+	Sunday, February 27, 2011

Credits

Here's a list of websites that helped me out along the way:

Energy and Nutrient Composition of Foods, http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/ere/ere070101.asp
Fat Info Finder, http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/ere/ere110101.asp
Build a Healthy Food Foundation, http://www.hpb.gov.sg/foodforhealth/article.aspx?id=2638
Calorie Counter Database - Free Online Diet Program, http://caloriecount.about.com/
What Happens When you Eat Too Much Fiber, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-happens-when-you-eat-too-much-fiber.html

I used [1] to find out the nutritional composition of my foods. I used [2] to find out if the fats in my food are healthy or unhealthy. [3] was used in the analysis of all three days to find out if I had consumed the appropriate amount of nutrients. [4] was a website that had nutritional values of certain foods I couldn't find using [1]. [5] was used to find out what happens when too much fiber is consumed.

Final Reflections :'(

Overall, I think this project has been very fruitful and interesting. It has taught me many things about my daily food that I didn't even know, and now I've learnt how to check for nutritional values on the food that I put into my stomach. I've learnt how to eat in moderation and which foods are good for me, as well as which foods are bad. For example, I never knew that shrimp paste rolls had so much sodium in them! And the amount of fats and sugars in some foods really surprised me.

I think it's important to know all of these as it's not an indirect influence; it directly affects us the moment we choose to eat these foods. It's important to eat a variety of food and use the healthy food pyramid, not to mention other available health tools, to find out what type of food we need: fibres, carbohydrates, sugars, sodium, etc. I also never realised that certain foods that seemed so similar would be so different! For example, the Light Alpen granola bar has 90% daily value of dietary fibre, yet the Quaker granola bar has only 3%. Although both might be advertised as granola bars, one is very much different from the other.

Knowing what goes into our body can aid us in preventing diseases like heart disease and diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, obesity and underweight-ness. Learning how to eat according to our daily needs is vital, and we must make sure not to over- or under-eat, especially since we're teenagers and still growing.

I think my diet was alright; as it was Chinese New Year, I shall give myself a bit of leeway. Heh. But yes, I think the key to good eating is eating in moderation. I eat enough proteins, although I should make an effort to eat more lean meat (as it's the only type of meat I'll eat...) and I eat enough fruits. I'll make an effort to eat my allowed intake of vegetables everyday. I think I eat way too much dietary fibre though; my breakfast already has 90% daily value, and I still have to take into account my other meals. Excess fibre can lead to bloating, gas, diarrhoea, constipation... I'll have to try and keep an eye on my fibre intake from now on! However, fibre's an important nutrient too. It helps slow down digestion, which makes you feel fuller longer (aiding in weight loss, hurhurhur), purifies blood by ridding the body of toxins et cetera. I found out that if I eat too much fiber, I should try to drink more water so that I can retain the soluble fibers and expel the insoluble ones.

All in all, I think it's been a very fun experience doing this PT and all the skills and information I've learnt will surely come in handy in the future.

A Healthy Dish

I decided to modify my 'Macaroni and bolognese sauce' dish and make it healthier. :) The above was the result.

Basically, instead of starchy yellow macaroni, I went for wholemeal pasta instead. The photo doesn't really show it well, but it is actually brown and tastes only a little different; I'm used to the 'grainy' taste, though, as I eat wholemeal bread everyday. Wheat pasta is healthier as it has almost three times as much fibre as white pasta - high fibre foods fill you up faster (so you'll consume less calories, and as this is for dinner, it makes sense) and also lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

As for the sauce, I used Prego as well, but diluted it with a little water so that it would not be so salty. I also added button mushrooms for extra nutrients and some rosemary leaves for natural flavouring, so it has that 'herb'-y taste to it.

All in all, I think this is a healthier variation to the traditional pasta recipes.

+	Saturday, February 26, 2011

Blog Critiques

I'm going to critique three blogs based on their diet and reflection process.

Blog 1 - http://fanaticfoodie.tumblr.com

I can tell from Day 2's food log that Saaradhaa enjoys eating chocolate and snacking in general. She can replace these unhealthy snacks with something like apples or fruits; even wholemeal bread would be good too, providing dietary fibre. However, I approve of her breakfast of cereal (which provides carbohydrates), even if it is eaten too late, and lunch, which provides sufficient nutrition. I don't think Saaradhaa should have dinner so late in the night, as her body won't be able to digest the food enough. She also eats a fruit salad at 9.15PM, and even though a fruit salad is healthy, she shouldn't be eating it so late! Her calorie count is below 1000, which is way too low.

