A Quick Guide to Proper Nutrition

1
A Quick Guide to Proper Nutrition
2
What is proper nutrition?

• The typical nutrition guide has been the food
  pyramid
• It tells us how much of each type of food to eat
• Has types of food in a hierarchy
• Is this a good diagram?

3
The New Food Pyramid

• The U.S. government thought that the old pyramid
  was not a good model of proper nutrition
• In 2000, they introduced MyPyramid

4
Understanding MyPyramid

• MyPyramid has bands that run from top to bottom
  showing that all food groups are equally
  important
• The width of each band shows how much you should
  eat from each food group

5
Understanding MyPyramid

• The most drastic change to the symbol was the
  addition of a person walking up stairs
• This emphasizes the importance of physical
  activity in nutrition and overall health

6
Choosing your pyramid

• Unlike the last food pyramid, that was based on a
  general 2,000 calorie diet, MyPyramid is
  customizable
• 12 different pyramids have been made to fit
  people depending on their age, height, and amount
  of physical activity
• To find out more about your pyramid go to
  mypyramid.gov

7
Cracking the code

• The bands on MyPyramid are color coded.
• Each group is assigned a color

8
Cracking the code

• The ORANGE band represents GRAINS
• The GREEN band represents VEGETABLES

9
Cracking the code

• The RED band represents FRUITS
• The slim YELLOW band represents OILS

10
Cracking the code

• The BLUE band represents MILK
• The PURPLE band represents MEAT AND BEANS

11
Grain Group

• The grain group still takes up the biggest part
  of the pyramid
• Whats in the grain group?
• Bread
• Cereal
• Crackers
• Rice
• Pasta
• Try and make the grains you eat
• whole grains

12
Vegetable Group

• The vegetable group also takes up a significant
  portion of the pyramid
• What should you eat in the vegetable group?
• Dark green veggies (broccoli, spinach)
• Orange veggies (carrots, squash)
• Dry beans and peas (black beans,
• pinto beans, etc.)

13
Fruit Group

• Fruits take up a smaller portion of the pyramid
  but are still very important
• You should
• Eat a variety of fruits
• Choose fresh, frozen, canned,
• or dried fruits
• Go easy on fruit juices, as
• they are often full of added
• sugars

14
Oils Group

• Oils is the smallest group in the pyramid
• Where should you get your oils?
• Good sources fish, nuts, vegetable oils
• Not so good sources solids like butter,
  shortening, or lard
• Look for things low in
• saturated fats and
• trans-fats

15
Milk Group

• The milk group is another larger group
• Whats in the milk group?
• Milk
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Make sure to choose low fat
• or fat free milk products
• If you are lactose intolerant,
• find other sources of calcium

16
Meat and Bean Group

• You should
• Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry
• Bake, broil, or grill your meats. Frying adds
  unnecessary extra fat and oil
• Vary your choices with
• more fish, beans, peas,
• nuts, and seeds
• If you do not eat meat, find
• other sources of protein
• such as tofu

17
Why do we need to eat different foods?

• Would it be fun to eat pizza, cookies, and soft
  drinks for every meal?
• We need to eat different foods because they have
  different nutrients in them (i.e. carbohydrates,
  proteins, calcium, iron, vitamins)
• What foods have different nutrients?

18
Food Groups Nutrients

• Grains Group
• A good source of carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are a source of energy for the body
• Vegetable Group
• A good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals
• A deficiency in vitamin A, found in carrots and
  spinach, can lead to blindness

19
Food Groups Nutrients

• Fruit Group
• A good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals
• Vitamin C, abundant in citrus fruits, is not made
  in the body and must be consumed
• Oils Group
• Source of necessary dietary fats
• Fat is stored energy for the body. However,
  excess amounts of fat can be detrimental to
  health.

