Food and nutrition.pdf

Diet and Health 49eat or purchase foods. For example the broad guideline to avoid to muchfat, saturated fat and cholesterol require specific behaviourimplementations that include:• Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads andcereals, potatoes, rice noodles, dried beans, peas, and lentils.• Choose low fat dairy products, including skim, 1%, and 2% milk,low-fat cheeses, and low-fat yogurt.• Choose lean meats, fish, chicken and turkey.Very Low Calorie Weight Loss Diets (VLCD)It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that whileVLCD's promote rapid weight loss and may be beneficial for certainindividuals, such diets have health risks and should be undertaken onlywith the supervision of a multidisciplinary health team with monitoringby a physician and nutrition counselling by a registered dietitian. Sideeffects that have been associated with VLCD's are cold intolerance, fatigue, .light-headedness, nervpusness, euphoria, constipation or diarrhoea, dryskin, thinning of hair, anaemia, and menstrual irregularities.Low Body Weight and Weight LossExcessive concern about weight may cause or lead to such unhealthybehaviors as excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, and the abuse oflaxatives or other medications. These practices may only worsen theconcern about weight. Excessive exercise may also affect hormoneproduction, increase the loss of calcium from the bones, and increase therisk of fractures.Low body weight and rapid unintentional weight loss are highlypredictive of mortality, especially in the elderly population. Weight lossis frequently reported in elderly patients.Acute and chronic diseases are leading causes of involuntary weightloss. Whereas physical disease probably accounts for a majority of casesof involuntary weight loss, psychiatric disorders such as dementia anddepression also may result in severe nutritional deficiencies.Energy requirements decrease because of the lower basal metabolicrate and reduced physical activity. These low energy requirements makeit more difficult for the elderly to obtain adequate amounts of requirednutrients. Health care professionals must monitor body weight in elderlypersons and carefully evaluate any cases of rapid, unintentional weightloss to prevent further deterioration of health status.Weight loss generally consists of both lean body mass and body fat.Contributions of lean body mass and fat to total weight loss is a functionof body fat content. Excessive loss of lean body mass will result in skeletal