer food choices later in the day
- People who skip breakfast have a greater tendency to gain weight
- Components of a food label
- Principal display panel: Contains product identify and net content
- Information panel: Contains nutrition label, ingredient list (in decreasing order), and address of manufacturer, packer or distributor
- Functions of a food label
- Contain product
- Protect product
- Market product
- Inform consumer
- Nutritional label on foods tell us how much of certain nutrients we are getting per serving size. It is based on a 2000 calorie diet
- Percentage daily value (%DV) means the percentage of your daily nutrient requirement that you get from each serving; assuming that your body requires 2000 calories to maintain optimal health
- A %DV of 5% or less on the nutrition label means that the nutrient is low per serving
- A %DV of 20% or more on the nutrition label means that the nutrient is high per serving
- FDA has made changes to the labeling regulations in regards to nutrition information on products. Effective date to implement the regulation was June 2018. Changes include:
- Serving size bold and in larger font. It has also been updated to reflect the amount that people actually eat
- Calories bold and in larger font
- “Calories from fat” removed since it has been found that the type of fat consumed is more important than the amount. Furthermore, over-consumption of other nutrients such as sugars can also contribute to fat
- “Added sugar” included. This may represent table sugar, liquid sugar or concentrates. You should aim for 10% DV or less to make sure that you are getting more of your daily calories from nutrient-dense sources such as natural fruits and vegetables
- Vitamins A and C dropped since deficiency of these nutrients in the US is rare
- Vitamins D and potassium added since many Americans fail to get the recommended amounts
- Label claims fall under three categories
- Nutrient content claims
- Health claims
- Structure/function claims
- Nutrient content claim: A claim that describes the level or amount of nutrients in a products e.g. describing the product as “high in fiber”, “low fat”, cholesterol free”, “no sodium”
- Health claim: A claim that connects a food or components of the food with a disease or disease condition
- Authorized health claim: A claim authorized by the FDA after receiving a petition. The approval is given since there is a well-established relationship between the food or food components and a health benefit e.g. calcium and bone health, sodium and high blood pressure, fiber and cancer prevention, folate and birth defects
- Health claim based on authoritative statements: Claims made based on a statement from a US government agency e.g. relationship between whole grains and cancer prevention, potassium and lowering of blood pressure, fluoride and tooth decay, cholesterol and heart disease
- Qualified health claim: A health claim with a qualifying statement (disclaimer). Here is a hypothetical example: “Four studies suggests that daily consumption of guava juice may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. However, six rigorous studies involving more subjects did not find a relationship between consumption of guava juice and prostate cancer. Therefore, the FDA concludes that it is highly uncertain that guava juice reduces the risk of prostate cancer”
- Structure/function claim: A claim that describes how the food or food components affects the structure or function of the body without making reference to a disease or diseases condition e.g. “Probiotics improve overall digestive health”, or “calcium builds strong bones”
Key Definitions
- Undernutrition: Consuming less nutrients and calories than is need
- Overnutrition: Consuming more nutrients and calories than is needed
- The estimated average requirement (EAR): The amount of a nutrient estimated to meet the daily needs of only half of a given healthy population
- Recommended dietary allowance (RDA): The amount of a nutrient estimated to meet the daily needs of up to 98% (or almost all) of a given population
- Adequate intake (AI): The amount of a nutrient estimated to be adequate for the day in cases where the RDA has not been determined
- Upper tolerable limit (UL): The highest daily intake of a nutrient that should be allowed to avoid health risks
- Acceptable macronutrient distribution range (AMDR): The recommended range of energy-producing nutrients that we should eat
- Nutrient density: The amount of nutrients per calorie in a food
- Energy density: The amount of calorie per weight or volume of a food
- Nutrient content claim: A claim that describes the level or amount of nutrients in a products e.g. describing the product as “high in fiber”, “low fat”, cholesterol free”, “no sodium”
- Health claim: A claim that connects a food or components of the food with a disease or disease condition
- Authorized health claim: A claim authorized by the FDA after receiving a petition. The approval is given since there is a well-established relationship between the food or food components and a health benefit e.g. calcium and bone health, sodium and high blood pressure, fiber and cancer prevention, folate and birth defects
- Health claim based on authoritative statements: Claims made based on a statement from a US government agency e.g. relationship between whole grains and cancer prevention, potassium and lowering of blood pressure, fluoride and tooth decay, cholesterol and heart disease
- Qualified health claim: A health claim with a qualifying statement (disclaimer). Here is a hypothetical example: “Four studies suggests that daily consumption of guava juice may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. However, six rigorous studies involving more subjects did not find a relationship between consumption of guava juice and prostate cancer. Therefore, the FDA concludes that it is highly uncertain that guava juice reduces the risk of prostate cancer”
- Structure/function claim: A claim that describes how the food or food components affects the structure or function of the body without making reference to a disease or diseases condition e.g. “Probiotics improve overall digestive health”, or “calcium builds strong bones”
- Phytochemical: Food components in plant food sources that provide benefits beyond nutrition
- Zoochemical: Food components in animal food sources that provide benefits beyond nutrition
Reference: Blake S. B. (2017). Nutrition and You, 4th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Pearson.