This report therefore seeks to analyze the nutrient content of diets consumed by an individual during a period of three days

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Introduction

The amount and type of diet consumed by people of varied occupations has been of fundamental concern to the experts in the nutrition as well as health sectors. To begin with, the nutrient content of the diets consumed determines whether the diet is healthy and fit for human consumption or not. This is however dependent on other issues such as the activity the consumer is engaged in, stage of life, gender as well as the time span during which the diet is consumed. For instance, the dietary requirements for military men may not necessarily be similar to civilians given their varied nature of occupations. Some nutrients particularly vitamins may prove harmful when consumed in excess hence the need to establish the tolerable upper intake levels of the nutrients in question. Calculation of the daily recommended dietary allowance that an individual is entitled to consume is an important step towards enhancing healthy dieting. The Food and Nutrition Board in the US adopted such strategies a couple of years back to not only address issues of healthy dieting but also take into account the availability of food to be consumed. This report therefore seeks to analyze the nutrient content of diets consumed by an individual during a period of three days including breakfast, lunch as well as supper in an attempt to determine the appropriateness of the diet in regard to the daily recommended dietary allowance for an individual. This would be determined through calculation of various entities to establish the facts concerning the amount of nutrients consumed.

Results

The recommended daily intake constitutes the levels of nutrients in the daily dietary intake that is sufficient to meet the requirements of almost all healthy individuals in each gender as well as stage of life. At the outset, it is important to appreciate the DRI profile of the individual on study. Nkhateeb is a female aged 37 years with a height of 5ft and 3inches. Moreover, the lady weighs about 154 pounds and has a body mass index of 27. Finally, she smokes as well as consuming meat products. According to the nutrient intake levels by the exemplified individual, there are great variances of such nutrient intake with the DRI levels. First and foremost, Nkhateeb has indulged in the consumption in excess of a variety of nutrients including carbohydrates, calories, proteins, saturated fats, as well as vitamins A, B12, and Thiamin. Consumption of carbohydrates for instance was 322.07 g contrary to the required upper levels of 246g. Calories were consumed in excess by 37% while proteins and saturated fats are in excess of 10% and 1.13g respectively. Vitamins A, Thiamin and B12 were consumed in excess of 53%, 5% and 21% in that order.

Finally, sodium was also consumed beyond the recommended level by 91%. However, some nutrients were consumed below the recommended daily intake and include such nutrients as vitamin D which consumed 0.13 mcg instead of the adequate amount of 5 mcg as well as calcium which was less by 51% in consumption. Generally, macronutrients consumption by Nkhateeb was within the recommended levels. Firstly, carbohydrates, proteins as well as saturated fats were consumed in excess as per the above statistics. Finally, the results of Nkhateeb’s pyramid analysis shows inadequate consumption of such foods as milk, fruits and fruits. Consumption of vegetables is slightly below the recommended levels by recording 78% consumption.

Discussion

Calorie consumption on 11/26/2010 by Nkhateeb was 1178kCal and the amount burned was 1945kCal therefore recorded a calorie net loss of 767kCal on the aforementioned day. She however had a calorie net gain of 930Kcal in the next day following consumption of calorie amounting to 2875kCal and burning similar amount of calorie as the previous day. Finally, Nkhateeb had calorie net gain of 250kCal in the last day after consuming calorie of 2195kCal and burning the same amount as the two previous days. The total consumption therefore sums up to (1178+2875+2195) = 6248 thereby averaging to 2082.67kCal in the three days. On the other hand, the average calorie burned is1945kCal for the three days in question. This implies that the average net gain is (2082.67- 1945) = 137.67kCal for the three days studied. If one continues to eat this way for the next six months she has to gain weight. The lady gained averagely (137.67 x 30 x 6) kCal = 24780.6kCal in the six months.

According to the statistics, Nkhateeb consumed about 61% of calories from carbohydrates translating to approximately 1271kcal. The total carbohydrates consumed were 322.07 g which is in excess of the recommended levels. On the other hand, the total fat content of about 27% translating to 569 kCal of fat. The total fat content consumed was about 64.06 g which is outside the DRI range of 34 – 59 g. Moreover, 8% of the total fat came from other sources including Saturated Fat, Monounsaturated Fat, as well as Polyunsaturated Fat. Besides, Nkhateeb consumed about 12% of calorie from proteins translating to about 247 kCal. This is sufficiently within the recommended range of 152-53level of 55.88 g.

Nkhateeb consumed varied vitamins in inadequate levels including Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamins C, D, and A (RAE) as well as alpha-tocopherol (Vit E). Moreover, all the minerals including Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium and Zinc were insufficiently consumed with exception of Sodium which was consumed in Excess of the RDA. On the other hand, the lady consumed such vitamins as vitamins A (IU) B12, and Thiamin in excess of the RDA levels. To offset the inadequacy in the aforementioned vitamins, one may opt to consume foods rich in vitamins such as fruits as exemplified in kiwifruit as well as foods rich in Marmite to provide Riboflavin. As indicated earlier, the macronutrient intake reflected a high consumption rate of the nutrients in question above the RDA levels. For instance, fats, proteins as well as carbohydrates were all consumed in excess according to the statistics.