The Learning Journal allows you to step back and reflect on the concepts you studied in this unit.
In the Learning Journal, imagine you work for a community health organization. What dietary changes would you recommend to promote better nutritional health in your community? What practices do you feel are important to emphasize and why? What anatomic and/or physiologic changes can you promote through dietary changes?
Be sure that your Learning Journal entry is a minimum of 500 words.
1. What dietary changes would you recommend to promote better nutritional health in your community?
In Japan, rice has been cultivated since ancient times, and not only has it become a staple food for people, but it has also been improved over decades to improve its taste and quality, and hundreds of cooking methods have been developed, which is a food that people love and eat every day. Especially white rice is such an integral part of the Japanese diet that it has been described as the soul of the Japanese people. Most Japanese consume excess carbs through white rice, and this is common among the middle-aged and older as well as the young.
Carbohydrates are broken down into simple soluble sugars during the digestive process and carried across the intestinal wall into the circulatory system and throughout the body (OpenStax, 2018). The basic units of carbohydrates are monosaccharides, and glucose gives the brain the ability to think and constant energy for survival which is the essential energy source for all living things, including humans. These sugars, which are essential for the body, are quickly taken up by the body and transported to each organ. However, Excess glucose or fructose, etc., are taken up by the liver, and when a certain level is exceeded, the liver can no longer process those sugars, converting them into triglycerides and accumulating in the body as adipose tissue (Taniguchi et al., 1986).
・Eat whole grains instead of refined grains
Refined grains, which are grains that have been stripped of the bran and germ, are fast-releasing carbohydrates, raise blood sugar rapidly, and are converted into energy. This energy lasts for only a short time and makes you hungry quickly, which leads to eating more food (O'Byrne, n.d.). Contrary, slow-releasing carbohydrates are absorbed slowly in our bodies, suppressing the sudden rise in blood sugar levels, and can be expected to maintain satiety and thereby prevent overeating. Consumption of refined grains is widely regarded as a cause of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and it is recommended to replace refined grains with healthier whole grains. This is a way to make you feel full and simultaneously prevent us from overeating, which I personally find to be effective. For example, we can eat brown rice instead of white rice and whole-grain pasta instead of pasta.
・Restrict intake of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)
Eating a nutritionally balanced diet containing fresh vegetables and meat is sometimes challenging because it takes more money and time. So people often take cheap fast food and sugary sodas, to satisfy their hunger at a low cost. This is why people in developing countries become obese despite being economically impoverished. Also, some Japanese people fall into similar unhealthy habits due to their busy schedules or economic reasons. They are prone to excessive intake of carbohydrates and sugars and are vulnerable to lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) significantly greatly impact our health. Those are cheap, easy to obtain, and delicious, which attracts us. In a study of SSB, researchers found that SSB causes addictive and withdrawal symptoms similar to smoking (Falbe et al., 2019). Limiting daily intake of fast food and SSB prevents excess sugar intake and obesity and diabetes.
2. What practices do you feel are important to emphasize and why?
・Reduce total calorie intakes and Increase total calorie expense
Technological developments have made it very easy for us to obtain vast amounts of energy and, at the same time, have significantly reduced our activity levels. In ancient times, people had to work in the fields from morning until night to obtain food. Only then could they obtain the nutrients they needed to survive. But today, at the fingertips of a smartphone, ready-to-cook, nutritious, high-calorie, high-fat meals are delivered instantly. Like this, people intake the same or more calories than they used to, even though they have become more convenient and less active. Therefore, the leading cause of modern obesity is an imbalance between the amount of calories consumed and the amount of calories consumed and lack of physical activity. It is important to consciously limit your daily calorie intake or increase your physical activity.
3. What anatomic and/or physiologic changes can you promote through dietary changes?
As explained earlier, excess carbohydrates and sugars are converted into glycogen and triglycerides and accumulate as adipose tissue in our organs and blood vessels. Some cases are fatty liver and atherosclerosis. As the name suggests, fatty liver is a disease in which neutral fat accumulates in the liver, and it has been pointed out that it may progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fat deposits and builds up in the walls of large and medium-sized arteries, reducing or blocking blood flow (Johns Hopkins Medicine, n.d.). It can directly cause myocardial infarction and stroke.
According to the textbook, after age 30, our metabolic rate declines by about 2% per decade as we lose muscle mass (OpenStax, 2018). As we age, it is wise to reassess how much and how much we eat carbohydrates. By maintaining proper carbohydrate metabolism results in preventing obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
References
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Atherosclerosis. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/atherosclerosis
O'Byrne, L. (n.d.). Slow and fast carbohydrates: What's the difference? Atkins. Retrieved from https://au.atkins.com/articles/slow-and-fast-carbohydrates-whats-the-difference.html
OpenStax. (2018). Anatomy & physiology. Houston, TX: Rice University. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/FPtK1zmh@12.6:fEI3C8Ot@16/Preface.
Taniguchi, A., Kono, T., Okuda, H., Oseko, F., Nagata, I., Kataoka, K., & Imura, H. (1986). Neutral glyceride synthesis from glucose in human adipose tissue: comparison between growing and mature subjects. Journal of lipid research, 27(9), 925–929. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3537183/
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