I think it's good that she understands she shouldn't snack so much and that eating something healthier would have increased her calorie count. Even though she already has vegetables in her lunch, I think it's good that she realises it'll be good to add more vegetables to her diet; I suggest green, leafy vegetables. And she also knows that more meat is needed to provide amino acids and proteins, which is good. She also reflects on the late timing of her breakfast and dinner, which is relevant and I think she knows she can improve on that.

Blog 2 - http://gimmesomefoodlove.tumblr.com

For Natalie's Day 2 food log, I think her breakfast was healthy and eaten at an appropriate time! Wholemeal bread has more fibre, less fats and more carbohydrates than white bread, and she had low-fat milk instead of full cream. Even if I don't like tuna personally, I cannot deny that tuna is high in proteins. For her lunch, she could have had stir-fried beehoon instead of fried beehoon, but spinach and tofu are very healthy as they are high in fibre and minerals. Although almonds are good and it's alright to indulge every once in a while, she could have eaten more fruits throughout the day as cookies are high in fats, and also to provide fibre. Chicken curry is quite fattening, so she could have used low-fat milk instead of coconut milk, and it's good that she used brown rice instead of white rice. The soup, ngoh hiang and fruits are quite good too. However, I notice that she eats a lot more during dinner compared to lunch; as dinner is the last meal, I think some of the food (like fruits, ngoh hiang) could be moved back earlier in the day.

It's good that she knows her breakfast is healthy! :) I think it's also good that she knows even though her favourite foods (beehoon, spinach, tofu etc.) might be delicious, but they might be really high in sodium and cholesterol; this will let her make an informed decision in the future when it comes to what goes into her stomach. And she realises that almond cookies are high in sodium and not all that healthy. One of the more unhealthy foods, curry chicken, is also in her analysis; I think it's good that she understands it should only be eaten once in a while because it's very fattening. I also think it's commendable that she makes an effort to have fruits everyday.

Blog 3 - http://i-live-to-eat-and-eat-to-live.blogspot.com

I will be analysing Day 2 of Nicole's diet. She had an egg tart for breakfast; that is sufficient, however she could have some milk or tea to add some hydration. As for her bread and cheese, I suggest that she uses wholemeal bread and toasts it so that the cheese is easier to digest. She had noodles and fried chicken for lunch; I'm not sure about how the noodles were cooked, but boiled noodles are the healthiest, and if she insists on frying them, olive oil is the best solution as there are many monosaturated fats that lower the bad cholesterol (they clog up arteries!). She also shouldn't have had fried chicken; I think grilled chicken would be healthier, and she should add vegetables to her plate! Dumplings are quite healthy as long as they're not eaten in huge amounts and mini sausage buns are alright too, however I think that she should not overeat when it's near dinnertime. She had rice, broccoli and salmon for dinner, which is very healthy! Brown rice is, as always, better than broccoli. Smoked salmon and boiled broccoli are also the healthiest options. I find that Nicole needs to add more dietary fiber to her diet, and this can be found by eating more vegetables (one to two servings every meal, perhaps) and fruits.

I think it's commendable that Nicole realises that this diet is not ideal. It is quite high in fats, sugars and oils, which according to the healthy food pyramid, should be the least consumed nutrients. She also understands that if she eats like this every day, she will get long-term diseases and 'become fatter'. I would also like to praise her on the fact that she feels that even though she is in a sports CCA and trains often (thus she needs more nutrition), she still needs to watch her diet. Even if we have regular training, we do still need to watch what we eat, because we can't solely rely on exercise or vice versa to solve health problems. I think it's also good that she knows that she needs to watch her sodium intake, as excess sodium is unhealthy for you.

+	Sunday, February 6, 2011

Day Three, 3/2

Day 3, 3rd February.

Thoughts and Analysis

I shall skip over my breakfast as it's the same as the previous two days, and so's the 'mid-morning-to-afternoon' snack of almonds. However, I'll still take into account the nutritional information.

