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Kinsey Brantley

Easley

Applied Aspects of Human Nutrition

Nutrition is stated to be all of the processes that living organisms use to take in and use

food and food substances (Easley, 2018). Everything that we place in our bodies effects the

processes that occur in our bodies. With this being said, it is important that people consume

healthy amounts of nutrients for health and fitness. Healthy amounts are different for each

individual depending on lifestyle, genetics, their environment and many other factors. Some

suggestions for a healthy diet are to consume enough fruits and vegetables, intake adequate

amounts of calcium, iron and other important minerals, decrease sugar and sodium consumption,

and to consume portion sizes that are moderate (Easley, 2018). If we are not aware of our eating

habits, it may be easy to eat unhealthy or adopt unhealthy habits. This is when a person can

experience malnutrition. Malnutrition is defined as unbalanced nutrition (Easley, 2018).

Normally, malnutrition is thought of as not getting enough nutrients. However, malnutrition can

be under nutrition or over nutrition (Easley, 2018).

After analyzing my own diet, there were somethings that surprised me and some things

that I expected. My recommended calorie goal was 1870 calories. This was based off of height

and weight alone, not my exercise or exercise intensity. Three of the seven days, I went over my

calorie goal (See Appendix A). The other four days I was under my calorie goal. This is not

surprising to me, especially because I logged my diet during volleyball season. Some days I

barely eat, and some days I consume everything in sight, so the fluctuation in my calorie levels

was not surprising. Nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, sugar, and vitamin A fluctuated with my
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caloric intake, naturally. I was not surprised by this information. I was surprised that I was not

way over my carbohydrate goal every day. For some reason, I had it in my head that I always

consumed too many carbohydrates. Only one day did I actually go way over my limit of 234

calories (See Appendix B).

My diet was not a normal diet that week; however, it was pretty normal for my diet

during volleyball season. I am a full-time student, I have a part-time job, and at the time I was

playing volleyball. My schedule during that time was insanely busy. For me, I ate pretty much

whatever was at easy access whenever I could stop to eat. If that meant squirting a little bit of

Reddi Whip down my throat before I headed upstairs, then that is what I did. It is not very

healthy, but it is pretty stereotypical of a college jock. My diet fluctuated depending on my

schedule each day. For me, the inconsistency was normal. Three of the days, I consumed over

2000 calories, with one of those days being close to 3000 calories (See Appendix A). The day I

consumed 2922 calories was the most abnormal day for the lifestyle at that time. I will say, now

that I am not playing volleyball, my diet is more structured and what others would consider to be

normal.

When I averaged out my seven-day caloric intake, the average was higher than my

calorie goal for each day. My goal was 1870 calories, my average was 1886 calories (See

Appendix A). My diet included deficiencies and excesses for averages and daily values. As I

have said, my diet fluctuated from a day-to-day basis. My goal for carbohydrates was 234

calories a day. Some days I was under the amount. For example, on the sixth day I only

consumed 135 calories. On that day, my carbohydrate consumption was in deficiency. On the

last day I consumed 347 calories, which is over one-hundred calories excesses (See Appendix

B). However, my average carbohydrate intake was 215 calories. On average, my carbohydrate
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intake was in deficiency. On the contrary, my fat caloric intake goal was 62 calories a day. My

average intake was 79 calories for that week (See Appendix C). My fat intake was in excess. On

September 14th, my protein intake was in excess well above my daily goal. My goal was 94

calories, and on that particular day I consumed 142 calories from protein (See Appendix D).

Overall, my protein intake was in deficiency for the week. For micronutrients, I was not

surprised to see that my sodium levels were 1,000 mg in excess (See Appendix G). My daily

goal for sodium was 2,300 mg per day. My average after seven days was 3,371 mg. I do not put

extra salt on my food, but sodium in hidden in many different foods. This is why I suspected my

sodium intake to be high. I am disappointed to say that other micronutrients did not even meet

requirements. Potassium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A all were in deficiency. My potassium goal

was 3500 mg; I consumed on average 701 mg (See Appendix H). Vitamin A and Vitamin C both

had goals of 100% RDA. I consumed 39% of the RDA on average for Vitamin A (See Appendix

I). Only one day did I get close to the 100% with 90% based off of my diet. However, I did not

input supplements into my diet log. Occasionally I will take a Vitamin A supplement. I do not

take it every day, and when I do take the supplement it is at random. One capsule of it is 160% of

the Daily Value. So, on the days that I may have taken the vitamin supplement, I was well over

my needs for the vitamin. For Vitamin C, my consumption average was 60% of the RDA (See

Appendix I).

