Week 1 reflection

In this week, I had learnt quite alot of information and completed my meal-log and researched mostly on the nutrients that a particular food contain and what does it helps our body in. I am doing pretty well and there is not much difficulties I am encountering.

For week 2, I will be doing how is food processed and broken down and used by the body, I will be doing a few researches before I post a post, I will also be providing lots of links to the question I am doing on that week.

Fear not, I will be uploading my meal-log as soon as possible

Nutrients in food

Today I will be talking about the nutrients that are contain in the food we eat. There ae basically thousands of nutrients in the food we eat, each nutrients enhanced or provide different effects to our body.

B vitamins: There are many different B vitamins like thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine (B6), and cobalamin (B12)
Function of B vitamins: It works together to help the body use the energy get from food. Some B vitamins are also important in helping the body use protein from the diet to build new cells and tissues.
B vitamins are stored in most animal products.

Calcium is a mineral that is important to build strong bones and teeth. Only a small amount of calcium is needed to help our heart, nerves and muscle work.
Importance of calcium: If we do not get enough calcium from the food that we eat daily, it may cause our bones to be very weak and brittle over a long period of time. Osteoporosis is a disease which can cause bones to break easily and jaw bone to shrink and teeth are loss. It also leads to curvature of the spine.
Food that contain high in calcium are food made with milk and leafy vegetables, toufu and canned fish.

Carbohydrates are the body main source of energy. There are 3 different kind of carbohydrates, they are starch, sugar and fiber. Plant food like cereals, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes are good sources of starch. they give us energy to do work and activities

Cholesterol is needed by our body for our cells, nerves and our brain
Food that contain cholesterol are food made from animal products.
Disadvantage of cholesterol: The level of cholesterol in the blood will increase if we take too much cholesterol. The higher our blood cholesterol will increase the chances of developing heart disease.To cut down on cholesterol that we eat is to eat more plant food as source of protein and decrease the amount of intake for animal products

Fat is a nutrient that is important source of calories. One gram of fat contains 9 calories which is more than what we get from carbohydrates and protein.
Disadvantage of fats: When we eat alot of high fat food, with too much calories, we will gain weight. It will also increase the risk of getting disease such as high blood pressure. Health experts recommend that we should not get more than 30% of our calories from fat.
Fat is stored in most food especially food which contain great amount of oil.

We can reduce the amount of fat we eat by cutting down on the fat that we add in cooking or spread on foods. We can eat skim milk and low fat cheeses instead of whole milk and cheese. We can also use less fat, oil, butter, and margarine. Another way to cut down on fat is to drain and trim meats and take the skin off poultry. We can also read labels and compare the amount of fat in foods to make lower fat choices.

Iron is a mineral that is important part for our red blood cells. It is needed to carry oxygen from our lungs to our cells, muscles and organs. If we do not get enough iron, not enough oxygen will be delivered to our muscles and organs. Without enough oxygen, our muscles and organs cannot work properly and we will feel tired and weak.
Iron are found in animal and plant products.

Importance of a healthy diet

So most people may ask what is so important of a healthy diet, the answer simply lies within the food we eat.

Firstly many may think that junk food is simply nice to eat but what cause people to be unhealthy is because of the low nutritional value of junk food. So what exactly is junk food, it is food most conveniently and easily to obtained in a ready to eat form. Examples are like burgers fries...
Junk food may lead to excess weight, mood swings and increase stress.

Some dietary needs that a human need to intake are calories, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. With most of this nutrition that are present in the daily food that we eat, we can ensure a healthy diet.

So now you may ask what food has what nutrients:
1. Carbohydrates are stored in fruits, vegetables, grains and of course milk
2-4 servings of fruits per day
3-5 servings of vegetables per day


2. Proteins are stored in rice, beans,cereal,milk,bread and cheese
Take about 6-11 servings of rice per meal

3.Fats are stored in oily food
Take minimal oil per day

4.Vitamin are stored in most vegetables and meat
Try to take 2-3 servings per meal

You are recommended to be careful in limiting sugar,salt and fats and include plenty of fruits, vegetables,lean meat, whole grains and other healthy food in your diet. This will thus increased in health and longevity.

With a healthy diet, you will also experience a stronger immune system and fewer sugar-induced mood swings, making it easier to respond stress, and reducing the amount of stress you experience due to illness or poor overall health. You also may have more energy, so you can be more productive in your life, leaving you the ability to do more things that you enjoy.

So keep a healthy diet for all those benefits that I've told you

Ways to apprroach the project

A few ways that I will approach this project

Firstly,Complete a meal log for a four day period in which I am to record everything I ate over a period of three days.

Then, I group them according to the food they belong to

Next I list down the nutrients of all the food I ate.

Lastly, I present my data in the form of graphs.

My learning targets

Some questions that I will like to consider for this project:

What are the importance of a healthy diet?
Why do we need to maintain a healthy diet
How is food processed and broken down and used by the body?
What are the nutrients in food?