Nursing
Nutrition Portfolio and Analysis
Overview
Given a $35 budget for groceries intended to last two days, the menu I was required to craft needed to include breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. While accomplishing such a goal may be feasible in terms of providing meals and meeting the necessary levels of calories consumed, it is also important to consider the nutrients consumed resulting from such a budget. I believe that poverty and health concerns are linked, and that this was an important exercise in understanding the link between money, nutrition and health. In order to consider the nutrition levels of the foods consumed over this two day period, I diligently reviewed the nutrition labels on everything and, in the case of the bananas, used online academic-level resources in order to determine their calories per serving and other pertinent nutritional information relevant to this study. Overall, this project was designed as an effort to eat healthy on a strict budget.
Methods
First, I reviewed the text book, Nutrition: An applied approach - My Plate Edition (3rd edition) to familiarize myself with goals and objectives when it comes to healthy eating. Upon reviewing this background information, I found “Chapter 2: Designing a healthful diet”, to be especially helpful and advantageous for the purposes of this experiment. In tangent with the textbook, I also used ChooseMyPlate.gov for determining serving sizes and learning about the various advisements regarding nutrition in the categories of fruit, vegetable, dairy, protein and grain. Before finalizing my grocery list, I tried to think of foods that I could use on both days in an effort to save money. However, it was still important to me that the foods been enticing, so I tried to pick foods that I liked. I created a chart for my grocery list and included the cost I would pay for each item at my local Wal*Mart store. Then I created another set of charts which illustrated the breakdown of calories for each of my meals.
Nutrition Intake Results Report
Since the objective of the diet plan is benefit as much as possible from the nutritional intake of the selected food given a budget of $35, I went to shop for food that will be consumed during the next three days as shown in the grocery list below
Menu
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Actual Intake v. Recommended Intake
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
My Plate Day 1
My Plate Day 2
My Plate Day 3
Calorie Assessment Day 1
Calorie Assessment Day 2
Calorie Assessment Day 3
Physical Activity Report
In terms of activities, the three-day plan includes the daily routine such as a morning jog and the usual home choirs. Both activities were set for 30 minutes a day where jogging was done every morning from 6:00AM to 6:30AM while the house chores is an estimate of the average time it takes to take out the trash, cleaning the dishes, and the occasional trip to the laundry. The recommended number of minutes for activity workout is 150 minutes a week, but the collective time acquired for three days of activity already past the target by 30 minutes with muscle strengthening activity of two days.
Analysis
It was challenging to find nutritious food for the price range given and I believe this speaks to the health concerns and poverty level of the nation and how they are inherently intertwined. While I was able to purchase food for the budget, it was difficult to balance all of the individual requirements. Purchasing off-brand items was also a helpful way to save some money, but because I am a bit spoiled with my food I still preferred name brand items for many things, including my oatmeal and bread. If I had more money, I would have preferred to have a low-calorie sweetener for my coffee, but they are quite expensive. I opted for V-8 Juice instead of raw vegetables because of the cost factor and the fact that V-8 juice offers 2 servings of vegetables per cup. I did not realize how high this would raise my sodium levels, which were exceptionally high. While I was able to curve this a bit for Day 2, Day 1 was extremely high and Day 2 was still over the limit.
The United States Department of Agriculture has set recommendations for daily nutrition based on category. They propose that an average individual on a 2,000 calorie/day diet consume 6 ounces of grains, 2.5 cups of vegetables or more, 2 cups of fruit or more, 3 cups of dairy, and approximately 5.5 ounces of protein each day (Thompson & Manore, 2012, pp. 52-53). On day 1, my total caloric intake was 1,846. On day 2, my total caloric intake was 1,705. I also drank a lot of water in between meals, which helped to curb my appetite. Both of the days were a bit low on the caloric intake goal.
While my meals were filling, I wish I had been able to reduce the sodium. I also would have liked to add peanut butter, but even off-brand peanut butter is quite expensive. Adding meatballs to my pasta would have allowed me to increase my protein intake, which was neglected on both days, but again my budget did not allow for this. I was particularly pleased with my whole grain intake, a level which I exceeded just from eating bread that I already love. My vegetable, fruit and dairy intake was good, but I do wish I had been able to get less sodium in my vegetable servings, which came from V-8 juice exclusively.
Reflection
Nutrition is extremely important to health and one’s ability to understand, afford and consume nutritious meals is directly influenced by their socioeconomic status. In 2013, 45.3 million individuals, or 14.5% of the population, lived in poverty. At the same time period of 2013, 49.1 million people living in households facing food insecurity (Feeding America, 2015). Cheap, processed foods are often economical, but lack nutrients essential to proper nutrition. Raw, organic foods are often more expensive and challenge the financial situation of those living in poverty, contributing to the number of homes facing food insecurity.
As much as I thought this assignment was important for illustrating to us the importance of food selection for healthy nutrition, I think it also emphasized the plight of poverty and food insecurity and the powerful, detrimental and far-reaching effects of such situations and environments. It was challenging to balance all the aspects of nutrition with the finances provided, but it was extremely interesting and invaluable in terms of understanding about the various people in the United States, as well as understanding the nuances of balanced nutrition.
This course has helped me gain insights in understanding the importance of nutritional value towards health. For one, most people would only know the difference in nutritional value between meat and vegetable based on the common knowledge about the food. However, there subject of nutrition is not just about the nature of food itself, but also concerns the size, preparation, and the amount of other ingredients put together to create the meal. The frequency of food intake also matters at this point because as observed in the results of the three-day meal plan, repetitions in the quantity and type of food taken in any given period. This goes to show that repetitions limit a person in maximizing the nutritional potential of exploring other budget-saving food. On the other hand, the source also helped me become more aware of what I eat and how a simple daily meal planning can make a difference towards a healthy living.
References
"Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet." Feeding America. Feeding America, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. <http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/hunger-and-poverty/hunger-and-poverty-fact-sheet.html?gclid=CJG5sOTHt8QCFdAF7AodyxYABg>.
"MyPlate." MyPlate. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
Pederson, Kevin. "Banana Fruit: Plantain Health Benefits." Banana Fruit: Plantain Health Benefits. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. <http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/5229/1/Banana-Fruit-Plantain-Health-Benefits.html>.
Thompson, Janice, and Melinda Manore. "Designing a Healthful Diet." Nutrition: An Applied Approach. 3rd ed. San Francisco, Calif.: Benjamin Cummings, 2012. Print.
