Pre-Lab #7: Nutrition
Name_____________________________
(a) Record everything you eat/drink during a 24-hour period. List what you eat and the amount.
Include all condiments and “extras”, such as the sugar and cream you put in your coffee and the
mayonnaise on your sandwich. The more detailed your list, the more accurate the information you will
receive about your diet when we do the lab. The more “typical” this day is of your normal eating
habits, the better. You don’t need to worry about keeping the meals clear-- just one big list is fine.
Time
Item(s)
Time Item(s)
(b) Record all of your activities during the same 24-hour period. The list is for your personal use, so
make it as accurate as you can. There are 24 hours in a day, or 1440 minutes. If you do not reach this
total, then you have left something out.
Time spent
(mins)
Activity
Time spent
(mins)
Activity
3. Bring food or beverages (no alcohol) to lab to share with the class.
Lab #7: Nutrition
This week’s lab focuses on nutrition. You will use your record of food and drink to determine the nutrients
and calories you consumed. You will use your activity record to calculate the calories you expended.
Comparing calories consumed to calories expended, you will be able to determine whether you are likely to
gain or lose weight based on that 24 hour period.
Objectives
1. Enter your diet record into a computer software application to obtain nutrient information..
2. Use that information to examine your nutritional health.
3. Use your activity record to determine calories expended and examine your extended caloric intake/output
balance.
§
Activity 1: Nutrition computer program
A. Entering your diet record
Step 1. Turn on the computer and open the nutrition software application.
Step 2. Start by entering your name and then selecting the foods/drinks you recorded in your diet record.
Step 3. Once all foods/drinks from your diet record have been entered, record the totals from the
computer into the table below.
Cals (Kcal)
Iron (mg)
Protein (g)
Calcium (mg)
Carb (g)
Zinc (mg)
Tot. Fat (g)
Cholest
Activity 2: How healthy is your diet?
A. Your personal diet
For organic molecules the recommended diet is 12-15% protein, 15-30% or lower fat, and 55-75%
carbohydrate. Based on grams in your diet as recorded above, calculate the percentage that each organic
molecule contributes to your total Kcal intake.
Food (g)
x Kcal/g = Kcal
Calculation Table for Diet Percentages
/total Cals
x 100 = % of Kcal
Recommended
Protein _____ x 4.1 = ______
/______
x100
= ________
12-15
Carbs _____ x 4.1 = ______
/______
x100
= ________
55-75
Fats
/______
x100
= ________
12-15
_____ x 9.0 = ______
Q1. How does your diet percentages compare with the recommended diet? What, if any, changes could
be made?
B. Protein in your diet
Using the figure on the following page, answer the questions.
Q2. What is the difference between protein quality and quantity?
Q3. What foods have the highest quantity of protein? Best quality?
Q4. What plant sources of protein have a higher quality of protein than animal sources?
C. Cholesterol in your diet
Cholesterol consumption is a big concern these days. For example over 12,000,000 people in the world
will die each year from cardiovascular disease. Answer the following questions.
Q5. Explain what cholesterol may have to do with cardiovascular disease.
Q6. Does cholesterol benefit your body in any way? Explain your answer.
Q7. What foods do you eat that contain cholesterol? What foods do not?
D. Minerals in your diet
The recommended amounts of calcium for men and women are 800 mg/day and 1000-1200 mg/day.
The recommended amounts of iron for men and women are 10 mg/day and 18 mg/day.
The recommended amount of zinc for men and women is 12-19 mg/day.
Q8. Explain what changes you may need to make in your diet for each of the minerals listed above.
Activity 3: How many Calories do you expend in a typical day?
Given your choice of life style, how many Calories do you really need? The average for males is 21002800 and for females it is 1300-2000. Each person's caloric needs depend on his or her:
Muscular Activity: how many Calories to fuel your muscles.
Basal Metabolic Rate: how many Calories your body needs to carry out it's functions like nerve
impulse transmission, blood filtration and breathing.
Food Digestion: The functioning of your digestive system takes a lot of energy.
Activity
(a)
# of
minutes
(b)
Energy
Factor
(b)
Energy
Factor
Woman
Man
(a) x (b)
Energy
expended
(Kcal/g)
Sleeping
Sitting or standing
Driving or walking
Moderate exercise
Heavy exercise
Exceptional exercise
TOTAL
1,440
XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
A: Calories used for muscular activity?
Step 1. From the table above, write down your total energy expended __________________
Step 2. Determine how much you weigh in kilograms by multiplying your weight in pounds by 0.454.
Your weight in kg is __________________
Step 3. Multiply the numbers from the steps above together. This is the number of Calories you spent
based on your activity record.
Your Calories for muscular activity is ___________________
B. Calories used for basal metabolic rate (BMR)
Step 1. Use Figure 1 on the last page to determine your surface area. Draw a straight line from your
height (column I) to your weight (column II). The point where the line crosses column III is your
surface area.
Your surface area is ___________________
Step 2. Use Figure 2 on the last page to find your BMR factor for your age and sex.
Your BMR factor is ___________________
Step 3. Multiply the numbers from steps 1 and 2 together and then multiply that by 24 hours. This is
the number of Calories you used to carry out you BMR
Your BMR is ___________________
C. Calories used to digest and absorb your food
Step 1. Take your BMR that you calculated above (B-3) and multiply that number by 0.10. The energy
needed for digestion and absorption is about 10% of the BMR Calories
Your Calories used for digestion is ___________________
D. Total Calories expended
Step 1. Add up all of the Calories you calculated from steps A-3, B-3 and C-1. This is your total
Calories expended
Your total Calories expended is ___________________
E. Calories consumed versus Calories expended. How might your weight change over time?
Step 1. Subtract the number of Calories expended (D-1) from the number consumed (Activity 1, A-3).
Difference between Calories consumed and expended is ___________________
Q9. Are you consuming too many, or too few, Calories to meet your needs? Explain.
Step 2. It takes 3500 Calories to either gain or lose one pound. Using the number of Calories from step
1 above, multiply this number by 7 to calculated expected Calorie gain or loss over a week's time
(assume your diet and activity remain the same). Then divide the number by 3500 to determine
weight gain or loss over the same time.
Calories gained or lost in 1 week ___________________
Pounds gained or lost in 1 week ___________________
Q10. Explain what you thought of this lab exercise? Identify a few things that you learned about
yourself from keeping a diet/activity record? Do you feel that you should change your
eating/exercise patterns to become healthier?