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Dietary Analysis Report

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Table of Contents
Holistic Health and the Philosophy for Eating: Representation of Daily Diet ............................... 9

Intake of the 5 Food Group ............................................................................................................. 9

The Three Nutrient Analyses ........................................................................................................ 10

Potential Implications of Diet ....................................................................................................... 11

Conclusions and Improvements .................................................................................................... 12

Reference List ............................................................................................................................... 14

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PERSONAL DETAILS – Table 1

Name

Age 22

Gender Male

YOUR FOOD DIARY Name: Date: Weekday or weekend: Weekday

Time What I ate Amount Vegetables Fruit Grain Lean meat Dairy and Discretionary
and drank (cups, (cereal) and alternatives Food
foods
mls or alternatives
grams)

Day 1 French 2 Slices 3 ½ serve 1 serve

Toast and (100g) serves
Breakfast
Muesli with ½ Cup
Skimmed (60g) +
Milk ½ Cup
(120mL)

Day 1 Yogurt and 1 Cup 1 1 serve

(270g) serve
Mid-day Fresh fruits
Snack 1 Bowl
(150g)

Day 1 Pasta, 1 Bowl 2 and ½ 2 1 serve

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Lunch Chicken and (240g) serves serves

Corn 2 Pieces
(80g)
Mixed
Vegetable 1 Cup
Salad (150g)

1 Bowl
(100g)

Day 1 Cheese, 40g 3 serves

Evening Crackers ½ Packet

Snack and (30g)

Coke 1 Can
(375mL)

Day 1 Wholegrain 2 Slices 1 serve 2 1 serve 1 serves

Sandwich (80g) + serves
Dinner
with Minced 65g
Chicken,

Bean Soup,
1 Bowl
French Fries (200g)
and
1 plate
Tomato (60g)

1
Medium
(75g)
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TOTAL 3 and ½ 1 7 2 and ½ 2 serves 4 serves

SERVES
serves serve serves serves

YOUR FOOD DIARY Name: Date: Weekday or weekend: Weekend

Time What I ate Amount Vegetables Fruit Grain Lean meat Dairy and Discretionary
and drank (cups, (cereal) and alternatives Food
foods
mls or alternatives
grams)
Day 2 Pancakes, 2 Pieces 2 Serves 2 1 serve 2 serves
(100g) serves
Breakfast Baked
Beans and 1 Cup
(150g)
Fruit Juice
1 Glass
(250mL)

Day 2 Muffins 1 Piece 1 serve 1 serve

and (35g)
Mid-day
Snack Unsalted ½
Nuts packets
(30g)

Day 2 Fried Rice, 1 Bowl 1 and ½ 2 serves 2 serves 1 serve

(250g) serves
Lunch Turkey &
Cheese, 80g +
40g
Beef
Mince and 80g

Mixed 1 Bowl
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Vegetable (100g)
Salad

Day 2 Oatmeal 2 Pieces 2 serves 1 serve

Cookies (80g)
Evening
and
Snack 375mL
Coke

Day 2 Grilled 100g 2 serves 2 serves 1 serve 1 serve 1 serve

Fish,
Dinner 1 Bowl
Brown (250g)
Rice,
1
Cassava Medium
(150g)
Yogurt
and 1 Cup
(270g)
Wine
1 Drink
(200mL)

TOTAL 5 and ½ 2 6 serves 5 serves 1 serve 6 serves

SERVES
serves serves
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YOUR TOTAL SERVES OF FOOD GROUPS - Table 2

Time Vegetables Fruit Grain Lean meat Dairy and Discretionary

(cereal) and alternatives foods
foods alternatives

DAY 1 3 and ½ 1 serve 7 serves 2 and ½ 2 serves 4 serves

serves serves

DAY 2 5 and ½ 2 serves 6 serves 5 serves 1 serve 6 serves

serves

AVERAGE 9/2 = 4.5 3/2 = 1.5 13/2 = 6.5 7.5/2 = 3.75 3/2 = 1.5 10/2 = 5
NUMBER OF
SERVES serves serves serves serves serve serves

RECOMMENDED 6 serves 2 serves 6 serves 3 serves 2.5 serves 0-3 serves

NUMBER OF
SERVES*
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YOUR NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS – Table 3

RECOMMENDED DAILY INTAKE YOUR AVERAGE INTAKE

(RDI) (OR ADEQUATE INTAKE (AI))

