FInal reflection

My experience regarding this project is rather fruitful, I learn quite alot of new facts and information after researching from quite a few websites for example how to keep a healthy diet is a topic which is very common but if you really want to understand it completely you got to research about each and every single nutritional facts and values.

This blog is rather useful because it acts like a transmitter to share whatever I had learnt in this past few weeks into the blog, when I forget about any facts, I can simply just use the blog as a reference to understand more on a particular topic

About writing out my learning targets, it helps as a guide-line to ensure that I follows whatever information that my target states and thus I can complete my target more efficiently.

I learn quite alot during this few weeks of research, some facts which may seemed to be hard to "digest" but after tons of research, I can finally understand what the facts means. Basically, I learnt lots of stuff despite using the conventional way of learning.

I will be doing my final presentation soon.

FAQ about this project

How long is the digestive system?
Can a healthy diet reduce my risk?
How do enzymes help in digestion?
Why is nutrition so important?
How to read nutrition facts?
What is the function of villi?
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Questions about doing the project?

1.Do we need to put our reflection into the final presentation?
2.What is the use of the blog after we completed the final presentation?
3.What is the purpose of the meal log, can we just put a brief description about what we eat on our blog instead of creating the meal log because I find that creating the meal-log is rather troublesome?

Week 8 reflection

I've completed all my reflections and I am going for the final reflection, I think that this blog is useful in updating what I've done every week, I've also completed the food pyramid which is also a guide-line for a healthy diet. So far, I am left with posting a few difficult questions that I encounter during this few weeks and completing my final presentation which will be done on on power-point slides.

Food Pyramid

1.At the top of the food pyramid are food such as fats, oils, sugar and salt, this food are eaten mainly to enhance taste, this food should only be eaten sparingly.

2.The next row of food are meat and alternatives, this food are eaten mainly for growth, about 2 servings and 250-500ml of milk per day.

3.a) The next row are food which are grouped in 2 groups, the first group are food such as fruits which are mainly for good health about 2 servings per day.

3.b) This food are food which helps in bowel movements which are food such as vegetables, they are eaten mainly for good health about 2 servings per day.

4. This food are food such as rice and other alternatives, they are mainly eaten for energy, about 6-7 servings ( including 1 serving of whole grains per day*)

* 1 servings= 1 bread
= 1/2 cup of rice or other alternatives
= 1/2 cup of vegetables or fruits
= 1 dice of margarine and spreads

Trans-Fat

Trans fat is a common name for unsaturated fat, it is commonly known as bad fats that has trans-isomer fatty acids. These fats may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated but can never be saturated.

Trans fat is formed when vegetable oils undergo hydrogenation, an industrial process that hardens liquid oil to produce fats like hard margarine and shortening. Trans fat raises LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol and lowers HDL (‘good’) cholesterol levels, thus increasing the risk of heart disease. The main sources of trans fat in our diet are pastries, cakes, cookies, biscuits, commercially deep-fried food as well as products containing vegetable shortening and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

This fats thus harm your health no matter where is it from. Both saturated and trans fat increases the amount of LDL cholesterol ( bad cholesterol) and decreases the amount of HDL cholesterol(good cholesterol), increasing the chance of coronary heart disease.It is best to not take or take minimal trans-fat as possible because it is not good for your health and may lead to diseases and health problems.

Make sure you read the nutrition information panel to ensure that minimal trans-fat are stored in a particular food.

Fats

Fat is a component in food. Some food including vegetables and fruits have almost no fats, others may have plenty of fats such as oil, meat,butter.etc. Fat plays an important role in our body, functioning as an energy store, a cushion for vital organs and a transport system for fat-soluble vitamins. That is why we require some fat in our diet. However, as fat is a concentrated source of calories (9kcal/g compared to 4kcal/g for carbohydrate and protein), eating too much may lead to weight gain and obesity.

SO HOW MUCH FATS SHOULD I HAVE?

Fat should make up about 25-30% of our total energy intake. Based on a typical 2000kcal diet, the total fat allowance is about 55 to 65g a day. It’s easy to exceed this allowance if one is not mindful. If we take in too much fats for our total energy intake, it may lead to obesity and serious heart diseases.

Fats have many functions in the body, and these include:

• Important for providing energy and maintaining body temperature.
• Insulates and acts as a shock absorber for bones and organs.
• Helps the body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Is a structural component of myelin, the fatty insulating sheath surrounding each nerve fibre, enabling it to carry messages faster.

Fat deficiency is rarely seen in the modern society. However the danger of lack of fats may lead to weight loss, dryness of the skin, atopic eczema and others.

There are 4 kinds of fats

• Saturated fat
• Monounsaturated fat
• Polyunsaturated fat
• Trans fat

I will not be talking about every single kinds of fats except for trans-fat.

Here are some ways you can prevent yourself from having too much fats:

At home:

• Use less oil in cooking. Choose oils higher in unsaturated fat, and avoid re-using oils more than twice.
• Adopt healthier cooking methods (e.g. steaming, baking) more often. Replace coconut milk or coconut cream in cooking with low fat milk.
• Use fat spreads (e.g. margarine, butter, kaya, peanut butter) sparingly.
• Choose low fat dairy products, lean meats, fish and skinless poultry
• Consume fish at least twice a week. Replace meat in dishes with beans and bean products (e.g. tofu) on some days.

When eating out:

• Choose dishes prepared without coconut cream or coconut milk
• Replace fried noodles with soup noodles occasionally
• Limit deep-fried food to no more than twice a week.
• Consume high-fat bakery products (e.g. pastries, cakes and cookies) less often.
• Remove visible fat and skin from meat and poultry.
• Ask for less oil and gravy in food.

When Shopping for food:

• Read the ingredient list to identify products that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats/oils/shortening. These are likely to be high in saturated and trans fat.
• Read the Nutrition Information Panel on food labels to compare the amount of fat in food products.
• Choose products with the Healthy Choice symbol as they are lower in total and saturated fat compared to other products in similar categories. These products also have no trans fat or only negligible amounts of it per serving.

Week 7 reflection

I am doing quite fine with this final topic, so far everything works great for my blog. This blog seemed to really help me alot when reflecting on the facts about each and every topic or questions.

After this reflection, I will go straight into doing my final topic, fats and trans-fat, it'll be a long topic but I will upload some picture for easy references. I will not be uploading the meal-log since I had done 1 in my earlier post so that it'll save time for my final topic, the food pyramid!