20
Food Groups Nutrients

• Milk Group
• A good source of calcium
• Calcium is necessary for proper bone growth. It
  also is involved in muscle contraction and
  nervous signal transmission
• Meat and Beans Group
• A good source of protein
• Proteins are necessary for the formation of
  skeletal muscle, hormones, antibodies, and enzymes

21
Finding nutrients

• You can see that it is important to eat foods
  from all groups as they provide different
  nutrients
• However, how do we necessarily know what
  nutrients or how much of each nutrient is in a
  food?
• A good way to find out is to read the Nutrition
  Facts labels

22
How to read Nutrition Facts Labels

• Nutrition Facts labels provide a lot of
  information
• 1. Serving Size the amount you should eat of
  the food.

1
2
3
4
5
23
How to read Nutrition Facts Labels

• 2. Calories this is how many calories you are
  consuming in each serving. This helps you see if
  you are meeting or exceeding your caloric goals
  based on MyPyramid.

1
2
3
4
5
24
How to read Nutrition Facts Labels

• 3. Core Nutrients these are the many nutrients
  that your body needs. It provides information
  about the amount of each nutrient and the
  different types (i.e. saturated fat, dietary
  fiber, sugars)

1
2
3
4
5
25
How to read Nutrition Facts Labels

• 4. Micronutrients these are all important but
  are just required in small amounts. These
  include vitamins and minerals

1
2
3
4
5
26
How to read Nutrition Facts Labels

• 5. Percent Daily Values this shows that the
  percentages shown are based on a general 2,000
  calorie diet. These percentages are to help you
  see if you are meeting your daily requirements of
  each nutrient

1
2
3
4
5
27
Why exercise?

• There are plenty of reasons that exercise helps
  your health physically and mentally, both now and
  in the future.
• See how many different reasons you can think of
  to show why exercise is important.

28
A list of reasons

• Improves self-esteem and feelings of well-being
• Increases fitness level
• Helps build and maintain bones, muscles, and
  joints
• Builds endurance and muscle strength
• Enhances flexibility and posture
• Helps manage weight
• Lowers risk of heart disease, colon cancer,
  osteoperosis and type 2 diabetes
• Helps control blood pressure
• Relieves stress
• Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety
• Promotes better sleep

29
What types of exercises should we do?

• There are three main categories of exercise
• Aerobic
• Resistance, strength building, and weight bearing
• Balance and stretching
• It is important to do some activities from all
  three of the categories

30
Aerobic exercises

• Speeds heart rate and breathing and improves
  heart and lung fitness.
• Can be maintained continuously
• Usually has a type of rhythm to it
• Some aerobic activities
• Brisk walking
• Jogging
• Swimming
• What other aerobic activities can you think of?

31
Resistance, Strength Building, and Weight Bearing
Exercises

• Helps build and maintain bones and muscles by
  working them against gravity or some other force
• Some examples
• Carrying a child
• Lifting weights
• Calisthenics, or body exercises without equipment
• Can you think of other examples?

32
Balance and Stretching Exercises

• Enhances physical stability and flexibility,
  which reduces risk of injuries
• Some balance and stretching exercises
• Gentle stretching
• Dancing
• Yoga
• Martial arts
• Tai chi
• Can you think of other balance and stretching
  activities?

33
How much physical activity do we need?

• How often do you think we should exercise? (e.g.
  every day, on the weekend, once a month)
• Different Institutions offer different
  recommendations about exercise
• The USDA suggests 30 minutes of moderate exercise
  at least 5 days a week, but daily is best

34
How much physical activity do we need?

• The Institute of Medicine recommends an hour
  daily of vigorous activity to promote
  cardiovascular health
• If you dont have an hour a day, dont be
  discouraged. Even just 20 minutes of daily
  exercise still has significant health benefits.
• Exercising harder and longer increases benefits

35
Different levels of exercise

• Light
• Gardening
• Walking slowly
• Dusting or vacuuming
• Moderate
• Mowing lawn
• Bicycling (5-9mph)
• Dancing
• Heavy
• Swimming laps
• Bicycling (10mph)
• Jogging or running
• Playing basketball
• Playing soccer

36
Getting enough exercise

• Did you consider things like chores and dancing
  exercise?
• You do not necessarily have to go running for an
  hour straight. Break it up! Run for 20 minutes
  three times.
• The key is to increase physical activity by doing
  things you like. Maybe it could be playing
  sports, riding a bike, or swimming.