Supports effective nutrient breakdown -
The Heart-Check mark considers beneficial nutrients as well as nutrients you should limit, making it quick and easy for you to make a healthy choice. The white bread has about 80 calories per slice, but few vitamins and minerals. The whole-grain version has about the same number of calories, but more protein, three times the magnesium, and more than double the fiber, potassium, vitamin B6 and zinc.
The nutrition information shows that the whole-grain option is the more nutrient-dense choice. Sometimes it only takes a small shift to make a more nutrient-dense choice. Most of us, including kids and adolescents, get a significant portion of our daily energy calories from snacks.
When snacking, choose mostly nutrient-dense foods, such as fat-free or low-fat dairy products as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables and nuts. Written by American Heart Association editorial staff and reviewed by science and medicine advisors.
See our editorial policies and staff. Eat Smart. American Heart Association Cookbooks. Nutrition Basics. Healthy For Good: Spanish Infographics. Home Healthy Living Healthy Eating Eat Smart Nutrition Basics How Can I Eat More Nutrient Dense Foods. What Does Nutrient Dense Mean?
There are a number of government resources that health professionals can use to support older individuals in accessing and achieving a healthy dietary pattern. Choosing healthy foods and actively using nutrition resources can help people make every bite count, no matter their age. For more information about these resources for older adults, check out Nutrition Programs for Seniors from Nutrition.
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Nutrition as We Age: Healthy Eating with the Dietary Guidelines. Special Considerations for Older Adults The Healthy Eating Index HEI measures diet quality based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Supporting Older Adults in Healthy Eating Similar to other life stages, health professionals, family, and friends can support older adults in achieving a healthy dietary pattern that fits with their budget, preferences, and traditions. Additional factors to consider when supporting healthy eating for older adults include: Enjoyment of food — Sharing meals with friends and family can increase food enjoyment and provide a great opportunity to share a lifetime of stories, all while improving dietary patterns.
Ability to chew or swallow foods — Experimenting with different ways of cooking foods from all food groups can help identify textures that are acceptable, appealing, and enjoyable for older adults — especially those who have difficulties chewing or swallowing.
Good dental health is also critical to the ability to chew foods. Food safety — Practicing safe food handling is especially important for this age group.
The risk of foodborne illness increases with age due to a decline in immune system function. Find more information on food safety for older adults and food safety for people with decreased immune system function [PDF — 2. Find Resources to Help Older Adults Eat Healthy There are a number of government resources that health professionals can use to support older individuals in accessing and achieving a healthy dietary pattern.
Congregate Nutrition Services provides meals for people ages 60 and older and their spouses in senior centers, schools, and churches.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP provides temporary benefits to help with food purchases for people with limited incomes. Commodity Supplemental Food Program CSFP distributes monthly packages of nutritious foods from the U.
Minerals Regulate body processes, are necessary for proper cellular function, and comprise body tissue. Water Transports essential nutrients to all body parts, transports waste products for disposal, and aids with body temperature maintenance.
macronutrients Nutrients that are needed in large amounts are called macronutrients. There are three classes of macronutrients: carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. These can be metabolically processed into cellular energy.
The energy from macronutrients comes from their chemical bonds. This chemical energy is converted into cellular energy used to perform work, allowing our bodies to conduct their basic functions. A unit of measurement of food energy is the calorie.
A kilocalorie Calorie is the amount of heat generated by a particular macronutrient that raises the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. Water is also a macronutrient in the sense that you require a large amount of it, but unlike the other macronutrients, it does not provide calories.
Carbohydrates are molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The major food sources of carbohydrates are grains, milk, fruits, and starchy vegetables, like potatoes. Non-starchy vegetables also contain carbohydrates but in lesser quantities. Carbohydrates are broadly classified into two forms based on their chemical structure: simple carbohydrates, simple sugars, and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbohydrates consist of one or two basic units. Examples of simple sugars include sucrose, the type of sugar you would have in a bowl on the breakfast table, and glucose, the type of sugar that circulates in your blood. Complex carbohydrates are long chains of simple sugars that can be unbranched or branched.
During digestion, the body breaks down digestible complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, mostly glucose. Glucose is then transported to all our cells, stored, used to make energy, or used to build macromolecules. Fiber is also a complex carbohydrate, but digestive enzymes cannot break it down in the human intestine.
As a result, it passes through the digestive tract undigested unless the bacteria that inhabit the colon or large intestine break it down.
As mentioned, glucose can be stored in the body for future use. In humans, the storage molecule of carbohydrates is called glycogen, and in plants, it is known as starch. Glycogen and starch are complex carbohydrates.
Proteins are macromolecules composed of chains of subunits called amino acids. Amino acids are simple subunits composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Food sources of proteins include meats, dairy products, seafood, and various plant-based foods, most notably soy.
Proteins provide structure to bones, muscles, and skin and play a role in conducting most of the chemical reactions that take place in the body.
Scientists estimate that greater than one-hundred thousand different proteins exist within the human body. The genetic codes in DNA are basically protein recipes that determine the order in which 20 different amino acids are bound together to make thousands of specific proteins. Lipids are also a family of molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but they are insoluble in water, unlike carbohydrates.
Lipids are found predominantly in butter, oils, meats, dairy products, nuts, seeds, and processed foods.
By Dana DeSilva, PhD, Effectuve, ORISE health policy fellow, Office of Disease Breakdosn Supports effective nutrient breakdown Health Promotion and LT Dennis Anderson-Villaluz, MBA, RD, LDN, FAND, nutrition advisor, Office of Efdective Prevention and Su;ports Promotion. Older adults are Supports effective nutrient breakdown greater risk of Stress management for better mental health diseases, such as heart disease and cancer — as well as health conditions related to changes in muscle and bone mass, such as osteoporosis. The good news is that this population can mitigate some of these risks by eating nutrient-dense foods and maintaining an active lifestyle. Older adults generally have lower calorie needs, but similar or even increased nutrient needs compared to younger adults. This is often due to less physical activity, changes in metabolism, or age-related loss of bone and muscle mass.
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