Grace's blog:
I think Grace's blog is very aesthetically appealing and her posts are interesting and detailed. She fulfills all the requirements of the PT at the same time makes her blog very appealing, with insightful posts reinforced by accurate and pretty photographs. The healthy one-dish meal that she recommends is described really well, with the nutritional information lined out in detail, which is very good as one would want to know about the nutritional value of a healthy meal.
Cheng Yin's blog:
Cheng Yin;s blog is also aesthetically appealing, decorated by many photos of delicious looking foods. Her posts are very detailed especially with precise statistics such as how much calories a serving contains, the number of servings she consumed. The layout of her blog gives an overall clean and organized feeling. Her healthy dish is really very healthy based on her description; however, the picture looks less healthy though. Maybe she could have used a better picture to convey the healthiness of the dish.
Min Yi's blog:
Min Yi's blog is amazingly detailed and her diet is analysed very thoroughly. She analysed each day of her diet separately, using both the Nutrients Intake Analysis and the Food Pyramid. Thus I think she gained really good knowledge about the nutrients of the food she consumes and the components of her diet. Her one dish meal is also very healthy, and as she added in a step-by-step recipe of how to cook this meal, the description is very thorough and easy to follow. There could have been a more complete photograph of her one0dish meal though.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Reflections!
Reflections on Food and Nutrition PT
From this PT, I learnt that my eating habits can still be healthier, as it is currently too high in sodium and fats. By using the tools I discover that my diet is not as healthy as I thought and some changes have to be made. Though I still regard my diet as a relatively healthy one, I determine to make improvements to my diet so as to enhance my health.
The suggested tools are useful in that they provide meticulous details and give very sound advices on how to maintain health; however, the tools only allow us to choose from the options of foods that they already have. Thus, what we analyse is not so much our real diet but only the closest options provided. Also, there could have been clarifications on how much a serving is, because the public would not be measuring in grams each food that they eat. The requirements for health, as the tools present, is also too high, as I personally feel. It seems hard to achieve the denoted healthiness without going through a very rigorous vegetarian diet. Still, the intention of the tools is good, and they succeed in their purpose of informing us more about our diet.
The reasons why my suggested one dish meal is healthy are presented under the post about the dish. In summary, my one dish meal is healthy because it provides a wide range of balanced nutrients, it follows the health pyramid, it contains healthy ingredients and is cooked using healthy methods.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Healthy One Dish Meal
I chose this dish as my healthy one dish meal because it uses very healthy ingredients that contains balanced nutrients, and it is cooked by healthy methods.
It is: Brown Rice with Chicken Essence, Grilled Drumsticks and Mixed Vegetables.
In this dish, all levels of the food pyramid is met: rice and alternatives, fruits and vegetables, meat and alternatives and fats, sugars and salts. They are also in the correct proportion: there is highest amount of rice, followed by vegetables and fruits, then meat. As the whole dish is cooked in a very healthy manner, with minimum salt, oil and sugar added (for example, for the flavouring of rice, chicken essence is used instead of chicken oil or salt, which are less healthy), the amount of fats, sugars and salts is the lowest.
The ingredients and methods of cooking used are also very healthy. One such healthy ingredient is brown rice. As brown rice is a wholegrain, it contains extra nutritional value in fibres, which help in digestion, and vitamins. The brown rice is boiled and simmered, thus retaining all its nutritional values.
Another healthy ingredient is the vegetables. The mixed vegetables consist of cabbages, carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms and so on. The variety of vegetables ensure that a wide range of necessary vitamins and other nutrients are sufficiently provided by the dish. Stir-frying the vegetables enhances its flavour whil retaining its nutrients.
Another healthy ingredient is the chicken drumsticks. Although chicken skin is not removed, the chicken is still healthier and less fatty than if it were deep fried or roasted. As such, grilled chicken presents the best compromise between health and good taste. Also, the ingredients used in the marinating of chicken, for example plum sauce, are high in nutritional values too.
Below is a picture of this dish :D
It is: Brown Rice with Chicken Essence, Grilled Drumsticks and Mixed Vegetables.
In this dish, all levels of the food pyramid is met: rice and alternatives, fruits and vegetables, meat and alternatives and fats, sugars and salts. They are also in the correct proportion: there is highest amount of rice, followed by vegetables and fruits, then meat. As the whole dish is cooked in a very healthy manner, with minimum salt, oil and sugar added (for example, for the flavouring of rice, chicken essence is used instead of chicken oil or salt, which are less healthy), the amount of fats, sugars and salts is the lowest.