Then I headed out for Chinese New Year visitations! For the pork floss rolls, I'll estimate my intake to one serving, which equates to 228kcal, 14g total fat, 9.6g saturated fat (a lot!), and 412mg of sodium. As for pineapple tarts, I consumed 328kcal, only 4g of protein (that's 1g/per tart), 11g carbohydrates, 4g of fat and 58mg sodium. The pastry has 292kcal, 15g total fat, 9.1g saturated fat, only 1.1g dietary fibre, 11g sugar and 143mg sodium. The wafer has 19kcal and 0.2g saturated fat, as well as 4g carbohydrates. My cereal cookie had 49kcal, only 7g carbohydrates and 61mg sodium. I think all these values are the reason for the number of healthy diet articles popping up during CNY season.

The pork floss rolls were surprisingly not as salty as I had expected them to be, but still it was quite a lot. I think from the values of the nutritional information of CNY goodies, they don't give a lot of energy as they are low in carbohydrates and fibre; rather, they are high in sodium, fat and sugar. Not to mention that they are really high in calories too!

My daily apple had 130kcal, 34g carbohydrates, 25g sugar and 5.0g dietary fibre; my Vitasoy had 128kcal and 19g carbohydrates. I think that these values are reasonable and they add some moderation to my, thus far, fattening diet... even if I had another pineapple tart after this.

I continued to have ANOTHER wafer and ANOTHER pineapple tart, before having a dinner of white rice with mapo tofu. The rice has 205kcal, 0.4g total fat and 44.5g carbohydrates, which is 15%; I think, this is why people eat rice for energy. The tofu adds another 226kcal, 17g total fat, of which 4.5g are saturated fats, 17g protein, only 1.0g dietary fibre and 307mg sodium. I didn't look up the values for the other minerals that tofu contains, although it is said to be a 'miracle food'.

I think, once in a while, it is okay to 'pig out' a bit, especially if it is for special occasions like Chinese New Year or a birthday celebration. However, the key to healthy eating is moderation and variety, and so we have to balance out our guilt-inducing snacks with healthy, fresh alternatives like vegetables and fruits. This can be done using the healthy food pyramid.

Even though the goodies might taste very good, it's a bit scary once you look at the values. I can't imagine being a nutritionist and instead of holding a delectable pineapple tart in my hand, I would be holding sodium and fat and sugar instead.

As long as we balance out our fats, oils and sugars with the appropriate amounts of fibre, carbohydrates and healthy fats, not to mention proteins, I think everyone should be given a bit of leeway when it comes to issues like what we eat. For example, my diet today is a drastic change from my usual diet (see Day One) but it is not as if I eat snacks every single day.

In reference to my diet, I think some things could have been changed; first of all, I could have eaten simply steamed tofu instead of mapo tofu, and the white rice could have been changed to brown rice. I also have 'sort of' an explanation for the amount of pineapple tarts: I wanted to see which brand tasted the best! Little did I know how much sugar and fats and sodium they contained. However, I think the granola bar, milk and almonds were good to start off the day with, especially since they contained fiber, calcium and monounsaturated fats that the snacks were lacking.

In conclusion, I think this entire experience of recording down my food intake has been very fruitful and interesting. I've been given the opportunity and incentive to find out what exactly I am eating; something that every consumer has the ability to do, but not everyone does so. Now, I'm able to plan out meals healthily and understand just how much nutrition I need for the day, as well as the importance of moderation.

Day Two, 2/2

Day 2, 2nd February.

Thoughts and Analysis

Basically, I had the same breakfast of milk and a granola bar. For the granola bar, there's 283 kcal per bar with 3.6g and 1.3g of saturated fat. There's also 56.8g of carbohydrates (a lot!) and 22.5g of dietary fibre, which is 90% of the daily value! I think I have my daily fibre, calcium (from milk) and carbohydrates down already.

I had wholemeal bread and almonds, as usual: giving me more carbohydrates, dietary fibre and (from the almonds) my dose of monosaturated fats. I actually tried to cut down on CNY goodies because I wasn't feeling very well and my throat would get sore, so today - which was reunion dinner day - I resisted the temptation to wolf down pineapple tarts. Thus explaining why my 'daily log' looks so healthy. The exact values of my bread and almonds can be found in the Day One post.

For lunch, I had boiled macaroni with bolognese sauce, sans meat. If I'm not wrong, we used Prego sauce and added some broccoli in. The serving of macaroni has 221kcal, 1.3g total fat and only 0.2g saturated fat. That's really healthy! There's 43.2g of carbohydrates - at this point, I think I just might be consuming too much - and 2.5g of dietary fibre, which is 10%. My Prego sauce has 80kcal, 3.0g of fat, 580mg of sodium (that's 24%!), 3.0g of dietary fibre and 13.0g of carbohydrates.

