Nutrition:

Key Learning Points

o Nutrition- Nutrition is important in the fact that this is how we get nutrients from
foods that are bodies need. By making sure we know what proper nutrition is we
will then be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When you are trying to live a
healthy lifestyle a lot of people think that its all up to what you do with physical
activity, but I believe its 80% nutrition.
o Diet Trends- Today as you probably already realize people are always trying to
come up with the next diet fad. According to WebMD diet fads dont work,
because they dont work as a long term goal (WebMD LLC., 2014). We need to
do research into certain diets and realize that you need to make a lifestyle change
instead of just following an 8 week program.
o Role of Nutrition Professionals- Nutrition professionals fill a vital and pivotal
role in the health of this country. As professionals they should be able to give
sound advice for their clients to follow and have research to back up their claims.
Next the nutrition professionals also need to make sure that they dont make their
advice the end all of everything and encourage patients to do their own research
as well.
Websites
o http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/portion/index.htmThe website is important, because it gives a brief overview on portion control.
o http://www.cdc.gov/- Important site in the fact it can give you a brief overview of
nutrition and food safety.
o http://www.nutrition.gov/- Great site that gives you all sorts of information
specifically on nutrition and diet recommendations.
Book- Williams Essentials of Nutrition and Diet Therapy- Great textbook that gives all
sorts of useful information dealing with nutrition education.
Software Program- SuperTracker website- I feel this is the best program to use when
dealing with portion control and nutritional content of food.
Diets and Food Choices:
Key Learning Points
o Dietary Guidelines- It is important to know what the current dietary guidelines
are so you have a baseline for your nutrition to work off of. You will learn of
course what the food groups are, but also the daily recommended servings for
each food group. They also update the guidelines periodically so the information
you read is the best comprehensive guide at the time.
o Causes for Food Choice- One of the most important things you can do are figure
out why you eat the foods that you eat. The environment around you is a big
influence on what you currently are eating. For example Nestle states that when a

person is given a larger portion of food the consumer will automatically take in
more calories than they need (Nestle, 2013).
o Food Misinformation- Food misinformation is a very valid topic on what foods
we end up eating as part of our diet. In fact the American Dietetic Association
believes that food misinformation can have a significant impact on the health of
this countrys consumers (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2006). When you
are looking up information about nutrition the first thing you have to make sure is
if you are getting the information from a credible source.
Websites
o http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome- The website is great to use if
you want to find any information about nutrition even the dietary
recommendations.
o http://www.foodinsight.org/- The website is great so you make sure you are
getting credible food information and learn how to read the food labels.
o http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fcd/nutrition/ewfl/index.php- The website helps
you to learn to stretch your dollars when it comes to food which has a great
influence on the foods you eat.
Book- Williams Essentials of Nutrition and Diet Therapy- Gives great information for
what acts as influences for our food choices.
Software Program- Farmers Market Search Engine- This is a great tool to use if you are
looking for locations of farmers markets so you can get a wholesome nutritional diet.
Food Safety:
Key Learning Points
o Food Storage Safety- Food storage is one of the most important things that you
can possibly learn for your own health. This will make it where you know that the
food you eat wont cause you to contract a foodborne illness. It is also helpful to
know this when you are thawing meat out so that you dont catch a foodborne
illness that way as well.
o Methods of Food Storage- As stated previously there are foodborne illnesses you
can get if you arent storing your food properly. Some of the techniques that you
can use is keeping items frozen, making sure your refrigerator temperature is set
appropriately, and find out what items you can keep in the cupboards and for how
long. According to PrepareTheWay food should be kept at a constant temperature
in a cool and dry environment (2014).
o Foodborne Illness Transmission- It is very important that you know the ways
that food-borne illnesses can be passed on to the consumer. Some ways that
diseases can be passed is by under cooking meat, improper storage methods, and
improper thawing methods. Another way it can be passed onto the consumer is the
way the food is being prepared before it even hits the shelves.
Websites

o http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5304a1.htm- The website is

great tool to use, because it gives you information on food-borne illnesses from
contracting them, symptoms, and treatments.
o http://www.fightbac.org/- The website is a great place to find information on
foodborne illnesses and safety handling methods for food.
o http://www.epa.gov/- I chose this website, because it gives a lot of great
information pertaining to our environment even the way food is being grown.
Article- Attribution of foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths to food
commodities by using outbreak data, United States, 1998-2008- This article was part of a
study done on foodborne illnesses that was published in a journal from the CDC.
Program- www.recalls.gov- This is a great site to use to track where there are current recalls of
food and the reason they are being recalled.