Diet Experience Or How To Keep Fit
Diet Analysis
Analyzing one’s own diet gives a subjectively biased outlook on the definition of health. My goal throughout this analysis was to be as honest as possible when it came to my food intake and activity levels. I hypothesize that my nutrient intake is not at an adequate level for my activity level. I am fairly active in my work place and school, but I believe my diet does not provide the necessary daily requirements of nutrients to have optimal health.
The analysis of my food intake and activity levels covers a three day span from Thursday September 20th, to Saturday September 22nd. I wanted to complete this analysis in hopes to open my eyes to the future that awaits me if I keep eating in this manner. Furthermore, going into this analysis, I knew my diet was at its poorest; however, I never considered how my sedentary activity level played a part in the deterioration of my health as well.
To begin the diet analysis I registered for McGraw Hill`s program Nutrition Calc Plus to help me calculate my caloric intake and activity level. Over the following three days I recorded everything I ate and roughly estimated the size of all my portions. I am a full time university student that works 20-30 hours a week so I attempted to reflect that in my activity reflection. After honestly tracking my diet and activity level, I allowed the program to summarize my results which can be seen in both Appendix A and B. Nutrition Calc Plus allowed me to more accurately record my caloric intake and activity level throughout my analysis.The three macronutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.
The most readily available source of energy in the human body is carbohydrates, better known to most people are sugars, starches and fibers that have the chemical formula C6H12O6. A monomer is a molecule that is able to bond with other identical monomers to form macromolecules. The three monomers of sugar are; glucose, fructose and galactose. Monosaccharides join together to make disaccharides, polysaccharides and oligosaccharides that make different types of sugars, starches and fibers that our bodies utilize for energy. For example, sweet fruit juice is made of the monosaccharide fructose. A more common example is milk, which consists of the disaccharide lactose which is made of glucose and galactose monomers. It is recommended that an 18 year old female should consume 55% of their daily caloric intake from carbohydrates. Throughout the three days I consumed 57.33% of my calories from carbohydrates. This wasn’t too far above the recommended adequate intake for a female my age, only 2.33% higher.
Proteins are long chains of amino acids that perform many functions in the body. They can form as antibodies to fight against disease, as enzymes to aid in digestion, as messengers to communicate between cells, and also transport and store other nutrients the body needs. Proteins are found all throughout your body from the keratin protein fibers in your hair and nails to the actin and myosin proteins that allow your muscles to contract. Approximately 11.09% of my daily calories should come from proteins. The proteins I consumed throughout the three day increment made up 12.14% of the calories I consumed. The last group of macronutrients are lipids. Lipids are defined as oils, waxes and fats that contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that dissolve in alcohol but do not dissolve in water (Feingold & Grunfeld, 2018).
In comparison to popular belief, fats are bad AND good. Although fats can serve as extra numbers on a scale, they also function as part of cell membranes as phospholipids which allows for protection of the body`s cells as well as a barrier to what goes in and out of a cell. Lipids cushion soft vital organs and provide protection around your joints to avoid injury. Other forms of lipids in the body include glycoproteins found throughout the nervous system and lipoproteins that can cause cardiovascular disease when large concentrations of it are found in the blood. Furthermore, an 18 years old female’s daily recommended caloric intake of lipids is 28% of your daily recommended caloric. Not surprisingly, 31.03%, a 3.03% difference, of my caloric intake came from lipids as I ate fast food numerous amount of times.
Despite the name, micronutrients play a major role in the human body. Micronutrients aid in metabolic energy levels and help the body’s internal tissues function. There are two major types of micronutrients; vitamins and minerals. Referring to Appendix A, the vitamins that I consumed more of then the recommended amount include; vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and folate. The vitamins I was deficient in included; vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin C. I should consuming medical supplements to get more vitamin A, D and C because I am deprived of them through my diet or consume vitamin-rich foods. Minerals are the second major category of micronutrients. The minerals that I consumed more of then was recommended include; Iron and Sodium. The minerals that I did not consume enough of include; calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and zinc. To increase that amount of the calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and zinc I consume I should get mineral rich foods and if needed, medication supplements.
The Canadian Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR) for carbohydrates is 45-65% of total caloric intake. For an 18 year old female, 55% is a more specific AMDR. carbohydrates make up 57.33% of my daily caloric intake, slightly higher than the AMDR. To bring that number closer to 55% I would start by cutting out the amount of bread I consume, as I believe the majority of my carbohydrates come from. Also, removing unnecessary sugary beverages and excessive portions of starches would help get me to a more adequate level of carbohydrate intake. Not getting enough carbohydrates can lead to energy loss, fatigue, constipation, mood changes, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and ketosis which is where your body resorts to burning fats as a result of inadequate carbohydrate consumption. My high carbohydrate diet puts me at risk for sugar crashes and in extreme cases Type 2 Diabetes (Farrell, 2017). For Proteins the AMDR is 10-35%, more specifically for me 11.09 % is a more accurate percentile. Throughout the three days 12.14% of my caloric intake consisted of proteins, which is slightly higher than the AMDR.
To reduce the amount of protein I eat to get closer to an adequate intake of proteins I should cut down on my portion sizes of meat. Not having enough protein in your diet can result in weight and muscle loss, liver issues, joint pain, low blood pressure, reduced immunity to colds and trouble repairing body tissues and muscles. Although my protein intake isn’t much higher than the AMDR recommendation, if I increased my protein consumption, then muscle would become easier to build. However, I would be at risk for weight gain, and kidney failure (Farrell, 2017). Finally, for Lipids, the AMDR is between 20-35%, and 28% for my age category. Lipids made up 31.03% of my daily caloric intake, which is higher than the AMDR. Saturated fats should be less than 10% of the 28% and Trans fats should be less than 1%. Saturated fats made up 38.75% of my lipid intake, and Trans fats made up 1.49% of my lipid intake which is fairly high.
Looking back on my diet I am not surprised that my consumption of saturated and Trans fats are so high. The amount of food I eat from fast food companies between work and school accounts for those fats. Preparing meals should reduce my consumption of excessive fats from fast food restaurants. My high fat diet puts me at risk for numerous cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and atherosclerosis (hardening on the arteries) as well as obesity (McLaughlin, 2018). However, if I was to lower my intake below the ADMR I would be at risk of excessive appetite and mood problems (McLaughlin, 2018). One of the micronutrients I am deficient in is Vitamin A, only getting 75% of the daily recommended value.
Regularly eating salmon can help increase my vitamin A levels, half a fillet gives approximately the rest of the 25% of the daily intake I need for vitamin A (Arnarson, 2017). I consume approximately 57% more folate than required. To reduce the amount of folate I consume I should cut out the amount of Nutella I eat as it consumes hazelnuts which is a folate-rich food (Link, 2018). On an average weekday, I burn approximately 2052 Kilocalories (Kcal) between school, dance and work. I burn an additional 2509 Kcal (approximately) on the weekends, between work and recreational dance.
To maintain my current weight, I need to burn 1999 calories a day. My net kilocalories burned within the three days was 2204 Kcal. My activity level has dropped significantly since starting university, and I wish to improve my physical activity habits by joining the Trent dance team and playing some recreational or intramural sports. Throughout this process, I have become more than aware of the health risks coming my way if I continue my lifestyle this way. My hypothesis was correct in my assumption that my nutrient consumption was not adequate. Evident through this analysis, changes must be made to my diet and activity level to ensure proper health. With the help of this research and the insight it provided I go forward with a new perspective of health and goals to improve my own health.
