Personalized Recommendations Using the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The USDA’s food guidance system new ChooseMyPlate recommends making half your plate fruits and vegetables, drinking skim or 1% milk, eating half of your grains whole grains, and eating lean protein. You also need to look out for sodium (salt) in the foods you buy by reading food labels to reduce your salt intake. Your sodium is at ______. Adults should take in no more than 1.5g/day. Enjoy your food, but eat less, and select from a variety of foods.
After analyzing your diet using the MyPlate Supertracker, here are some suggestions to improve the five food groups.
Grains-Bread/Cereal- compare the amounts of servings that is suggested by MyPlate against what the patient actually ate in terms of serving amounts.
Then make suggestions to improve their intake with specific foods for each food group and serving amounts. Recommend when they would eat it.
For example, add a whole wheat bagel for breakfast. Do the same for each food group.
Vegetables: For your
Fruits
Milk & Dairy products
Meat & Beans
Cholesterol & Fat: The present recommendation for healthy Americans is to lower blood cholesterol levels to 200 mg/dl or below. Decreasing intake of foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol can help you maintain this level.
Salt Intake: After analyzing your diet, your sodium intake was ________mg.
The American Heart Association recommends to keep your salt intake no more than 2,300 milligrams per day. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, or are over 51 you it is recommended to limit your sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day and follow your physician’s advice. Most excessive salt comes from processed foods. Keep in mind that 1 teaspoon of salt is equal to 2,300 mg.
Discuss what they can do to lower their salt intake if it was too high.
Water: It is better to drink water instead of sugary drinks. Drinking optimally fluoridated water can help prevent tooth decay. If you choose to drink bottled water, check the label for fluoride content.
You drank _____ glasses of water. Strive for 8 to 10 eight ounce glasses each day.
Scoring the Sweets:
After evaluating your sugar consumption with Scoring the Sweets, your risk for decay
is moderate.
Here are some tips to reduce your risk of tooth decay:
If you choose to consume sugary foods and drinks, do so with meals.
Saliva production increases during meals and helps neutralize acids that cause decay. Limit between meal snacks, especially those that have sugar.
If you crave a snack, choose nutritious foods low in salt, sugar, and fat.
Consider chewing sugarless gum afterward, preferably one that contains “xylitol,” which has been shown to be “anticariogenic,” (cavity prevention). If you choose to chew this type of gum, chew 6-10 grams of xylitol per day, for 3-5 times per day, chewed for five minutes.
