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Nutrition Guidelines:
Tools for a Healthful Diet
BIOL 103, Chapter 2
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Today’s Topics
1.
Concepts in choosing a healthful diets
2.
Dietary Guidelines and Diet Plans
3.
Recommendations for nutrient intake?
4.
Reading and Interpreting Food Labels
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Linking Nutrients, Food, and Health
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Planning how you will eat
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Adequacy
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The foods you choose to eat provide all the essential nutrients,
fiber, and energy in amounts sufficient to support growth and
maintain health.
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Just because you eat a lot does not mean that you eat adequate
amount of nutritious food.
Balance
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Your diet is balanced if:
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Calories you eat = Calories (Energy) that you use
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It is a healthful diet (has adequate amount of essential
nutrients)
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Linking Nutrients, Food, and Health
Planning how you will eat…
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Calorie Control
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Assuming we spend the same
amount of calories in our
activities:
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Eat same number of calories
same body weight
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Eat more calories  gain body
weight
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Eat less calories  lose body
weight
Nutrient Density
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Nutrient dense foods provide
substantial amounts of vitamins
and minerals relative to the amount
of calories
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Which food is more nutrient dense?
Here are some examples of empty+
calorie foods.
If you’re going to get calories, might as well eat
nutrient-dense food.
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Linking Nutrients, Food, and Health
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Planning how you will eat…
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Moderation
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“Not too much, not too little”
Variety
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Include a lot of different types of food in your diet (not just the
food group, but also different foods from the same food group).
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Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
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In 1980, USDA and US DHHS released the
1st edition of Dietary Guidelines for
Americans.
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What is it and what does it contain?
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A guideline that individuals can refer
to in order to make informed
decisions about food and activity
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Content is backed by scientific
research
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Their Goal: to improve overall
health by balancing calories that
Americans eat with physical
activity to manage weight.
Used to develop educational
materials, or aid policy makers in
designing and carrying out nutritionrelated programs
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Two basic concepts of Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, 2010
Balance calories to manage weight
1.
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Examples: improve eating/physical activity, control calories intake,
Live a more active lifestyle, maintain a proper calorie balance at all
stages of your life (childhood  elderly)
Focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods
2.
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Reduce sodium, solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains
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Increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and oils
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Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
In addition, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 provides:
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Recommendations for Specific Population Group
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Woman capable of getting pregnant
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Woman who are pregnant or breastfeeding
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Individuals age 50 and older
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Key consumer behaviors and potential strategies for Professionals to
use
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Food safety principles and guidance for Consumers
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How to use the food label to track calories, nutrients, and ingredients
Social-ecological model framework for
+ nutrition and physical activity
decisions
1.
People make their own choices about food/exercise
2.
Other elements of society should try to encourage individuals to
make America healthy
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From Dietary Guidelines to
Planning: what will you eat?
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In 2011, USDA formed MyPlate to
accompany the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans, 2010.
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MyPlate is designed to convey 7 key
messages:
1.
Enjoy food, but eat less
2.
Avoid oversize portions
3.
Make half your plate fruits and
vegetables
4.
Drink water instead of sugary
drinks
5.
Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%)
milk
6.
Compare sodium in foods
7.
Make at least half your grains
whole grains
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Using MyPlate food guide in
dietary planning
1.
Determine the amount of calories you should eat each day
2.
Become familiar with the types of food in each group,
number of recommended servings, and serving sizes
1.
3.
A “serving” on food labels may differ from the “serving sizes”
on MyPlate.
Plan your meals and snacks using the suggested serving
sizes
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Canada’s Food Guide
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Exchange List
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Exchange lists also be used as a tool for individual meal planning
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It is usually used by people with diabetes and/or by weightcontrol programs.
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Foods are grouped by food type and the amount of
macronutrients in each portion:
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Starches
Fruits
Milk
Other carbs
Vegetables
Meats and meat substitutes
Fats
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Recommendations for the Nutrient
Intake: the DRIs
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DRI = Dietary Reference Intakes
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DRIs are a set of scientifically-based nutrient reference values for
healthy populations
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Supervised by the National Academy of Sciences, US Food and
Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, expert panels of
Canadian and American scientists.
