4 day meal plan

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FOUR-DAY FOOD RECORD AND ANALYSIS

Four-day food record and analysis

Peter Ryan

Coursera - Fundamentals of Human Nutrition


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Abstract

This case-study looks at the four-day food record of a vegan individual who is involved in the

sport of Olympic weightlifting. In this study the food tracking technology called

myfitnesspal is used to assess the calorie intake. In the study we shall see that adequate

calories, protein & other nutrients can be achieved by vegan athletes involved in the sport of

Olympic weightlifting, we shall also discuss the choices of foods, spices & supplements,

along with their specific uses both as potential ergogenic aids & as health promoting

products.

Keywords: vegan, Olympic lifting, protein, supplements


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inclusion of 1 pint of unsweetened soya milk in meals 1, 4 & 6 {meals 2, 4 & 6 are grouped

together under snacks}. There is also some water consumed during training, but this is

unmonitored. For a one day example of the full 6 meal eating plan including water & other

fluid intake see Appendix 4.

Total food intake for the four days can be seen from figures 5-8 inclusive.

The first concern with the micronutrients was the sodium (see figure 9) which was above the

recommended UL of 2,300mg (USDA Dietary Reference Intakes: UL for Vitamins and

Elements, 2013). In some studies vegans have been shown to be low in calcium (Strhle A,

2011), but in this case the amounts are well above recommended levels (see figure 10). Due

to the non-heme sources of iron consumed, this vitamin can also be a concern to vegans, but

the food intake was at or above recommended levels (see figure 11). There was also extra

iron intake in the form of supplementing with a multivitamin/mineral pill (see Appendix 2 on

supplements). Potassium looked to be below the AI set at 4,700mg (USDA Dietary

Reference Intakes: RDA and AI for Vitamins and Elements, 2013) & the diet would need

some revision to hit that target (see figure 12). Vitamin A was well above recommended

levels (see figure 13), although technically a vegan does not consume vitamin A from food,

but beta carotene which the body converts into the usable form of the vitamin. Vitamin C was

well above recommended levels (see figure 14).

Fibre was also above the recommended minimum (see figure 15).

Discussion

Points of note are:

Higher than recommended protein High sodium intake


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Low potassium intake Choices of herbs, spices, supplements & selected vitamins Comparison to myplate

Protein: The subject of this study is an Olympic lifter & trains on average 5 to 6 days per

week, often several times a day & has found that higher protein appears to aid his recovery &

increases his strength levels.

Sodium: The sodium levels were slightly above recommended levels & some changes in food

many help bring those levels down somewhat. Although the subject does monitor his blood

pressure weekly & has had no issues with high blood pressure lowering to around 1,500mg

per day of sodium would be something to consider.

Potassium: The low potassium was something of a shock as the subjects diet is completely

plant-based? This may need some further investigation to see how the levels could be raised

without pushing the calories above present levels.

Choices of herbs, spices, supplements & selected vitamins: Most of the herbs & spices were

used to reduce inflammation, aid recovery or improve health. Ginger is eaten regularly as it

could reduce inflammation & pain after exercise (Black CD, 2010). Turmeric is also an anti-

inflammatory that may aid in recovery from training (Shehzad A, 2012). Cinnamon

improves insulin resistance, lean body mass & blood pressure (Bolin Qin, 2010). Cocoa

powder is believed to have anti-inflammatory effects as well as healthy effects on the blood

(Habauzit V, 2012). The amino acid L-leucine is specifically added to protein shakes as it

has been speculated & shown in at least one study that adding the amino acid increases the

utilisation of protein for skeletal muscle creation (Norton, L.E, 2012). The only vitamin well

cover here is vitamin K2 (MK7) as that may be the least understood. Vitamin K2 (MK7),

which well call vitamin K2 from now on, is thought to be only produced by bacteria, either


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in food a person consumes or within the gut itself. A person can guarantee enough by eating

products like natto, but if you are not eating fermented products it is unclear how much the

bacteria in your stomach can create, therefore this supplement was included. It is thought to

be useful for bone & arterial health (Plaza S.M, 2005).