The ingredients and methods of cooking used are also very healthy. One such healthy ingredient is brown rice. As brown rice is a wholegrain, it contains extra nutritional value in fibres, which help in digestion, and vitamins. The brown rice is boiled and simmered, thus retaining all its nutritional values.
Another healthy ingredient is the vegetables. The mixed vegetables consist of cabbages, carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms and so on. The variety of vegetables ensure that a wide range of necessary vitamins and other nutrients are sufficiently provided by the dish. Stir-frying the vegetables enhances its flavour whil retaining its nutrients.
Another healthy ingredient is the chicken drumsticks. Although chicken skin is not removed, the chicken is still healthier and less fatty than if it were deep fried or roasted. As such, grilled chicken presents the best compromise between health and good taste. Also, the ingredients used in the marinating of chicken, for example plum sauce, are high in nutritional values too.
Below is a picture of this dish :D
Calorie Calculator
I need 1904 kcal per day to maintain my current weight. :D I hope I hardly exceed the required calories.
Recipe Analysis
I have done the recipe analysis on one of my family's favourite dishes, Ribs Lotus Soup.
This is pretty useful when inventing recipes, to check how healthy the foods are. I am glad that our family's favourite dish contains so little energy, or harmful fats and cholesterol.
| Ingredient | Energy (kcal) | Protein (g) | Total Fat (g) | Saturated Fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | Carbohydrate (g) | Dietary Fibre (g) | Sodium (mg) |
| Pork, spare ribs, stock, skimmed | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 87 |
| Lotus root, boiled, drained | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 10 | 1.9 | 27 |
| Total (per serving) | 41 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 10 | 1.9 | 114 |
This is pretty useful when inventing recipes, to check how healthy the foods are. I am glad that our family's favourite dish contains so little energy, or harmful fats and cholesterol.
Energy and Nutrient Compositions of Foods
I've used the tool on some of the main components of my recorded diet.
Pow, char siew, steamed | |
Energy (kcal) | 363 |
Protein (g) | 13 |
Total fat (g) | 15 |
Saturated fat (g) | 5.5 |
Dietary fibre (g) | 1.7 |
Carbohydrate (g) | 45 |
Cholesterol (mg) | 23 |
Sodium (mg) | 473 |
Sugar (g) | N.A |
Calcium (mg) | 23 |
Iron (mg) | 1.08 |
Vitamin C (mg) | N.A |
Trans fatty acids (g) | N.A |
|
|
Vegetables, mixed, braised | ||
Energy (kcal) | 30 | |
Protein (g) | 1 | |
Total fat (g) | 2 | |
Saturated fat (g) | 0.7 | |
Dietary fibre (g) | 2.1 | |
Carbohydrate (g) | 2 | |
Cholesterol (mg) | 0 | |
Sodium (mg) | 116 | |
Iron (mg) | 0.61 | |
Vitamin C (mg) | 11 | |
I guess the results are pretty expected. It appears that one serving of pizza has less energy than a serving of char siew pow. However, to tell the truth, I don't derive any meaning in these nutrients analysis. I doubt if people will check the nutrients composition before they eat something, or if the nutrients composition will affect their decision whether to eat it or not. It is certainly more meaningless to check the nutrients composition after eating. After all, I am not even sure what one serving is, and so are many members of the public. Thus it is even harder to judge if the amount of energy shown is the amount that we have consumed.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Analysis based on Healthy Diet Pyramid
My intake of fruits and vegetables might not be enough either, as like carbohydrates, I do not have the habit of taking vegetables at breakfast and lunch. However, I do normally take a fruit or two during lunch and dinner, thus improving my fruits intake.
My intake for meat and alternatives seem to be meeting the expected standards. Sometimes I do not take meat in breakfast either, but most of the time I do in lunch and dinner. Also, sometimes I take meat as snacks which might even contribute to an overly high level of meats and alternatives.
Finally, I think my intake of fats, oils, sugar and salt may be too high. I like to take snacks comprising mainly sweets and biscuits which contribute to the high intake in this area. Also, I am afraid parts of my diet are high in fats and oils.
However, I do not think that this sample of my diet is representative. I happened to be eating out at PizzaHut for one day of diet record, and eating more snacks than I usually do for another. Thus, I think the analysis of my normal diet would be less negative than this one, which is rather high in fats and sugars.
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