The exact values of the apple are: 130kcal and 34.0g carbohydrates, 25g sugar and 5.0g dietary fibre (20%). It's quite a lot of sugar, but this is the 'healthy sugar', I think, so that is a lot better than processed sugar found in more fattening foods. I had another dose of almonds (more and more monosaturated fats!) before heading off for reunion dinner.

I had one crabstick, because I'm not a fan of the bitter vegetables commonly found at reunion dinners and I can't stand the sight of raw meat (...except crabsticks). It has 26kcal, 3.6g carbohydrates and 2.5g protein, and compared to the other foods, I think the crabstick has the highest carb-to-protein ratio. I'm not sure if this is ideal, though.

The noodles were starchy yellow noodles, sort of like those in fishball noodles and the steamboat soup was really sweet and the kind that had had all the different ingredients dipped in (tofu, prawn etc.), so I'm not really sure what's the exact value of the soup, but I'll try my best. For the noodles and steamboat soup, I used the values of 'noodles, yellow, with prawn, tofu and vegetables' on the HPB website. There's 455kcal, 21g fat, 7.9g saturated fat and a surprising amount of 1358mg of sodium!

Reflections-wise, I think I eat a bit too much dietary fibre. My breakfast already has 90% of daily value and I still eat things like apples and vegetables and wholemeal bread. But I do need the amount of calories I'm getting; I try to maintain an 'active' lifestyle by running, so if I run on an empty stomach I will feel like collapsing.

Also, I think I can attempt making my own spaghetti sauce instead of using store-bought Prego as I will be able to control the amount of sodium, water, sugar etc. that goes into the sauce. The macaroni can also be replaced with whole wheat pasta instead to provide more nutrition.

I found the amount of sodium in yellow noodles with prawn etc. quite shocking because it's what Singaporeans eat everyday! We don't eat just that one meal, but two more, and some even snack. Especially on occasions like reunion dinners or Chinese New Year, there will be an excess of sodium in our snacks.

Using the healthy food pyramid, I think I consumed an appropriate amount of fat/oils/sugars today, which is good. However, I lack in protein; as I only eat white meat when cooked in certain forms and I skip out on red meat entirely, I don't get much protein, and my main source is milk. And even though I see a severe lack of vegetables, I attained enough dietary fibre because of the granola bar in the morning and the apple and other foods. I also think my carbohydrate intake is reasonable, considering my 'active' lifestyle.

+	Monday, January 31, 2011

Day One, 1/2

Day 1, 1st February.

Thoughts and Analysis

This breakfast of a granola bar and milk is my typical, everyday breakfast. I don't really eat three full meals because I find that smaller meals fill me up better. This entire table is pretty much normally what I eat, except sometimes lunch changes according to my mood.

Granola bar, according to the Healthy Pyramid, belongs to the bottom-most and most important part: whole grains, for energy. I couldn't find any information on the HPB website but I managed to find some nutritional information on the box itself: 283 calories per bar with 3.6g of fat and 1.3g of saturated fat. There's also about 220mg of sodium, which is quite reasonable, I think (9% of daily value). There's a surprising amount of carbohydrates - but then again, it is whole grain - of 56.9g and A LOT of dietary fiber: 22.5g, which is 90% of the daily value! As for skim milk, there's 80 calories per cup, with no fat and 120mg of sodium (15%) 8g of protein (16%), so I think it's quite healthy. And according to the HPB website, I'm supposed to drink 2 glasses of milk for the day, so that's one half already.

Almonds have 5g of fat, but it's monounsaturated fat, which is healthy for us, so that's okay. There's a surprising amount of calories per slice of wholemeal bread: 93kcal, which I didn't really expect. There's 16.9g of carbohydrates and very little fat - only 1.5g. For the Quaker bar, there's 110kcal and 22g of carbohydrates (7%) along with only 2.0g of fat - but it's all saturated fat, the bad unhealthy fats.

Shrimp rolls have 46kcal each, and 273mg of sodium just for ONE roll. That is a LOT of sodium - so I have to cut down on shrimp rolls. Never did like them much, anyway. The delectable pineapple tart already has 82kcal (per tart!) and 58mg of sodium. A lot less than the shrimp paste roll. But there's also 2.3g of unhealthy, saturated fat. The soy milk has 128kcal, with 19g of carbohydrates.

