B. Healthfulness of Your Diet
Use and refer to (tell the reader where to look for your evidence) unit readings, appropriate
guidelines and the reports from MyDietAnalysis to assess your overall diet patterns. In this
section include an analysis of your overall diet. Use the following section titled “Action Plan” to
discuss how you will remedy the deficiencies and excesses in your diet. This section should
include:
Adequacy – Evaluate your diet in terms of meeting your daily requirements for:
1) energy 2) protein 3) vitamins* 4) minerals* 5) fiber
*A vitamin or mineral is considered inadequate if it is < 75% of the recommended intake.
Moderation – Evaluate your diet in terms of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 for
excess intakes of:
1) saturated fat 2) sodium 3) sugar 4) cholesterol
5) protein - intakes > 2 g protein per kg body weight is considered excessive.
Balance – Evaluate the balance in terms of…
1) Proportion of total calories from carbohydrate, fat, and protein sources
2) Distribution of foods into food Groups as recommended by MyPyramid amounts (daily)
*A food group is considered inadequate if it falls below 75% of the recommended intake.
A comparison of your diet to MyPyramid -- if your diet is short in certain food groups, be sure
to state the number of servings you are short and why you think you came up short.
Variety – examine the variety of foods within each food group that you selected. For
example, how many different types of vegetables did you eat? How many different grains did
you eat? Color is another quick snapshot to the variety of foods you eat – yellow, green, blue
vegetables all have different nutrient profiles.