DRIs is a umbrella term that describes four types of reference
values:
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Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)
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Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
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Adequate Intake (AI)
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Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
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Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)
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Estimated Average
Requirement (EAR)
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Amount that meets the
nutrient requirements of
50% of people in a life-stage
and gender group
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Based on specific indicator
of dietary adequacy
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Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)
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Recommended Dietary
Allowance (RDA)
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Amount that meets the
needs of most people (9798%) in a life-stage and
gender group
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RDA is calculated from the
EAR
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Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)
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Adequate Intake (AI)
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AI is used when EAR and RDA
cannot be determined
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Amount thought to be
adequate for most people
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AI is not equivalent to EAR
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Examples of AI nutrients: Fl,
Cl, Mn, K, Na, total fiber,
Water.
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Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)
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Tolerable Upper Intake
Levels (UL): maximum level of
daily nutrient intake that poses
little risk of adverse health
effects to almost all of the
individuals in a defined group.
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Intake above the UL can be
harmful/toxic
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Some ULs for certain
nutrients are still unknown.
(e.g. Arsenic)
+ Problem Set #2 – Draw, label, and briefly
define the following: EAR, RDA, AI, and UL.
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Dietary Reference Intakes for
energy in food
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Estimated Energy Requirement (EER): an amount of
average dietary energy intake estimated to maintain energy
balance in healthy, normal-weight individuals of a defined
age/gender/weight/certain level of physical activity
consistent with good health.
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Similar to EAR
Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR)”:
a range of intakes for a particular energy source that is
associated with reduced risk of chronic disease while
providing adequate intakes of essential nutrients.
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“% of total energy intake.”
+ Introducing Food Labels
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During 1970-1980s, research
about the the role of diet in
chronic diseases increased
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In 1990, Congress passed the
Nutrition Labeling and
Education Act (NLEA) for food
package to have ingredient
list, allergy warnings and
nutrient info.
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1994: Nutrition labels start to
appear on foods
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FDA vs. USDA
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FDA: oversees most of the
U.S. food supplies
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USDA: oversees supply of
meat, poultry, egg products
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Food Labels
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What are mandatory information on
food labels?
1.
Name of the food
 Ex: “Instant Ramen”
2.
Net weight of the food itself
 Ex.: “NET WEIGHT 14oz.”
3.
Name and address of
manufacturer, packer, distributor
4.
List of ingredients
 Listed by common or “usual”
name
 Listed in descending order by
weight
5.
Nutrition information
 Nutrition Facts panel
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Standard format of Nutrition Facts
panel
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Food Labels – Daily Values
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3 Claims that can be made for food
and dietary supplements
1. Nutrient content claims
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Regulated by the NLEA and
FDA
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Use meaningful terms:
“low fat,” “high fiber”
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Reduce misleading claims:
“fat free,” “cholesterol free,”
etc.
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What it really means:
 Fat free: less than <0.5g of
fat per serving
 0% Trans Fat: <0.5g of
trans-fat per serving
 Sugar free: <0.5 g of sugar
per serving
 Calorie free: <5
calories/serving
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Check out “FYI Definitions
for Nutrient Content Claims
on Food Labels” (pg. 60-61)
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Claims that can be made for food
and dietary supplements
2. Health claim: a statement that
the food or a substance in the food
is linked to reduced risk of disease
 Must be supported by
scientific evidence
 Must be approved by FDA
 e.g. “Low-fat diets may reduce
the risk for some types of
cancer.”
3. Structure/function claim:
statement that claim a potential
benefit on body structures or
functions.
 e.g. “helps promote immune
system/bone
health/digestion, etc.”
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New Look for Food Labels (2014)
Updates: focus on calories, serving size must reflect
true consumption, list added sugars separate from
natural sugar.
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Controversy with Froot Loops
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Oct 2008: Smart Choices is a
program sponsored by the food
industry (General Mills, Kellogg’s,
Kraft, Pepsi, etc.) to promote a
standardized symbol in front of the
package for consumer information.
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Liberal criteria
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Food Labels Practice Time!!!