Comparison to myplate: Myplate is the latest version of the US Governments healthy eating

programme. It is a plate design with various foods types put into the portions of the plate, it

also has a separate circle that is reminiscent of a cup for the dairy section (see Appendix 3

Item 1). Within this plan there is also a daily eating plan that is suggested in the Your daily

myplate. This itemises how many servings of each of the groups you are recommended to

consume each day (see Appendix 3 Item 2). As the subject is an athlete he tends to eat a

much higher quantity of food than is suggested in the myplate idea. Also he finds it harder to

eat very large meals during the day, so consumes a great deal more of his calories during a

large breakfast feed, then smaller feeds throughout the rest of the day as very large meals

would adversely affect training. Due to this the subjects diet does not correspond very well

to the myplate system of dietary regulation, but still appears to meet the majority of the

subjects dietary needs.

Limitation

There are several limitations to this study.

Short duration: The short duration doesnt really allow for food intake over a long time

period to be assessed. As mentioned in Self-evaluation of diet & experience by the subject

(Appendix 1), the diet changes throughout the season, as well as between winter & summer

as different foods become available. A longer duration would give a more accurate picture of

food intake.

Assimilation: The study covers just what is eaten, not what is absorbed into the body. Having

some blood work of the subject showing vitamin, mineral & other important factors like EFA

levels, cholesterol & hormone levels would give researchers a better idea of what was getting


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into the subject compared to the food consumed. This would make a useful adjunct to the

study results, but the subject had no recent blood work available to include.

Lack of information: Although myfitnesspal was very good at including foods, the actual

analysis tools were considerably less than some other services available. It did not appear to

have separate omega-3, omega-6 measurements & only limited vitamins & minerals to look

at.

Only one subject: You can draw no conclusions from a single case-study. If your goal was to

see how the diets of vegan strength athletes compare to vegetarian or omnivore diets you

would need many more subjects. Also vegans come in many forms with some eating only

raw food, others eating low protein, while other eat very high green leafy vegetable content,

so you would have to categorise vegans according to their eating habits as their diets often

look very different.

Supplements not included: As seen on Appendix 2 many supplementary vitamins, minerals &

other products were used, these were not included in the calculations of dietary intake. For a

more complete look at the subjects intake these should be included.

Meal planning limited: Using myfitnesspal the option was only to have three meals & a

snack. As the subject eats 6 meals a day, the snack section had to become a combined

version of all three of the smaller meals & so defining what was eaten at what time becomes

very hard. To overcome this limitation there is an example of one day of an actual diet as

eaten in Appendix 4.

References

Black CD et al, Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces muscle pain caused by eccentric

exercise. J Pain. 2010 Sep;11(9):894-903. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2009.12.013. Epub 2010 Apr

24.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184, Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Bolin Qin et al, Cinnamon: Potential Role in the Prevention of Insulin Resistance, Metabolic

Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010 May; 4(3): 685693.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901047/, Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Habauzit V, Morand C.Evidence for a protective effect of polyphenols-containing foods oncardiovascular health: an update for clinicians. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2012 Mar;3(2):87-

106. doi: 10.1177/2040622311430006.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251771,

Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Myfitnesspal (2013),http://www.myfitnesspal.com/, Retrieved 28 January, 2013.

Norton, L.E et al,Leucine content of dietary proteins is a determinant of postprandial

skeletal muscle protein synthesis in adult rats. Nutrition & Metabolism 2012, 9:67.

http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-9-67.pdf, Retrieved 28

January 2013.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251771http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251771http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251771http://www.myfitnesspal.com/http://www.myfitnesspal.com/http://www.myfitnesspal.com/http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-9-67.pdfhttp://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-9-67.pdfhttp://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-9-67.pdfhttp://www.myfitnesspal.com/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251771http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184


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Plaza S.M, Lamson D.W. Vitamin K2 in bone metabolism and osteoporosis. Alternative

Medicine Review : a Journal of Clinical Therapeutic [2005, 10(1):24-35].

