Question

4 extra credit Juanita is a 19 year old college student of Hispanic descent. She is 5'4' and weighs 170 lbs. Her entire family is overweight and her mother was diagnosed with diabetes last month. Her uncle has had diabetes since he was eight years old. Juanita's mother has told her that eating sugar is what causes diabetes and she is concerned that if her daughter does not change her diet she may develop diabetes as well. She has told Juanita that many people from their country suffer from diabetes On an average day Juanita eats two Cinnamon Brown Sugar Poptarts and 16 ounces of Sunny Delight for breakfast, 6 chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, a small serving of French fries and a 12 ounce soda for lunch, and goes to the drive-through to grab a super-sized burger, small fries, and a large sweet tea. She usually snacks on candy during the day and is always sipp ng on a sweetened beverage from Starbucks or juice from the vending machine. Her favorites are gummy bears and White Chocolate Mocha Frappaccino Blended Coffee (16 oz.) Juanita is concerned about her diet and decides to ask her friend Mary for advice. Mary tells Juanita that, while her diet is very high fat, it is also very high in carbohydrate. "Maybe I should cut out all carbohydrate so I can lose weight Juanita announces. Mary explains that some carbohydrates are good, but others have a negative effect on health, Mary tells Juanita that she should snack on fresh fruits instead of candy, and eat more starch and fiber. Instead of sweetened beverages she should drink water or low fat milk or perhaps try an artificial sweetener in her drinks. Small changes like these could improve he diet dramatically. "I try not to eat dairy foods" Juanita says. "Last time I had a glass of milk my stomach hurt for hours. Mary tells Juanita that she doesn't need to completed avoid dairy foods but doesn't have time to explain why. Juanita is left with more questions than answers and needs your help to understand how her diet impacts her health as well as her risks for diabetes. 1. Juanita is consuming a large amount of carbohydrate in her typical daily intake. Using internet resources estimate the amount of total carbohydrate grams she is consuming in her typical foods. 35x2 cinamon. 70 + 149x2 =28 +2.89 t By + 489 + 409. 2. How many grams of this carbohydrate is sugar? loog

Answer 1

The carbohydrate content of the food consumed by Juanita is as follows:

Breakfast: 2 cinnamon brown sugar pop tarts (32x2)

16 ounces sunny delight (16x2)

Lunch: 6 chicken nuggets (2.8 x 6) with sweet and sour sauce (13 g)

Small serving of French fries (29 g )

12 ounce soda (39g)

Teatime: Supersized burger (37.6g), small fries (29 g ), large sweet tea (114g)

Snack: candy (10g), sweetened beverage from Starbucks (25g) or juice from vending machine (35g)

Gummy bears (33g) and white chocolate mocha Frappuccino blended coffee 16 oz (65g)

1) After adding up all the above figures:

Total carbohydrate grams consumed by Juanita = 542.4g

2) 392 g of this carbohydrate is sugar (by adding only sugar items carbohydrate content)

3) Simple sugars (monosaccharaides) are made up of single sugar molecules whereas Complex carbohydrates (starch) are made up of longer chains of sugar molecules, these take longer to digest.

4) Fruit contains less sugar than sweetened foods. Fruits are beneficial because they contain combination of vitamins, minerals, fibre, phytochemicals, and water. Fruit contains two types of sugar: fructose and in varying proportions, mostly half glucose and half fructose. Glucose raises blood sugar and insulin metabolizes it. On the other hand, Fructose does not raise blood sugar and the liver breaks it down. Hence, fruit is a healthier choice.

5) Foods that are naturally low in lactose can be consumed. For instance, pro-biotic yogurt (live bacteria beaks down lactose), hard cheese, butter, and heavy cream.

6) Stevia, Tagatose, Sucralose and Aspartame are some of the commonly alternative sweeteners. The advantages of using alternative sweeteners include weight control as they virtually no calories and controlling diabetes as artificial sweeteners generally don't raise blood sugar levels. On the other hand, the disadvantages of using alternative sweeteners include its carcinogenic nature proven by several studies and its association with mineral depletion, cholesterol and triglyceride elevation in the body.

7) Carbohydrates are needed by our body because it’s the major source of energy. Low carbohydrate diet is unhealthy for long term. Low carbohydrate diets can prove beneficial for short term weight loss, lower blood pressure, and improve blood glucose control. However, long term low carbohydrate diet has been associated with mortality due to cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular illness.

8) A healthy food plan can be as follows:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and toast

Lunch: Protein (chicken or fish), lots of veggies, and Primal Kitchen dressing

Dinner: Big pot of soup, roasted veggies + homemade sourdough.

Including fibre in diet helps maintain bowel movement, lowers cholesterol, and controls blood sugar levels. It also helps in weight loss which is needed for Juanita currently.

9) Juanita’s Uncle has Type 1 diabetes. It appears in children when the body no longer produces insulin, hence, sugar is not digested.

Juanita’s mother has Type 2 Diabetes (adult-onset diabetes). In this chronic medical condition the body does not use insulin properly, resulting in abnormal blood glucose levels. In this condition the pancreas usually produces insulin which is either low according to body’s needs, or the body's cells are resistant to it.

10) Juanita has a risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Sugar doesn't cause diabetes. However, high consumption of sugar can cause weight gain, which can increase person's chance of getting diabetes. High sugar diet and weight gain, along with family history of diabetes is putting her at risk of developing diabetes.