Nutritional Analysis Project-AP Biology Name: ______
Part 1-Keep track of your food intake for two days; enter as you go along or all at the end on three separate days.
Part 2-Use the information from your nutritional analysis to complete the assignment
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Part 1. Recording Your Food Intake
1. Record all the food and drink that you consume throughout the day for two days. Go to http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/ . You will first need to register with the website before you start in order to track and save your two days of meals. There is a free app for this that you can download.
2. Then begin to fill in the What did you eat? Box. As you start to type in a food, a list of similarly spelled foods will appear below. If you don’t find what you are looking for, continue to type the full name of the food and then you should find it on the list. There are even “brand name” foods like hamburgers from McDonalds or Wendy’s. Add in your foods for each meal and snacks. It will allow you to classify your foods as breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc. Just click on the When box and a drop down menu will appear. Once you have finalized all the info for the food you have eaten, click on I Ate This button so that the calories, etc. will be computed.
3. If you scroll down, you will be able to see your daily food log and how those foods are being tracked based on recommended daily allowances. For verification, I would like you print this page at the end of the day for your daily totals. Or at least take a screen shot and send it to me.
Guidelines and Helpful Tips:
If you regularly take vitamin or mineral supplements, do not enter them into your computer analysis. The goal of this project is to determine your nutritional status without them.
Food Recording Basics:
The following are some general guidelines to follow when recording your food intake...
Be specific - Please record all the foods you consume throughout the day. For example, if you eat a hamburger, please record each part of the sandwich if not listed as the “whole”.
Be exact - (as much as possible). The food database is quite large and continually growing. It is likely that most of the foods you will consume on a daily basis will be in the database. If not, please select the closest match.
Be diligent - Try to stick to the food recording protocol as closely as possible. The accuracy of this study depends on you the participant. Set aside a certain time each day to enter your foods into the website.
Be prepared - If you are going to be away from a computer for an extended period of time, feel free to record foods in a small notebook to be entered in later.
Be honest - For dietary analysis it is important to record a fairy accurate portrayal of your food intake. You may want to measure your food intake. Most people underestimate their caloric intake. One study revealed that normal-weight woman underreported calorie intake by 282 calories per day, whereas overweight women underreported by 621 calories a day. In one week that would amount to about 4300 calories. One pound of body fat is equivalent to 3500 calories, so their misreporting could account for one pound of weight per week that was not lost! You are not going to be criticized or judged on the foods you eat. All information regarding your food intake is confidential, so report honestly and accurately. Part 2-Assignment Questions-attach a separate sheet of paper if necessary
CALORIES
1. What was your average calorie intake per day?
CARBOHYDRATES
2. On average, how many grams of carbohydrate did you consume per day?
3. How many calories does this represent?
4. Carbohydrates comprise what percentage of your average daily calories?
5. The acceptable range of carbohydrate intake is 45 to 65% of daily calories. How does your intake compare to this recommendation?
FAT
6. On average, how many grams of fat did you consume per day?
7. How many calories does this represent?
8. Fat comprises what percentage of your average daily calories?
9. The acceptable range of fat intake is 20 to 35% of daily calories. How does your intake compare to this recommendation?
10. If your fat intake is higher than the recommendation, which specific foods in your three day intake could you reduce, eliminate or replace with other foods in order to lower the fat content?
CHOLESTEROL
11. On average, how many milligrams of cholesterol did you consume per day?
12. How does your dietary cholesterol intake compare with the suggested limit of 300 milligrams a day?
13. If your intake is above that target, identify foods in your three day record that are contributing to the excess.
PROTEIN
14. On average, how many grams of protein did you consume per day? 15. How many calories does this represent?
16. Protein comprises what percentage of your average daily calories?
17. The acceptable range of protein intake is 10 to 35% of daily calories. How does your intake compare to this recommendation?
18. Using the formula below to calculate your RDA for protein (show all calculations):
Current body weight in kilograms x 0.8 grams protein = Protein RDA in grams
Convert your weight from pounds to kilograms. There are 2.2 lb. per 1 kg. So if you weigh 150 lb., divide 150 by 2.2, to get 68 kg.
SODIUM
19. It is recommended that most adults limit their sodium intake to 2400 milligrams per day. On average, how many milligrams of sodium did you consume per day?
20. How does your diet compare to the recommendation? If you exceeded the recommended limit what changes could you make in your three day record to lower sodium intake?
FIBER
21. The recommended daily intake for fiber is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. How does your daily fiber intake compare to this recommendation?
22. List five changes you could make in your three day record that would increase your fiber intake, if necessary.
SUMMARY
23. Look over your three day food records. List five strengths and five weaknesses about the way you currently eat? What health problems might you face in 20 years if your dietary patterns remain the same?