Dietary Analysis Assignment

 

Objective:

• Evaluate your nutritional intake to see if you are getting all of your nutrients, where you are doing well with regards to nutrition and where improvements can be made.

Part 1: Track your diet and enter your data (30 pts)

You will need to keep a 5 day diet diary of everything (food and beverages) that you consume.  To make this meaningful, you need to be very specific.  

Collecting your data:

• You can either maintain a paper daily food log Download a paper daily food logand then enter it into NutriCalc separately OR
• You can download a mobile shortcut on your Android or iOS device   and track as you go.  
• Keep a food diary of EVERYTHING you eat and drink for 5 days, ideally with at least one "weekend" day. (not everyone has the weekend on Saturday and Sunday due to their work schedule so try to include one day where you are not on your regular workday routine).

Tips

• Include all food and drink, and be as specific as possible. For example, if you ate chicken, did you eat a leg, thigh or breast?
• Estimate as carefully as possible the portion size that you ate; for example, ½ cup rice, 10 potato chips, 2 oz tofu etc…
• Record the cooking or preparation method. For example, was the potato peeled? Was your chicken skinless?  Was it baked or fried?
• Include anything added to your food such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressing etc.
• Be sure to record all snacks, beverages and desserts.
• If the food is from a fast food chain, it is likely already in the database, search by the food item "hamburger" or "cheesecake"
• You may have to break down mixed dishes into their constituent ingredients.   For example, a tuna sandwich can be listed as 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 1 T of mayo and 3 oz of tuna packed in water
• NutriCalc has a recipe builder as part of the program so you can enter the recipe and then indicate the serving size you ate.

Part 2: Diet Analysis (70 pts)

In NutriCalc, you will use the All Daily Report to complete your analysis. You will submit a PDF of your complete report (which will include the 5 day diary and the analysis) and answer the questions below.

• You should answer the questions in a google/word document and upload your document.  We will not use every aspect of the All Daily Report, but it is easier to get everything in one report rather than running the individual reports.  You may find the other reports interesting so you should take a look at those, but for this assignment, you will specifically look at the following aspects of the All Daily Reports:
  • Bar Graph Report
  • Macronutrient Distribution
  • Calorie Assessment

Questions to Answer:

 Calories (10 pts)

1. Based upon the information you entered, what is your recommended Calorie intake.
2. On average, was your Calorie intake equal to, above or below your recommended intake?
3. What changes, if any, would you make to try and stay at your recommended Calorie intake? Note: for some of you this may mean an increase in physical activity and/or decrease in Calorie intake and for some it may be an increase in Calorie intake.

 Carbohydrates (15 pts)

1. What is the average percent of energy (% Cal) and g of carbohydrates in your diet?  How does this compare with your suggested RDA of energy from carbohydrate?
2. How does your added sugar (g) compare to the recommended amount?
3. If your diet does not meet the recommendations, suggests changes that will increase or decrease your carbohydrate intake without changing your energy intakes.  If you DO meet the recommendation, state that "I met the recommendations"
4. List some foods in your diet that are high in simple carbohydrates and some that are high in complex carbohydrates
5. How many grams of fiber does your diet provide?  Are you meeting your recommendation for fiber?  If your diet does not meet the recommendations, what modifications can you make to meet them?

 Fats (15 pts)

1. What is the average daily fat intake in grams and % Calories in your diet?
2. What is your average daily intake of grams of saturated fat?
3. How does your fat intake compare with the recommendation of 20-35% of your daily energy from total fat?
4. If you diet contains more than 35% of energy from fat, suggest changes that will decrease your fat intake without changing your energy intake. If your diet already contains less than 35% of energy form fat, list foods that you typically consume that are high in fat and some lower-fat substitutes that you could try.
5. Suggest food substitutions that will decrease the amount of saturated fat in your diet.
6. How much cholesterol does your diet contain (on average)?

 Proteins (15 pts)

1. What is the average daily protein intake in grams and % Calories in your diet.
2. How does this compare with your recommended protein intake?  If you consumed more than the RDA, do you think you should decrease your protein intake? Why or why not?   If you consumer less than the RDA for protein, suggest changes that will increase your protein intake to meet needs. How did these changes affect the amount of fat in your diet?
3. Now compare your protein and fat in your food diary. What is the relationship between them? What foods contribute the most protein to your diet?  Are they animal or plant based?  What percentage of total fat do they provide?

 Vitamins and Minerals (15 pts)

Use the Bar Graph report to answer the following questions. DO NOT COUNT supplements in this analysis

1. Are there any fat soluble vitamins (ADEK) that you are not getting enough of, or are getting too much of? For any deficiencies in the fat soluble vitamins, list two foods (for each one as appropriate) that you are willing to eat that could increase those vitamins in your diet.
2. Are there any water soluble vitamins (C and all the B vitamins) that you are not getting enough of, or are getting too much of? For any deficiencies in the water soluble vitamins, list two foods (for each one as appropriate) that you are willing to eat that could increase those vitamins in your diet.
3. Are there minerals that you are not getting enough of, or are getting too much of? For any deficiencies in the minerals, list two foods (for each one as appropriate) that you are willing to eat that could increase those vitamins in your diet.