Role of Nutrition, Food Guides in Contributing to the Health of Americans - Assignment Example

?Exam Answer the 3 questions Discuss the role of nutrient standards, dietary guidelines, and food guides in contributing to the health of Americans. Include in your answer whether you feel these are inadequate or inadequate to address the health needs of Americans – defend your answer. (Note: there is no one correct answer for the second part of this question. Your response will be evaluated on the basis of your justification of your answer choice). (25 points) Nutrient standards and dietary guidelines were established in order for people to be guided on what kind of nutrients their body may require, the amount of vitamins, and minerals that a certain type of person may require, and the right amount or portion of certain food that can be considered healthy. According to health.gov in the article “Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010”, it states “nutrient needs should be met primarily through consuming foods. Foods provide an array of nutrients and other components that are thought to have beneficial effects on health” This shows us that these guides were made in order for Americans to receive their needed nutrients mainly from the food they consume. These guidelines make up the basis for the federal nutrition standards in America. In order to determine the effectiveness of these nutrition standards, we must first look at 2 pieces of statistics, namely the malnutrition and obesity statistic of America. According to cdc.gov, “More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese.“ As for malnutrition, according to an article by lsuagcenter.com, “Some 13 million children in the United States live in homes with limited access to a sufficient food supply.” This shows us that, first, many children in the States are obese, or in danger of obesity, and second, many do not have access to proper nourishment and nutrition. The second statistic shows us the likeliness that an American child would be improperly nourished, or lacks nourishment. This provides us a look at the effectiveness of the Nutritional standards. These standards are only guidelines, but the health needs of Americans still rely on their choices of food, amount of food and nutrition. In this writer’s opinion, the nutrition standards are great at informing Americans about what is good for them, or about what their body may need, but their dietary choices are still what dictate their health. As we have already established, many children in the US are either obese, suffer from malnutrition, or are in danger of being malnourished or obese. The nutrition standards are only effective in disseminating information, but in actual application, it lacks effectiveness. 2. Explain, in detail, the physiological regulators of fasting and feeding (systemic and local). You may use an illustration to supplement your answer if you like (e.g. food intake and satiety signals). Include positive and negative modulators.(25 points) A study by http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org provides us with some findings regarding a study they made regarding Toll-like receptor 4 or TLR4, which they hypothesized to induce insulin in high fat-fed mammals, mice specifically. According to the article, “TLR4 is one of the mammalian pattern recognition receptors, recognizing pathogen-associated molecules and playing pivotal roles in innate immune response” meaning the effect it makes or has in the experiment done on mice is similar to what it is for us. The study concludes that TLR4 plays a key role in “glucose and lipid metabolism independent of insulin during fasting”. This makes TLR4 a regulator of fasting and feeding. In the study “Paradoxical regulation of human FGF21 by both fasting and feeding signals: is FGF21 a nutritional adaptation factor?” It has been reported that fasting-induced liver FGF21 gene expression is predominantly regulated by PPAR? in mouse. PPAR? knockout mice, however, can increase FGF21 mRNA by fasting. We previously showed that another fasting signal, glucagon, can also increase FGF21 gene expression in rat primary hepatocytes. Here, glucagon and forskolin, a PKA activator, significantly increased human FGF21 promoter activities. This response was also seen in a PPRE deletion mutant vector, suggesting that human FGF21 transcription is independently regulated by both PPAR? and glucagon-PKA signaling. In another study, they found that these fasting-induced mechanisms of FGF21 regulation are conserved in the human FGF21 promoter. Also, the study showed that the human FGF21 promoter has one ChoRE in a different region from the PPRE. The human FGF21 promoter activities were dose-dependently increased by glucose or xylitol stimulation, as well as by a PPAR? agonist. In addition, as compared to normal glucose-tolerant subjects, plasma FGF21 levels were found to be higher in obese and IGT subjects. These data suggest that hepatic FGF21 mRNA expression is regulated, in part, through glucose, as well as in a PPAR?-dependent manner, and this regulation can be reflected in serum FGF21 concentrations in humans (Uebanso T et al., 2011). 3. Describe the structure, physiology and function of the gastrointestinal tract as it relates to protein digestion, absorption and utilization. As part of this question, identify the biochemical and physical aspects of protein/AAs that affect digestion, absorption and utilization of nutrients. (25 points) According to http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov, the gastrointestinal track consists of the mouth, tongue, pharynx, esophagus, liver, stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, large intestine, small intestine, rectum and anus. These parts all have a part in the digestion of protein such the chewing of food in the mouth and using saliva to swallow the food. However, the major role regarding protein digestion falls on the stomach and small intestine. According to the same article above, food moves through the system via movements from the systems walls. The article says that most organs in the GI track are hollow, and have muscles that move the food. It says “The movement of organ walls can propel food and liquid through the system and also can mix the contents within each organ”. The first major movement of food occurs when food is swallowed. Digestion is then assisted by digestive juices. The article indicates that the first digestive juices are from our mouth, which is the saliva. Stomach acid is then produced by the stomach lining. Along with acid, an enzyme for breaking down protein is also produced. The food makes its way down to the small intestine and other juices are produced in order to further break down the food and make it ready for absorption. Bile is also another digestive juice which is produced by the liver. After all of the juices breaking the food down, it is absorbed into the lining of the intestine, where it can travel to the bloodstream. In absorbing the food, the process differs with each nutrient, but generally, according to the same article above, the small intestine has small projections called “villi” and “microvill” which create a surface on the intestinal wall and help the nutrients pass thru the lining and be absorbed into the bloodstream. The article indicates that for protein, the molecules are much larger that other kinds of nutrients. The stomach and small intestine produce enzymes in order to break down the protein and turn it into amino acids, which are small enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Resources Alonso, A., Beunza, J.J., Bes-Rastrollo, M., Pajares, R., Martinez-Gonzalez, M. (2006, January 11). Vegetable Protein and Fiber from Cereal Are Inversely Associated with the Risk of Hypertension in a Spanish Cohort. Archives of Medical Research 37 (2006) 778–786 American Dietetic Association (2008, April) Your Digestive System and How It Works, retrieved 2012, April 4, from http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/ Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012, February 27). Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved 2012, March 14, from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.HTML Elkins, R. (1998). Digestive Enzymes: The Key to Good Health and Longevity. Retrieved 2012, March 14 from, http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=K74c_DETZQEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=digestive+enzymes&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KHRfT-3NNIyqrAfD-_2lBg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=protein%20digestion&f=false Friedman, M. (1996). Nutritional Value of Proteins from Different Food Sources. A Review. J. Agric. Food Chem. 1996, 44, 6?29. Guarino, A. (2011). Malnutrition Impairs U.S. Children’s Health, Behavior. Retrieved 2012, March 14 from http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/family_home/family/childcare/Children_Childcare/Malnutrition+Impairs+US+Childrens+Health+Behavior+Says+LSU+AgCenter+Food+and+Nutrition+Expert.htm Howell, E. (1985). Enzyme nutrition: the food enzyme concept. Retrieved 2012, March 14 from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=h9EgG8O7GgIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=nutrition&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eW1fT8WyJIiZiAfL2KHmBw&ved=0CGIQ6AEwCA#v=snippet&q=protein%20enzyme&f=false Pang, S. Tang, H. Zhou, S. Zang, Y. Le, Y., (2010) Regulation of Fasting Fuel Metabolism by Toll-Like Receptor 4, Retrieved 2012, March 14 from http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/59/12/3041.full Read More