PROTEIN (g/day) 64 110

FIBRE (g/day) 30 47

SODIUM (salt) (mg/day) 460-920

CALCIUM (mg/day) 1000 1335

IRON (mg/day) 8

FLUIDS (mL/day) 2300

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Holistic Health and the Philosophy for Eating: Representation of Daily Diet
The concept of holistic health revolves around the factors associated with holistic nutrition. It is
essential that the diet of an individual comprises of the combination of various food and nutrients
that enables them to acquire all the nutrition that are necessary for the optimal physical and
mental well-being (holisticsolutionsdoc.com, 2017). It also enables the individual to prevent
many ailments and chronic diseases that may arise as a result of lack in healthy food habits. By
keeping a record of my daily food intake in the form of a food diary has enabled me to obtain a
clearer understanding regarding my food habits. It also aided me to follow my philosophy of
eating as I aim towards following a healthy and balanced food habit so that I can prevent any
kind of chronic health disorders and be able to manage my weight as per the BMI requirements.
By following the concept of holistic health I have been able to improve my sleep, digestion and
increase by strength and energy to perform any task with efficiency.

Intake of the 5 Food Group

It is essential to have an intake of all the five food groups in the daily diet to ensure a healthy
well-being. By maintaining a record of my daily food intake I was able to identify if all the five
food groups are being taken along in my meals or not. After organising the daily serves of the
different group in the Table 2, and comparing that with the recommended serves as mentioned in
the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG), I have realised that I am lagging in the intake of
certain food items such as vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Although my food intake
indicates that the intake of vegetables and dairy products by me is significantly lower than that of
the recommended serves as per the ADG, however the intake of fruits almost meets the
suggested requirements (Eatforhealth.gov.au, 2017a). I have also observed that the intake of
grains and meat products are very much in accordance with the daily requirements as suggested
by the ADG. However, Table 2 has also enabled me to realise that my average intake of
discretionary foods is significantly higher than the recommended serves by the ADG
(Eatforhealth.gov.au, 2017b). This high intake of discretionary food products such as alcohol,
soft drinks, muffins and other such items are an integral part of my daily food habit and I have
been consciously consuming them without realising the quantity at which they were consumed
by me. However, the lower intake of vegetables and dairy products are not due to conscious
efforts but rather results of subconscious measures. Although I try to incorporate vegetables and
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fruits along in my daily food intake, there seems to appear an insufficiency in the consumption.
Conversely, Table 2 is the result of the food serves that were consumed by me in a weekday and
weekend; therefore, I am assuming that low vegetable consumption could also be due to the fact
that I prefer to indulge on more discretionary foods during the weekends and focus on
consuming healthy food items during the weekdays. Henceforth, I shall take efforts to
incorporate more vegetables and fruits in the weekend food intakes.

The Three Nutrient Analyses

With reference to Table 3, the three nutrients that I have selected for the further discussions
include protein, dietary fibres and calcium. The recommended nutrients for an average 22 years
old adult male has been calculated as per the norms presented in Eatforhealth.gov.au (2017c).
These three nutrients, just like the rest of the nutrients, play very significant role in the
maintenance of healthy body and mind. For any individual protein is essential to gain energy as
well as for muscle building. Being an adult male of 22 years old, I am still in my growth and
development phase, whereby my body is still developing and changing and therefore it requires
appropriate amount of daily protein intake. Similarly, calcium is also essential for the proper
development and maintenance of the bone structures. As my body has recently moved through
the phase of adolescent to a grown-up adult, it still requires calcium for the bone strength. The
development of bones and muscles are interdependent on each other and therefore it is important
to incorporate food items that aid in fulfilling the requirement of protein and calcium in an adult
human being. Furthermore, dietary fibres plays major role in maintaining the bowel movement
of the body. The elimination and excretion of the digested solid wastes, out of the body, is
essential for healthy appetite. Over-accumulation of the digested wastes within the body may
result in several ailments associated with the guts, such as constipation. Therefore, consumption
of right amount of dietary fibres ensures that the solid wastes are excreted out of the body
without any difficulty.

