Question

George is a 65-year-old Navajo (Dine) male who lives in a traditional hogan. English is his second language. He lives in a food desert and eats a lot of canned foods and processed foods as well as foods his wife and other family grows and preserves. He does not drink milk but does consume other dietary products. He has a body mass index of 32 and a family history of heart disease. He has come to you for advice on increasing his calcium intake and decreasing his sodium intake because he thinks it will help his blood pressure.

What type of dietary guideline would you offer George?

What type of dietary plan is realistic for him?

What are the cultural considerations for educating George about his diet?

Answer 1

What type of dietary guidelines would you offer George?

1 A. Good sources of calcium include:

• milk, cheese, and other dairy foods
• green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and okra
• soya beans
• tofu
• soya drinks with added calcium
• nuts
• bread and anything made with fortified flour
• fish where you eat the bones, such as sardines and pilchards

1..B.reducing sodium

70 percent of the sodium we eat comes from packaged and restaurant foods.

• Choose packaged and prepared foods carefully. Compare labels and choose the product with the lowest amount of sodium (per serving) you can find in your store. You might be surprised that different brands of the same food can have different sodium levels.
• Pick fresh and frozen poultry that hasn’t been injected with a sodium solution. Check the fine print on the packaging for terms like “broth,” “saline” or “sodium solution.” Sodium levels in unseasoned fresh meats are around 100 milligrams (mg) or less per 4-ounce serving.
• Select condiments with care. For example, soy sauce, bottled salad dressings, dips, ketchup, jarred salsas, capers, mustard, pickles, olives, and relish can be sky-high in sodium. Look for a reduced- or lower-sodium version.
• Opt for canned vegetables labeled “no salt added” and frozen vegetables without salty sauces. When they’re added to a casserole, soup, or other mixed dishes, there are so many other ingredients involved that you won’t miss the salt.
• Look for products with the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark to find foods that can be part of an overall healthy dietary pattern. While the Heart-Check mark doesn’t necessarily mean that a product is “low-sodium,” it does mean that the food meets AHA’s sodium criteria to earn the Heart-Check mark.

When preparing food:

• Use onions, garlic, herbs, spices, citrus juices, and vinegar in place of some or all of the salt to add flavor.  
• Drain and rinse canned beans (like chickpeas, kidney beans, etc.) and vegetables. You’ll cut the sodium by up to 40 percent.
• Combine lower-sodium versions of food with regular versions. If you don’t like the taste of lower-sodium foods right now, try combining them in equal parts with a regular version of the same food. You’ll get less salt and probably won’t notice much difference in taste. This works especially well for broths, soups, and tomato-based pasta sauces.
• Cook pasta, rice, and hot cereal without salt. You’re likely going to add other flavorful ingredients, so you won’t miss the salt.
• Cook by grilling, braising, roasting, searing, and sautéing to bring out natural flavors. This will reduce the need to add salt.
• Incorporate foods with potassium like sweet potatoes, potatoes, greens, tomatoes, and lower-sodium tomato sauce, white beans, kidney beans, nonfat yogurt, oranges, bananas, and cantaloupe. Potassium helps counter the effects of sodium and may help lower your blood pressure.

2. What type of dietary plan is realistic for him?

The paleo diet

The paleo diet advocates eating the same foods that your hunter-gatherer ancestors allegedly ate.

It’s based on the theory that modern diseases are linked to the Western diet, as proponents believe that the human body hasn’t evolved to process legumes, grains, and dairy.

How it works: The paleo diet advocates eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, nuts, and seeds. It restricts the consumption of processed foods, grains, sugar, and dairy, though some less restrictive versions allow for some dairy products like cheese.

Weight loss: Numerous studies have shown that the paleo diet can aid weight loss and reduce harmful belly fat  

Research also suggests that the paleo diet may be more filling than popular diets like the Mediterranean diet and low-fat diets. This may be due to its high protein content

Other benefits: Following the paleo diet may reduce several heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels

Downsides: Though the paleo diet is healthy, it restricts several nutritious food groups, including legumes, whole grains, and dairy. He might require supplements for the same.

3What are the cultural considerations for educating George about his diet?

A. Tons of coffee with sugar and goat milk have also been popular components of the Navajo diet for quite some time. This is quite harmful as it decreases the calcium absorption despite the increased calcium intake in the diet.

B. since he lives in a food desert and depends mainly on the canned food he has to choose wisely the food ideal for his health conditions(high BMI and family history of heart disease)

c. Mutton and Sumac Berries Soup is a good example of a popular, long-established Navajo dish. Care must be provided to enrich the same dish with green leafy vegetables that might help him to supplement the essential micronutrients he is lacking in his diet.