Question

Amanda is convinced that white flour and white sugar cause her to overeat, resulting in an extra 30 pounds of weight she is carrying around. To control her impulse to overeat, she has decided to eliminate all foods made with white or whole wheat flour and white sugar from her diet. Her total calorie needs are estimated to be 2000 per day. Yesterday, she ate the the foods on the right: Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and 2 sausage links; 1 cup orange juice; lots of black coffee Snack: 2 oz of cashews and a diet soft drink Lunch: tossed salad with 1 hard cooked egg, 3 oz of sliced turkey, 2 oz of sliced cheese, 3 tbsp of Italian dressing; 1 can diet soft drink; 1 cup of diet gelatin Snack: 2 oz of cheese curds and a diet soft drink Dinner: 6 oz of fried chicken; 1 cup of French fries; ½ cup corn; ½ cup diet pudding with whipped cream; 1 can diet soft drink Snack: 5 chicken wings with ¼ cup bleu cheese dressing

1.   What foods did she eat yesterday that contained carbohydrates? Estimate how many grams of carbohydrate she ate. How does her intake compare with the amount of total carbohydrate recommended for someone needing 2000 cal/day? How could she increase her carbohydrate intake within the restrictions she has set for herself?

2.   What sources of fiber did she consume? Estimate how many grams of fiber she ate. How does her fiber intake compare with the AI amount recommended for women? What would you tell her about her fiber intake?

3.   What would you tell her about her idea to forsake white and whole wheat flour and white sugar to manage her weight? What are the benefits and potential problems with her diet? What suggestions would you make about her intake?

Answer 1

Answer & Explanation

1) The food that she had yesterday, which contained carbohydrate are scrambled eggs, sausage, orange juice, cashews, cheese, gelatin, Italian dressing, fried chicken, french fries, corn and pudding.

2)By adding foods like quinoa seeds, bananas, sweet potatoes, more orange juices instead of diet soft drink (in fact whole orange if possible), blueberries, grapes, apples, kidney beans and chickpeas in her diet, she can significantly increase the carbohydrate intake well within the restrictions she has made for herself.

3)The source of fiber she had were basically corn, french fries, cashew, tossed salad with proper vegetables (if she had), diet pudding and orange juice.She had around 16 gm of total dietary fiber.

For a woman between 18 and 50 years of age, 25 grams a day of fiber is recommended while she is only having 16gm per day which is relatively very less.

I will ask her to increase her fiber intake by adding more fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes and nuts in her diet.

4)Forsaking white and wheat flour and white sugar from the diet is not a very bad idea but carbohydrates makes an essential part of our nutritional intakes and these food items are high in carbohydrates. So, if she have them in moderate quantity, they can even help in her diet. Secondly, the smarter way could be the use of almond flour, coconut flour, buckwheat flour and quinoa flour.

The good thing about her diet is that she has a lot of meat item, egg, cheese, corn, nuts and diet soft drink instead of other carbonated drink. Potential problem with her diet is that she is not meeting the recommended amount of nutrition like carbohydrates and fiber in terms of quantity.

5)I would ask her not to take a diet on the basis of white and wheat flour and white sugar and instead she must follow a diet in terms of her nutritional requirements. Making a chart and then following meals according to that can help in improving her diet and achieving her goal.