Nutrition Analysis

A good eating habit is crucial for us to maintain good health and reduce the risk of having diseases. In order to assess whether my diet is balanced or not, here I am going to analyze my food intake of one day. I will firstly introduce my general personal information. Then I will focus on the nutrient deficiencies and excesses resulted in the diet record nutrition summary. I will examine the sources causing nutrients imbalance and the effects. Finally, I will consider of making some changes for my daily dietary intake. The following is my personal background information.

I am twenty-five years old, female. My BMI is 20.5. I had asthma when I was young and back pain five years ago. I am self-employed and work at home now. I have medium level of health awareness as I suffered from sick before. Therefore, I always aware of having more vegetables, fruits, fiber, water and less oil, sugar, salt intake. However, I still love eating chocolate, ice cream, some high fat food and drinking alcohol. I have about six hour's aerobic exercises a week. Though I feel healthy now, it is shown on the summary that my nutrient intake is imbalance in some areas. The below paragraphs are the investigation on those areas.

According to the nutrition summary, my total daily kilocalories are above the suggested goal 21%. Hence, I have to find out the sources and try to reduce the overall caloric intake. The main cause is that the total fat intake of the day is 55% higher than the reasonable target. So firstly there is a need to reduce the saturated fatty acid intake as it is risky to health. It is also shown that PFA 18:2, Linoleic and PFA 18:3, Linolenic, excess the goal by 162% and 64% respectively. With the very high percentage of over consumption of Linoleic (omega 6, polyunsaturated fatty acid), it may be prone to oxidation, which produces toxins and directly damages cell membranes. It may lower HDL, which is good cholesterol. And it also tends to increase blood clotting, though I also have more Linolenic (omega 3), which is good to health and also increases the liquidity of blood. The main sources of the high fat on that day are butter, cheese, chips and the fried chicken wings. In short, I have to reduce not only the saturated fatty acid intake, but also the polyunsaturated fatty acid in order to reduce the risk of having health problems.

Apart from the excess intake of total fat, some of my vitamin, mineral and trace elements intake are over the ideal level. They are the water soluble vitamin, including vitamin C, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), folate and the fat soluble vitamin, vitamin K. And minerals such as phosphorous and magnesium are also over consumption. The trace elements like copper, manganese, selenium and chromium are also over the amount of suggested goal. Although the above intakes are somehow higher than the target, most of them may not cause bad effects to the health. For instance, extra vitamin C, magnesium and chromium can be excreted in urine or stool. And some of the others seldom cause toxicity problems with normal daily dietary intake. For example, I do not have the symptoms of hair loss, tooth decay or brittle nails; it seems that the high amount of selenium intake does not affect much.

However, the excess intake of phosphorus may affect the calcium absorption. Related to this, it is found that I have deficiency in calcium intake. This is the concern to reduce the amount of phosphorus intake as to enhance the calcium absorption. The main phosphorus food sources of my diet are cheese, poultry and whole grain products. Hence, it is better to avoid having rich phosphorus food together in a day.

High sodium intake is also my focus here to consider reducing the amount of absorption