Essay assignment (400 words minimum) on one macronutrient from two perspectives:
one from a naturally occurring harvest, the other from a refining and manufacturing process.
Description
The learning objectives for this chapter include emphasis on whole foods versus refined and processed foods. Throughout the book, this is a common theme that encompasses many modern issues and decisions in nutritional choices. This assignment requires students to present two views on one macronutrient of choice, in the following scenario:
The patient is a relatively inactive 26-year old woman who lives alone in a highly urban city in an apartment. She works from home as a software engineer for 7-8 hours every day. She exercises 1-2 times a week at the local gym for 30-40 minutes each time. She typically runs on the treadmill, but does not do muscle training or any other form of exercise. The patient is inquiring about the benefits, risks, and costs of buying refined foods from the store versus whole foods from the farmer’s market. The store is 5 minutes’ walk away from the apartment, while the farmer’s market is around 7 miles from the city. The patient is seeking to purchase one food from each category of macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids.
As such, one view is from the perspective of a naturally occurring harvest, and the other is from a processing and refining perspective.
Students should be able to answer the following three questions for one macronutrient:
Whole Foods Perspective: what four benefits and four risks of this macronutrient in its whole, non-processed form?
Refined Foods Perspective: what are four benefits and four risks of this macronutrient in its processed and refined form?
Dietary Guidelines: according to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, as well as the scenario, how much of this macronutrient should this patient consume?
Health Options: what other lifestyle options can this patient pursue to maintain a healthy weight and wellbeing?
Students should also provide an organized list of APA-formatted citations and sources.
Student Resources/Recommended Readings
Distance Learning Systems 2020 Nutrition eBook, Chapter 2
Basic infographic templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint
National Agricultural Library: Macronutrients
Innerbody Research: Macronutrients
