Nutrition is an important part of the functioning and development of the human body. In order to maintain good self-esteem and health, it is necessary to keep track of what kind of food an individual consumes. In addition, one must distinguish between the chemical elements that come with meals. The correct distribution of chemical elements can have a significant impact on the immunity, health, and well-being of a person. Moreover, in case of a lack of one or another element, it is necessary to increase these indicators.
The first table implies the Macronutrient distribution, which is essential to analyze in order to follow the balance of the elements. As one may notice, the only indicator under the norm is Carbohydrate intake, which formulates the imbalanced obtaining of necessary elements. In this case, the diet could be improved by the increase of products containing carbohydrates, such as root vegetables, legumes, bread, cereals, and vegetables.
The second table, intake compared to DRI, implies the intake of some chemical elements which are necessary for the human body and vitamins. As it can be noticed, except for carbohydrates, the sodium intake level is above the recommended level. In this regard, it is necessary to reduce some products such as table salt, bouillon powder, prepared food, canned food, and salted and smoked foods (Lanham et al., 2019). Further, the My Plate table shows that there are heightened indicators of fruits, proteins, and empty calorie levels. However, the oils intake level is at the zero point, which articulates the need to increase this indicator slightly.
The energy balance table shows that on Tuesday, April 19, 3545 kCal was consumed, which is above the norm. However, the indicator for the other two days and the average indexes are within the rate. In this case, it is recommended to increase sports activity for the days when the kCal indexes are above the norm. Besides, it is appropriate to apply running as a way to burn calories efficiently. Calorie balance plays a major role in weight management. In addition to the number of calories taken, it is necessary to take into account their type and the ratio of calories received and burned. Without maintaining a balance in this aspect, weight loss is not possible.
The following table implies sodium content in certain products, which is important to find out which meal should be reduced or increased depending on sodium indexes. Sodium plays a vital role in the normal functioning of the human body. This element, in addition to its chemical properties, regulates the volume of extracellular life. It is necessary to maintain normal function at the cellular level. Moreover, sodium contributes to the normal growth and function of muscle nerves. Thus, the highest content is in a chicken sandwich with a chicken fillet, and the lowest is in a banana.
Similarly, the next table shows the content of Folic acid in products. Folic acid, like other elements, is essential for the human body and for its average performance. A lack of this element can cause fatigue, shortness of breath, irritability, and dizziness. Thereby, powder milk has the highest index of folate content, which is around ten times higher than ready-to-drink milk. Twix cookie bar and banana have the lowest content of Folic acid. In this regard, in case of insufficient amounts of folic acid in the human body, one needs to base the diet on products containing this element and include powdered milk in the diet.
Reference
Lanham, S. A., Hill, T. R., Gallagher, A. M., & Vorster, H. H. (2019). Introduction to human nutrition. (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.