Weight Loss eBook_Patty 2_16_10

Healthy Weight Loss — Without Dieting

Food Processor for Windows (ESHA Research, Salem, Oregon,
USA). In other words, we started with a food like carrots, and we
analyzed how much vitamin C, vitamin A, zinc, protein, etc. that
food contained in one commonly eaten serving.

For each food we found the %Daily Value (DV) contribution of each
nutrient, as well as the food serving’s %DV contribution of calories
(for more on DV, see below); the comparison of the two became the
Density, and is the first (and most important) part of the formula to
determine the food’s quality rating. We then picked a simple, three-
category system for rating all foods: “excellent,” “very good,” and
“good.” The definitions of these rating qualifications are as follows:

Excellent Density>=7.6 And DV>=10% Or DV>=75%

Very Good Density>=3.4 And DV>=5% Or DV>=50%

Good Density>=1.5 And DV>=2.5% Or DV>=25%

In reality, the goal that each individual should strive for in terms of
daily nutrient and caloric intake varies depending upon his or her
personal needs. Yet, to help individuals meet their nutritional needs,
government agencies have created standard recommendations for
intake. The most up-to-date ones in the U.S. are those created by
the Institute of Medicine and are known as the Dietary Reference
Intakes (DRIs). Yet, since these DRIs can have many values for each
nutrient (varying by age, gender and whether a woman is pregnant
or lactating), we chose not to use these as our Daily Value (DV)
standard. Rather, for most nutrients we chose to use the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration’s “Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling”
as our standard for DVs. These are the values used by food manu-
facturers in the “Food Facts” portion of their product’s label.

For other nutrients, such as for those where there were no “Reference
Values,” we derived a DV based upon the latest research or opinion
of nutrition science experts. With respect to omega-3 fatty acids, for
example, we adopted the standards set forth in a 1999 workshop
conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The workshop