Despite being either in excess or in deficiency, in my opinion the strengths in my diet

were my carbohydrate and fiber intake. Carbohydrates provide the most energy to the body. I did

not meet caloric needs on average for carbohydrates; however, my average was only 19 calories

away from meeting caloric needs. This is good because this kept my body from feeling lethargic.

I probably could have consumed a little more than what my suggested goals were based off the
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fact I was an in-season athlete at the time. I would also state that my fiber intake was a strength.

Most people do not meet their daily fiber needs. Personally, I did not think of my fiber intake

before this class. I only met my goal for fiber on the first day of my diet log, but other days I was

not far off. Two other days I consumed 14 calories from fiber; my goal was 25 calories (See

Appendix K). My average was only 13 calories, but I did not think I consumed but maybe a few

calories a day from fiber. I was glad to see that I actually consumed about half of what I need to,

which is better than nothing. The weakest aspects of my diet were definitely the two vitamins

and probably even sodium. From what I understand, people generally think about macronutrients

when concerning diet. I am no different, my micronutrients lacked. I did not meet 100% of the

RDA on either vitamin according to my diet logs. My percentages for these vitamins were not

close enough to be considered a stronger point of my diet. My sodium intake was also 1,000 mg

over what I needed. I could have definitely cut sodium intake somewhere in my diet.

With anything, there is room for improvement in my dietary habits. On three different

days, I consumed fast food. One of those days I had it twice. It is always better to cook at home

than to order take-out. By cooking at home, I will be able to see exactly what is going into my

food. On the same note, only twice that week did I have vegetables, and both of those nights they

were canned vegetables. On the first night, I ate green beans. On September 12 th, I consumed

canned corn. Corn is more of a starch, anyways. This really is not the healthiest way to eat

vegetables. Because they are canned, additives can be placed in the can like extra sodium. In

general, I need to eat more vegetables and they should probably not be canned. Also, every day,

sometimes twice a day, I had some type of bread, grain, pasta or tortilla. This is not necessarily a

bad thing because carbohydrates are needed for energy; however, when I was eating tacos for the

second time that week, it probably would have been better to eat a salad or have grilled chicken
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to boost my protein intake. Or when I was eating tacos, cheesy rice, and chips and dip on that

Tuesday night, I could have skipped the chips and dip or the rice. I also notice that I enjoy hot

sauce. Hot sauce does not add any extra calories, but it does add sodium that is unnecessary. I

noticed that often my breakfast was something quick that could be eaten on the go. This makes

sense because I work at six in the morning twice a week, and during the other days of that week I

had conditioning early as well. On the days that I had microwavable sausage biscuits or a super

chocolatey granola bar that actually is not that healthy or filling, I could have had fruit or

oatmeal. My breakfast really needs work. On that Thursday, I ate Goldfish during breakfast.

There are certain diseases that may become present if I do not pay more attention to what

I am putting in my body. It has been stated that practically two-thirds of deaths can be linked to

problems with diet (How important are nutrition and dietary factors..., 2003). For starters, my

average intake of calories was over what I should be eating, and even though it was not by much,

there were days like Friday, September 14th when I consumed 2,922 calories. That is not good.

Thankfully, I was exercising then so some of those calories were able to be used as energy. If I

did not work out and continuously ate like that, obesity would be in my future. Obesity leads to a

multitude of different diseases. Also, many days my fat intake was high. My average was 19

calories over what I needed, which is not too bad. There were days that I consumed up to 161

calories from fats. High fat diets can lead to diseases like coronary heart disease (Easley, 2018).

This is when plague builds up and blocks blood flow within coronary arteries. There are also

many other complications and diseases with high fat diets like stroke (Easley). My daily goal for

fats is 62 calories. I consumed one-hundred calories or more from fats three days that week

alone. If I consumed that much over three days during every week I will probably have

cardiovascular issues with age. Sodium is another issue that is present. My average sodium
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intake was 1,000 mg above what I should be consuming. On the first day of my diet log, I

consumed 4,000 mg of sodium. As a young adult, I am already on hypertension medication (due

to White-Coat Hypertension). With a high sodium intake, that will only make the issue of

hypertension more obvious in my life. High blood pressure places pressure on the heart to be

able to pump blood (Williams, Rawson, & Branch, 2016). This is because the heart has to pump

extra blood in order to meet resistance levels. This can enlarge the heart and the heart’s

functioning abilities decline. This makes the possibility of heart attack more likely. Hypertension

can lead to other diseases of the heart and stroke (Williams et al., 2016). Hypertension also has

effects on the brain (Valencia., Torres. 2017). For people who have suffered an aneurysm,

hypertension could worsen the complications associated with an aneurysm. Stress that an

aneurysm places on the brain is effected by hypertension. Hypertension can nearly double that

stress (Valencia., Torres. 2017). With both of the Vitamins, A and C, there are diseases that can

come about due to deficiencies (Easley, 2018). With Vitamin A deficiency, vision is effected