With respect to Table 3, my intake of protein, calcium and dietary fibres is significantly higher
than the recommended daily intake as suggested in the NUTTAB (Foodstandards.gov.au, 2017).
The nutrient requirements of an average 22 year old male have been mentioned in Table 3 and
three selected nutrients have been compared with my daily intake. Although the amount of fibre
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consumption is not very high as per the recommended value, however, there lies high gap
between the recommended amounts of protein and calcium. This high protein and calcium intake
could have resulted due to the consumption of the various food items. High level of protein could
have resulted from the consumption of poultry items, milk products, beans and nuts. These food
articles are rich sources of proteins and would have added to the level of my daily protein intake.
Furthermore, the high content of calcium intake could have resulted through the consumption of
fruit juices, milk products, beans, fishes and nuts. Although it is good to consume food items rich
in proteins and calcium for a 22 year old male, there are certain drawbacks associated with over
intake of these nutrients for longer period of time. For instance, over consumption of protein
causes weight gain, bad breath, mood swings and gastro-intestinal issues (Archer, Hand and
Blair, 2013). Apart from this, excess amount of protein in blood also disturbs the functioning of
kidneys as they are required to perform more for the removal of proteins. Over time, this
excessive functioning of kidneys for the removal of extra proteins leads to kidney damage. It also
results in dehydration of body’s system due to which the intake of water also increases
(Prevention, 2017). On the other hand, high intake of calcium in the diet results in a state of
hypercalcemia, whereby the calcium levels in the blood increases over the limit. This causes
various health disruptions such as vascular calcification, renal insufficiency and soft tissue
calcification (Ods.od.nih.gov, 2017). It has also been found that the increased amount of calcium
in blood increases the chances of kidney stones. However, the tolerable upper level of calcium
intake in 22 years old adult is 2500 mg. since my consumption of calcium is within this upper
tolerable limit, I have less chances of acquiring hypercalcemia. Although, I look forward to
improvising my daily consumption of the various food products so that I am able to reduce the
amount of protein and calcium that are being consumed by me and limit them within the
recommended values as suggested in the NUTTAB (Foodstandards.gov.au, 2017).

Potential Implications of Diet

The high intake of the discretionary food items possesses significant harm on the health of any
individual (Selvey and Carey, 2013). Food products such as soft drinks, processed food, muffins,
crackers, wine and other such similar products should be consumed at lower servings. Increased
intake of such food items result in various health ailments such as obesity, heart disorders, and
sleep disorders and so on (Fayet-Moore et al., 2016). In the recent times, it has been observed
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that the cases of obesity among adolescents and young adults have been increasing due to the
over consumption of these discretionary food products (Grieger et al., 2016). The obesity has
been found to be linked with increasing cases of heart attack among the young adults. This has
taken place due to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle, which includes over-exploitation of the
discretionary food items and reduced physical activities among the population (Hadjikakou,
2017). Furthermore, the analysis of the daily nutrient intake, as presented in Table 3, has
provided an insight regarding the actual intake of three nutrients, namely, calcium, proteins and
dietary fibres. The analysis has revealed amplified consumption of calcium and proteins. This
results in increased presence of protein and calcium in the blood, which over the time damages
the health of an individual. The excessive presence of both these nutrients has been found to be
associated with damaging the kidneys over time. The extreme levels of either calcium or protein
in blood imply laborious performance by kidneys to eliminate them from the body. Although
these elements get removed from the body, the effort with which the kidney has to function leads
to its damage and in longer run, its failure (Tapsell et al., 2016). Furthermore, high presence of
proteins in the diet intake results in accumulation of urea within the body. Urea is the final
product of protein degradation and hence it requires to be eliminated. The un-excreted urea gets
accumulated in the bone joints and results in painful joints. It can also lead to muscle spasms and
inflammation, which are very much exasperating for any individual. In addition to this, the over
accumulation of protein in the body also causes weight gain and mood disorders, which disrupts
both physical as well as mental wellbeing of any individual (Morton, Meek, and Schwartz,
2014). Therefore, it is advisable that an adult individual belonging to the age of 22 years should
develop healthy and holistic food habits which would benefit the health of that person.
Furthermore, an individual should adopt a lifestyle which comprises of no or less consumption of
discretionary food items.

