Diet analysis

Using Food Intake Assessment and RDA:
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DAY 1


As can be seen from the tables, everything that I eat in total exceeds the RDA, especially my sodium intake. This is probably because I ate hawker centre food for both lunch and dinner. I should cut down on unhealthy stuff and eat more home-cooked food. Also, white bread contains quite a lot of fat. Eating wholemeal bread would be a healthier choice as it also has more vitamins and minerals.


DAY 2
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Today, again, my intake of all the components listed exceeded the RDA, especially sodium. Excess sodium increases the blood volume, which then raises the pressure in our blood vessels. Hypertension or high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke and heart attacks. THe reason I exceeded the sodium RDA by so much is probably because of all the processed foods in my soup kuey tiao. I should have cut down on the meatballs and fishballs, and perhaps added fresh meat and more veggies.


DAY 3
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For day 3, I finally do not exceed the daily allowance for every single component. However, my sodium level is still extremely high. I do not trust the sodium analysis they provide, as I know my mother tries to use as little salt as possible when cooking. I am eating too much saturated fat, though my total fat is below the allowance. An excess of saturated fat can raise your blood cholesterol, subsequently increasing your risk of heart disease. It is probably from the curry I ate. Cutting down on and substituting coconut milk in curry can help reduce the saturated fat levels. I can use plain skimmed milk instead of coconut milk.

Healthy diet pyramid:




According to the healthy diet pyramid, I am taking about the right amount of servings of Rice and Alternatives, but very little whole-grain products, which mainly comes from the brown rice mixed in my white rice. In the end, based on other tools, I found out that my carbohydrate intake exceeds the daily recommendation, but I am not eating enough whole-grains. I could add more brown rice to my white rice, or eat more wholemeal bread.
For Fruits and Vegs, I am eating about a serving of vegetables only, and about the same for fruits, despite eating fruits every night. This is bad as I will not get enough fibres or other important vitamins. I could increase my intake of vegetables by eating more at lunch, instead of during dinner only. As for fruits, I could perhaps make pure fruit juice during the day, to add to my daily intake of cut fruits at night.
For Meat and Alternatives, I am eating enough or more than required, since I drink 2 cups of milk daily and eat quite a lot of meat and fish. Meat usually comes from dishes during lunch and dinner, and from chicken or pork ribs soup.
For the last group, Fats, Oils, Sugar and Salt, I am definitely consuming more than recommended. My frequency of eating non-home-cooked food during these 3 days gave me more sodium and oil than usual home-cooked food. I should cut down on these foods as they are very unhealthy when taken in large amounts, and the required amount is only very little. Also, normally I eat a lot of deep-fried foods, like fiskcakes and chicken. Other ways of cooking these foods could be to boil the fishcakes in soup, and braise the chicken. My sodium intake is definitely more than the RDA, and I should cut down by eating less processed foods and cooking my dishes with less salt.


Energy and Nutrient Composition of Foods:

Using the Energy and Nutrient Composition of Foods tool on HPB's website, i analysed the composition of a meal I had on Day 1 - Char Kuey Teow.

The analysis follows:
Energy: 744 kcal
Protein: 23 g
Total fat: 38 g
Saturated fat: 29.2 g
Dietary fibre: 7.3 g
Carbohydrate: 76 g
Cholesterol: 234 mg
Sodium: 1459 mg
Starch: NA
Sugar: NA
Monounsaturated fat: 4.6 g
Polyunsaturated fat: 3.1 g
Calcium: 196 mg
Iron: 6.53 mg
Potassium: NA
Phosphorus: NA
Zinc: NA
Selenium: NA
Vitamin A: 0
Beta-carotene: 0
Retinol: 0
Thiamin: NA
Riboflavin: NA
Vitamin C: NA
Water: 238 g
Trans-fatty acids: 0

As can be seen from the analysis, Char Kuey Teow is high in fats, sodium and cholesterol. On the other hand, it offers little good nutrients like dietary fibre and no vitamins at all. This is a poor meal for dinner, and should not be eaten often. A better substitute would be soup kuay teow, where all the ingredients found in char kuey teow can be included, like fishcake, prawns, and meat.