(Williams et al., 2016). More specific, night vision can be damaged overtime with consistent

deficiency. With prolonged, extreme deficiency a form of blindness, xerophthalmia, can occur. A

disease with those complications typically only occur in third-world countries, but my vision at

night could suffer with age if I do not up my intake. Again, with Vitamin C, typically major

issues with deficiency are only seen in countries that have over all nutritional deficiencies

(Williams et al., 2016). However, my intake as also low with this vitamin. More than likely, I

will not suffer from diseases like scurvy (Williams et al., 2016). I can potentially have a greater

risk for stroke. This is especially so because I also suffer from hypertension (Williams et al.,

2016). Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that can help fight against free radicals in the body (How

important are nutrition and dietary factors…, 2003).

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Nutrition is more than just the food we consume. Nutrition effects our health and how

well our bodies can function and utilize materials. It is important to recognize dietary habits early

in life in order to be able to prevent diseases and complications and also lead a healthy and happy

life.

References

Easley, E. (2018) Chapter 1 lecture 2: introduction to nutrition for health, fitness, and sports.

[Breeze Lecture]

Easley, E. (2018) Chapter 5 lecture 2: fat: an important energy source during exercise.

[Breeze Lecture].

How important are nutritional and dietary factors in health and chronic disease prevention?

(2003). Nutrition in Clinical Care, 6(3), 143.

Valencia, A., & Torres, F. (2017). Effects of hypertension and pressure gradient in a human

cerebral aneurysm using fluid structure interaction simulations. Journal of Mechanics in

Medicine & Biology, 17(1), 1. doi:10.1142/S021951941750018X

Williams, M. H., Rawson, E.S., & Branch, J.D. (2017). Nutrition for health, fitness &

sport (Eleventh Edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

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Appendix A

Daily Calories Intake and Seven-Day Average

3500

3000 2922

2500
Calories Consumed

2228
2030
2000 1831
1745

1500
1264
1180

1000

500

0
Date Seven-Day
Average:
1886
Calories
10-Sep 11-Sep 12-Sep 13-Sep 14-Sep 15-Sep 16-Sep
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Appendix B

Daily Carbohydrate Intake and Seven-Day Average

Seven Day
Daily Goal: Average:
234 Calories 215 calories
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Appendix C

Daily Fat Intake and Seven-Day Average

Seven Day
Daily Goal: Average:
62 Calories 79 Calories
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Appendix D
Daily Protein Intake and Seven-Day Average

Daily Goal: Seven Day

94 Calories Average:
75 Calories
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Appendix E
Saturated Fat, Polyunsaturated Fat, and Monounsaturated Fat Daily Intakes and Seven Day
Averages

Seven Day Averages:

Daily Goal Saturated Fat:
Saturated Fat: 22 Calories
21 Calories Polyunsaturated Fat:
4 Calories
Monounsaturated Fat:
6 Calories
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Appendix F
Daily Trans Fat Intake and Seven Day Average

Seven Day Average:

0 Calories
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Appendix G

Daily Intake of Sodium and Cholesterol and Seven Day Averages

Seven Day Averages:

Daily Goals:
Sodium:
Sodium:
3371 mg
2300 mg Cholesterol:
Cholesterol:
280 mg
300 mg
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Appendix H

Daily Intakes of Potassium and Seven Day Averages

Daily Goal: Seven Day

3500 mg Average:
701 mg
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Appendix I

Daily Percentages out of 100% RDA of Vitamin A and Vitamin C and Percent Averages

Seven Day Averages:

Daily Goal for both: Vitamin A:
100% of RDA 39% of RDA
Vitamin C:
60 % of RDA
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Appendix J

Daily Intakes of Sugar and Seven Day Average

Seven Day
Daily Goal: Average:
70 Calories 75 Calories
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Appendix K

Daily Intake and Seven Day Average of Fiber

Daily Goal: Seven Day

25 calories Average:
13 calories
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Appendix L

Daily Intake Percentage out of 100% RDA for Iron and Seven Day Average

Daily Goal: Seven Day

100% of RDA Average:
85% of RDA