As for my mushroom and cheese sandwich: the bread used was wholemeal bread, which is good, and it was toasted, which aids in digestion. The cheese has 60kcal and 4.5g total fat, but also 2.5g of saturated fat. There's 250mg of sodium in that one slice of cheese. It was melted cheese, which helps digestion. I assume that it was shitake mushrooms, with a standard serving size of 100g - 222kcal, and 54g of carbohydrates (18%), which is a lot. I didn't really expect fungi to have a lot of carbohydrates. There's also no fat in them, which is good. The apple, a healthy snack, has 130kcal and 34.0g of carbohydrates - I always thought carbs only came from grains and wheat and oat. There's also 5g of dietary fibre (20%) and 25g of sugar - a lot, but that should be expected, as Fuji Apples are sweet. The red bean paste bun has 102kcal, and 54mg of sodium. There's also 16g of carbohydrates.

My post-run nightly meal! :) The milk is low-fat milk (so there goes my limit of 2 glasses/day) and the muesli is actually a brand called Carman's. The blueberry yoghurt has 141kcal, and 22.5g of carbohydrates (8%) as well as 1.5g of fat. The muesli has lots of nuts and dates inside it along with grain and oats and presumably, I take one serving, so there's 414kcal, 9.9g of fat and 2.3g of saturated fat (11%) which is quite a lot. There's 78.4g of carbohydrates and 13.6g of dietary fibre.

I think once I see the amount of sodium in shrimp paste, I won't be a fan of them much longer and I've got to control my intake of shrimp paste rolls during CNY. CNY goodies like the pineapple tart and shrimp roll have a lot of unhealthy stuff waiting to unleash themselves on our immune systems: saturated fats, excess sodium, trans fats... So I've got to learn how to decline food when offered. I think my lunch of toasted bread with mushroom and cheese is healthy, but it was bought from a vending machine, so it's a bit of a 'preservative'. If I can make my own version at home, it would be a lot healthier!

I should also cut down on the amount of food I eat after runs - especially since it's in the evening, I don't really need those extra carbohydrates and proteins and fats, because I'm going to sleep in a few hours anyway. I'll take smaller servings during the evening and maybe replace the blueberry yoghurt with natural, low-fat yoghurt instead, and maybe cut down on the muesli altogether and save it for mornings, since it's so rich in carbohydrates and fibre.

I think I fulfilled my quota for the base of the pyramid, especially for whole grain products, but I can add more vegetables to my diet - sometimes I 'dabao' food from my grandma's for dinner, and I add lots of kangkong/caixin/spinach, so that's alright. I got enough calcium and proteins and 'meats & alternatives' from milk and other stuf, but maybe I should eat more meat; however, I don't eat pork/mutton/beef/etc. and I don't like meat in general and only eat chicken and fish, so that limits my choices a lot. I'll have to have more dairy products so I'll get enough protein. As for the fats/oils/sugar/salt, I think I did alright, except I can try to monitor my intake of sodium (since all my food choices appear to have really high sodium content) and I'll try using olive oil when cooking.

I consumed APPROXIMATELY 2121kcal for the day, which is acceptable. Except I think it's not a very accurate judge of the amount of calories I ACTUALLY consumed, because there's always variation, and I don't weigh every single little thing I put into my mouth! And besides, if I physical activities like running/tennis/badminton/PE/etc. that day then I'd have to consume more calories or I'd die of exhaustion. I'm a bit afraid to see the nutritional information of whatever's in store for CNY now.

Introduction

Hello whoever's reading this! (Most likely someone from 203 or Mrs Wong, in that case, HELLO.) This is my fancy little blog for our Year 2 Aesthetics module, Food & Nutrition. I'm Tan Yin Lin, #30, of class 203.

For three days - 1/2, 2/2 and 3/2, I will be monitoring my food intake and generate the nutritional information of the every last crumb that I digest. I will be using the Health Promotion Board's website (http://hpb.gov.sg) to generate tables, but in case HPB does not have the information I need, I will take it from other websites; credit to be given, of course.

I will also be posting reflections on the day's food intake, and choosing an unhealthy meal of the day and modify it to make it healthier. Along with that, there will be critiques of other classmate's food blogs as well. :)

Have fun reading, and bon appetit!