FOOD CLASSIFICATION

Hospital Corpsman Revised Edition - Complete Navy Nursing manual for hospital training purposes
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CHAPTER 9 DIET AND NUTRITION This chapter is concerned with the nutritional requirements for the healthy person, and for the sick, wounded, and convalescing patient. Research has confirmed that good health depends in part upon the availability of essential nutrients the body requires throughout life. The well-nourished individual is usually mentally alert, is at a maximum of physical capability, and has a high resistance to disease. The daily basic minimum nutritional requirements must be met and often supplemented during periods of illness to meet the changing needs of the body and its ability to use foods. Therefore, the diet is an important factor in the therapeutic plan for each patient. The important role of nutrition in overall health is widely recognized. As a member of the Navy, you must be healthy to perform your professional duties. Part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle starts with eating a well-balanced diet and maintaining a good fitness regimen. Many people in the Navy and Marine Corps do not maintain a proper daily diet. As a Hospital Corpsman, you may be responsible for providing nutritional counseling and, perhaps, even motivation. You have an added responsibility to observe for additional nutritional needs and omissions and to advise your shipmates when necessary. If you stay healthy and energetic, the knowledge and experience you share and the example you set may help your shipmates adopt and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Balancing energy intake and expenditure can be difficult, both when activity levels are high as well as when they are very low. Typically, body weight remains constant when energy intake equals expenditure (fig. 9–1). The energy balance equation can be “unbalanced” by changing energy intake, energy expenditure, or both. To gain or lose 1 pound requires that approximately 3,500 extra calories be consumed or burned. FOOD CLASSIFICATION LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the components of good nutrition. Foods are substances from animal and plant sources that yield heat and energy when ingested and absorbed by the body. Food nutrients build and renew tissues and regulate the body processes. The unit commonly used for describing energy intake and energy expenditure is the calorie. Good food sources contain substantial amounts of nutrients in relation to caloric content and provide upwards of 10 percent of the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance for each specific nutrient. Most people can get enough of each required nutrient daily by eating a wide variety of foods. PROTEINS Proteins are the “building blocks” of the body and provide important required nutritive elements. Proteins are needed for growth, maintenance, and replacement of body cells, and they form hormones and enzymes used to regulate body processes. Extra protein is either used to supply energy or is changed into body fat. Found in both the animal and plant kingdoms, all proteins are composed of amino acids. Some amino acids are absolutely essential to maintain life and are necessary for repair, growth, and body development. Of the approximately 20 amino acids, 9-1 INTAKE=3000 KCAL OUTPUT=3000 KCAL WEIGHT GAIN=0 INTAKE=4000 KCAL OUTPUT=2000 KCAL WEIGHT GAIN=+ INTAKE=2000 KCAL OUTPUT=3000 KCAL WEIGHT GAIN= _ HM3f0901 Figure 9–1.—Balancing energy intake.

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