Conclusions and Improvements

Consumption of correct food items is essential to have healthy lifestyle. One must ensure that the
food products that are consumed by them are composed of the different food groups and the
serves of each food group are in accordance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. By
maintaining a daily food diary I have realised that I need to improvise my eating habits as per the
recommended guidelines. I have realised that I need to change my daily diet specifically with
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respect to the items that are high in protein and calcium. The overconsumption of calcium and
protein for longer duration of time is harmful for my health and therefore, I need to bring
changes with respect to the food items consumed by me. Firstly, I am planning to increase my
vegetable intake as my daily vegetable consumption is significantly less compared to the
recommended serves. Secondly, I intent to reduce the consumption of various discretionary food
products such as coke, muffins crackers and so on. These articles do not possess much health
benefits but high consumption of these items might lead to excessive weight gain. Since I aim
towards leading a holistic healthy life, I need to reduce consuming these items. Thirdly, I am
planning to increase the amount of fruits and fruit juices with my daily diet. Although, I try to
incorporate fruits as a necessary part of my diet, there still exists a lag in its intake. Furthermore,
fruits and raw vegetables are rich sources of dietary fibres, which are important for healthy
bowel movements. Fourthly, I intend to improve my daily intake of food items in such manner
that it comprises of the appropriate servings of food products that is suitable to provide me the
recommended amount of proteins and calcium. Since my current diet practice has excessive
amount of protein and calcium intake, it is important that I reconsider the food products that are
being consumed by me. Although, I keep under consideration that the food that is consumed by
me is in such manner that it fulfils the requirements of holistic health, it is clear that I am lagging
in the practice of the same. Fifthly, I would consult a nutritionist to aid me in developing my new
and improved diet plan which would enable me to consume the recommended amount of
nutrients in the form of appropriate servings. It would also facilitate me to be in accordance with
my philosophy of eating, which ultimately is related to holistic living.
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Reference List
Fayet-Moore, F. F., McConnell, A. A., and Keighley, T. T., 2016. Adult snacking in Australia:
Understanding who, what, when and how much. Journal of Nutrition & Intermediary
Metabolism, 4, pp. 15.

Hadjikakou, M., 2017. Trimming the excess: environmental impacts of discretionary food
consumption in Australia. Ecological Economics, 131, pp. 119-128.

Grieger, J. A., Wycherley, T. P., Johnson, B. J., and Golley, R. K., 2016. Discrete strategies to
reduce intake of discretionary food choices: A scoping review. International Journal of
Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 13(1), pp. 57.

Tapsell, L. C., Neale, E. P., Satija, A., and Hu, F. B., 2016. Foods, nutrients, and dietary patterns:
interconnections and implications for dietary guidelines. Advances in Nutrition: An International
Review Journal, 7(3), pp. 445-454.

Archer, E., Hand, G. A., and Blair, S. N., 2013. Validity of US nutritional surveillance: National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey caloric energy intake data, 1971–2010. PloS
one, 8(10), pp. 76632.

Morton, G. J., Meek, T. H., and Schwartz, M. W., 2014. Neurobiology of food intake in health
and disease. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(6), pp. 367-378.

Selvey, L. A., and Carey, M. G., 2013. Australia’s dietary guidelines and the environmental
impact of food “from paddock to plate”. The Medical Journal of Australia, 198(1), p. 18-19.

Eatforhealth.gov.au, 2017a. Eat For Health: Australian Dietary Guidelines. Available at:
<https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/n55_australian_dietary_guidelines.p
df> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017]

Eatforhealth.gov.au, 2017b. Healthy Eating for Adults: Eat for Health and Wellbeing. Available
at:
<https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/The%20Guidelines/n55g_adult_broc
hure.pdf> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017]
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Eatforhealth.gov.au, 2017c. Daily nutrient requirements calculator | Eat For Health. Available
at: <https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/page/eat-health-calculators/calculated/1507191625>
[Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].

Foodstandards.gov.au, 2017. NUTTAB. Available at:

<http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/nutrientables/nuttab/Pages/defaul
t.aspx> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].

holisticsolutionsdoc.com, 2017. The Importance of Holistic Health: Nutrition and Lifestyle

Consultation in Oceanside. Available at: <http://holisticsolutionsdoc.com/the-importance-of-
holistic-health-nutrition-and-lifestyle-consultation-in-oceanside/> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].

Ods.od.nih.gov, 2017. Office of Dietary Supplements - Calcium. Available at:

<https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].

Prevention, 2017. 5 Dangerous Things that Happen When You Eat Way Too Much Protein.
Available at: <https://www.prevention.com/eatclean/eat-too-much-protein> [Accessed 5 Oct.
2017].