LMCC/Nutrition

Eat the rainbow

Lesson of The digestive system

Every being needs to absorb some energy in order to develop itself. The alimentary adaptation to satisfy physiological needs is called dietetic. It makes intervene some nutriments from different natures in variable quantities. Some are fresh and need to be conserved in the fridge at +4°C.

Food Guide Recommendations

1. The energy contribution of main nutrients is :

   1g of carbohydrate gives 4kcal or 17kJ.

   1g of protein gives 4kcal or 17kJ.

   1g of lipid gives 9kcal or 38kJ.

   1g alcohol gives 7kcal or 29kJ.

2. Below is the percent of each macronutrient that your diet should consist of each day :

   55% of carbohydrate (including 2/3 of complex ones)

   30% of protein (including 1/2 from a vegetarian origin)

   15% of lipid (including 1/2 from a vegetarian origin)

3. Because the sensation of satiety from the stomach to the brain takes 15 to 20 minutes, eating more slowly can help prevent overeating. Also, one should drink 8 oz of water a day, where more than 25 % comes from the food that you ingest, which should be preferably cooked properly and thoroughly chewed in order to facilitate digestion and avoid food poisoning.
4. Between 2 to 6g of salt per day.
5. Nature of nutrients :

	CANADA			FRANCE
Food Group	Servings per day	Choose more often	Food Group	Servings per day	Choose more often
Grain products	5-12	whole grain and enriched grain products	Starchy food	Every meal
Vegetables and fruit	5-10	Vegetables and fruits of deep colors like orange, purple, and green	Vegetables and fruit	> 5 (≈ 500g)	Excluding yoghurts, fruit biscuits and juice
Dairy	2-4	Lower fat dairy products such as 1% milk or skim milk	Dairy	3
Meat and alternatives	2-3	lean meat, poultry, fish, peas, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, eggs, peanut butter	Meat and alternatives	1-2	meat, fishing products and eggs

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Food Item	Recommendations	Effects
Fat	fat intake < 30% total energy saturated fat < 10% of energy cholesterol < 300mg/d limit trans fatty acids	lower LDL
Omega 3 fatty acid rich foods	> 2 servings / week of fish or omega rich plants (eg. flaxseed, canola oil, soybean oil, nuts)	decreased: sudden death, arrhythmia, blood-clots, hypertriglyceridemia
Salt	< 6g/day	lower BP
Alcohol	< 2 drinks/day men (around 30cl of wine) < 1 drink/day women	lower BP

The nutritional content children are getting is a serious problem in the United States as well as many other developed countries. Improving children’s nutrition will help decrease the leading causes of death and improve the most important determinants of health. Many such problems with nutrition include the following: Research suggests that not having breakfast can affect a child’s intellectual performance. Nearly 80% of students do not eat fruits and vegetables 5 or more times per day. Also, the prevalence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2004. 61% of overweight young people have at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Children who are overweight are also at greater risk for the following problems: bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, social and psychological problems, poor self-esteem, more likely to become overweight or obese adult, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. These are some shocking results that are affecting children everyday. Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming overweight and developing these related diseases.

One way to make sure your child is getting the nutrition he/she needs is to make sure they "eat the rainbow":

1. Red- Bell peppers, Cherries, Watermelon, Strawberries, Beets, Radishes, Grapes
2. Orange- Apricots, Cantaloupe, Mango, Carrots, Peaches, Sweet potatoes
3. Yellow- Bananas, Pineapple, Squash, Star fruit, Yellow onion
4. Green- Asparagus, Broccoli, Honeydew melon, Spinach, Kiwi, Peas, Grapes
5. Blue/Purple- Blackberries, Eggplant, Figs, Plums, Raisins, Grapes

The darker the fruit or vegetable the healthier it is (for example, it is healthier to choose deep green spinach over light green lettuce).

References

• Toronto Notes 2005
• The Canada Food Guide is for those > age 2
• CDC.gov
• BJCschooloutreach.org
• (fr) Mangerbouger.fr