Question

Do some research on the nutrition practices, standards, and trends from the 70s, 80s, 90s, early 2,000s and today. Also, where do you think the trajectory of nutrition will be in the future; say 10 years from now?

Consider bringing in the changes in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) over the years. The DGAs get published every 5 years.

Also, consider the changes made throughout the years with food icons such as the myriad food pyramids.

What were people eating, what sort of diets were popular and what was going into grocery carts back in the day and now?

Be sure to clearly represent (Past, Present, and Future) titles on your slides so the presentation flows.

Answer 1

Nutrition is basically the process, where in an organism ingests food, assimilates it, and uses it for growth and develpoment and also for replacing worn out tissues.

1. There has been a considerable change in the dietary practices and nutrition trends from 1970s till now, and many foods like white bread, now are consumed less. Instead, people are preferring brown bread more, as after a lot of research it has been established that brown bread is healthier than white bread. It has been observed that, people are preferring instant and fast foods like pizzas and pasta over traditional preparations. Similarly, butter and full fat milk are now less comsumed, as it has been established that butter contains saturated fatty acids which can be a cause for certain heart diseases. Instead, people are opting for low-fat or non-fat milk. Earlier in around 1960s, the consumption of vegetable oil was less, than it is now. Till 2010, the consumption of vegetable oil has almost increased three folds.

In the 1970s, there was a higher consumption of red meat, beef and lamb meat. However, in the last few decades, there has been as extensive research on these foods and hence the consumption has reduced as these foods can cause cardiac disorders if consumed in higher amounts. People have understood the importance of consuming more and more green leafy vegetables and have included them in the diet.  

There has been a remarkable increase in the consumption of caloric sweetners, since the 1970s. In the United States, research has shown that the sugar intake from beverages has increased significantly.

In the last few years, the consumption of food is ,largely dependant on the marketing, sales and mass media. Globalisation has seen the development of many megamarkets and food chains globally. There is an increasing trend for packed foods, or foods which have high fat and sugar contents, over legumes or vegetables.

2. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are designed to help people have a healthy and nutritious diet. Over the years, there have been changes in the diet, and also what and how to eat right.

There have been suggestions to replace sugar with non-caloric or low-caloric sweetners, as sugar is considered to have an effect on weight gain. Also, the saturated fat should be replaced with mono- and polyunsaturated fats; this trend has remained the same for the last few years. Although it is believed that cholesterol can cause certain cardiac disorders, DGA believes that the dietary cholesterol is not the ony factor responsible. The consumption of red meat has increased over the years, and DGA suggests that this should be kept under control, which can prevent colorectal cancers.

3. Earlier in around 1960s, the myriad food pyramids included four types of foods, which were included in the diet which were Meat and Poultry, Dairy Products, Grains and Cereals and Fruits and Vegetables. Over the last few decades, there have been many changes in the food pyramids, which encourages people to eat a healthy diet. The changes that have been made include:

• More complex carbohydrate containing foods like wheat and cereals, bread, pasta etc.
• Vegetables
• Fruits like apples, bananas and oranges
• Proteins like legumes

A healthy food pyramid suggests that foods like bread, cereals, rice oats should be consumed in the highest amount in the diet, followed by vegetables and fruits, dairy products and Meat and Poultry and the lowest amount should be of fats, sweets and oils.

4. Over the years, the diet has change number of changes, which help in weight loss, and also to maintain an overall healthy body and mind.

Some of the popular diets ands the trends over the years are :

• Weight Watchers diet, which used to give great importance to vegetables, fruits and lean proteins. This diet was popular in 1960s
• In the 1970s, there were diets which included fruits like the grapefruit, which was believed to help lose weight fast. Also certain shakes, bars, cookies were popular then.
• In the 1980s there was a trend for soups, fruits, bread and cereals and then adding some proteins. Another popular trend was the liquid diet.
• 1990s saw a trend of low fat food diet, and diets rich in fiber
• From the 2000s, there has been trend of reducing carbohydrate content, and slowly including them in the diet. The diet is high in protein, and low in carbohydrate. Also, there was a trend for raw food diets, which essentially include eating more of uncooked foods.
• In the last 7-8 years, the diet has included foods like cereals, which can replace breakfast or lunch. Also there has been trend for detox diets, which include consumption of certain fruit and vegetable juices. In recent times, people are optionf for gluten-free diets to lose weight and stay healthy.
• Overall, the diet has seen many changes, with peiple becoming more aware of healthy practices and the thretas which certain foods could posses to the health.