Posted: May 12th, 2015

Food Record

Food Record

Introduction

Dietary issues have become important for each and every person. Nutritionists argue that there is no bad food. People must learn how to combine the different food rations which they consume. This is a precursor to healthy diets. Food guide recommendations help people in streamlining their diets by giving information on how to combine different nutrients in a commendable way (Insel and Insel, 43). This paper discuses food guide recommendations basing on a food record of an individual.

Food Record and Recommended Food Guide

For a person to understand his or her easting standards easily, he or she can come up with a food record. A food record indicates the food type, nutritional category in which it lies, and the quantity of food. If this is recorded in a systematic manner for a certain period, a person can get a clear picture of his eating habits and compare it with the recommended nutritional standards. Therefore, it can be used in advising a person on a diet. A person might take all the required nutrients, but in wrong proportions. This is an unhealthy pattern of nutrition. A person has to get the right quantities of nutrients in recommended proportions and within the recommended time spans. There are different dietary recommendations for different classes of people such as children, the aged, the old, adolescents and different working groups among others (Wilson, 133).

This dietary intake was recorded for three days. The primary food nutrients were included in the food record represented by certain types of food. Grains represented carbohydrates; fruits and vegetables represented vitamins; meat and alternatives represented proteins while milk and milk products represented minerals and proteins. The average consumption of these foods for the three recorded days was done and compared to the recommended food guide for Canada. There were significant gaps between the recommended guide and the real portions that were consumed. This denotes the essence of food guides and food records. A person gets to know and understand his consumption pattern and make adjustments basing on the guide (Wilson, 133).

It becomes easy to calculate the nutrients in the food consumed after preparing the food record. Different food components in the diet consumed can be easily calculated in ratios and percentages. The quantities of certain nutrients in the diet of a person have impacts on the health of the person consuming the diet. The person will be healthier if the nutrients are in the right quantities. The opposite is often true. All food consumed must be recorded in quantities that are consumed by a person. This is what leads to the generation of the right comparative percentages and ratios. Total intake of diets for each day was calculated by summing up the intake of different food taken in each category and summing them up (Insel and Insel, 43).

Average diet consumption is calculated for each of the category of food, and food and nutritional component as was done in this case. The major nutritional compounds include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, alcohol and major minerals such as sodium and calcium. After the calculation of the total nutritional compounds in the diet that has been consumed, one can then assess it and analyze the diet record. The analysis is best done by comparing the results with recommended nutritional guide (Whitney and Rolfes, 3).

Conclusion

Food records are essential in documenting diets. Individual food records are the best as a person records the exact information concerning diet. Consumed rations of nutrients can easily be calculated and advise on diet derived by comparing the record and the recommended diet standards.