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf

8.20.Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Shehzad A et al, Curcumin in inflammatory diseases.Biofactors. 2012 Dec 22. doi:

10.1002/biof.1066.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076, Retrieved 28 January

2013.

Strhle A et al, Diet-dependent net endogenous acid load of vegan diets in relation to food

groups and bone health-related nutrients: results from the German Vegan Study. Ann Nutr

Metab. 2011;59(2-4):117-26. doi: 10.1159/000331572. Epub 2011 Dec 2.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22142775 Retrieved January 2013.

USDADietary Reference Intakes: RDA and AI for Vitamins and Elements,

http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/

DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdf, Retrieved 28 January 2013.

USDADietary Reference Intakes: UL for Vitamins and Elements,

http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/

DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdf, Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Appendix 1

Self-evaluation of diet & experience by the subject

It took me a while to find a tracker that actually had the foods in it I ate! After several

abortive attempts I finally tried myfitnesspal which allowed me to get everything in. I did

have to change the odd brand, but it appeared to be to a very similar brand, so I believe the

estimate is fairly accurate.

My meal plans are very similar each day. I do on occasion swap protein powders & different

vegetables throughout the season. A major change occurs between summer & winter, over

the warmer months meal 3 will become a bean-based salad rather than a soup.

The water intake is going to be somewhat less than I actually consume as I spent some time

training each day & use water as needed. I cannot exactly monitor that as I am focussed on

my training. I train as an Olympic lifter so as you can imagine I train 5-6 days a week, often

several times a day for several hours at a time. So the drinks included (either plain water or

herbal teas) I drink with my food, not during training where I do drink water.

My carbs & fat may have come up a little low & my protein a little high, but Im an explosive

athlete, needing to do only one or at most a very few reps, therefore I dont need the

carbohydrates of say a runner, but protein for rebuilding & enough fats to be healthy & alsoto keep me in my weight class. So my diet is shaped to reflect this.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf8.20http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf8.20http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf8.20http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22142775%20Retrieved%20January%202013http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22142775%20Retrieved%20January%202013http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/ULs%20for%20Vitamins%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22142775%20Retrieved%20January%202013http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf8.20http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15771560/reload=0;jsessionid=AzfAvojCHjeBT9FuHTf8.20


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Performance is my main goal, so as long as Im fuelling myselfenough Im happy. A bad

time can be as you head towards contest & you hit the heaviest training cycles where you are

over-reaching which I define as training beyond your recovery, but not yet dipping into

true over-trainingthen eating becomes hard as although you are training flat out, you

simply cannot eat that much. In those times I include extra junk food just to get calories in

me, also more liquid feeds are an option if I just need a quick fix.

Appendix 2

Supplements

Vit B complex (including B12)

Vitamin K2

Multivit/min pill

DHA/EPA pills (from algae)

Glucosamine HCl

MSM

Vitamin D3 (vegan version from vitashine)

Appendix 3

Myplate


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Item 1 Myplate


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Item 2 Your daily myplate

Appendix 4

Actual eating plan

Meal 1

15 gram flax seed

30 gram pea powder

5 grams Spirulina

5 grams Chlorella

5 grams Moringa

8 grams wheat grass

1.25 grams kelp powder

5 grams fresh ginger root

5grams cocoa powder

5 grams cinnamon

5 grams turmeric


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10 grams l-leucine

10 grams L-glutamine

2.5 grams L-lysine

2 wholemeal bagels

10 grams peanut butter

5 grams low sodium yeast extract

1 banana

1 pint unsweetened soya milk

2 pints of water

Meal 2 (snack)

2 ryvita slices

2 rice cakes

2 corn cakes


5 grams low sodium yeast extract

1 Banana

1 apple

5 grams houmous

Pint of water

Meal 3

100 grams lima bean

50 grams kale

100 grams carrots

150 grams butternut squash or 150 grams swede

5 grams fresh ginger root


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5 grams cinnamon

Pint of water

Meal 4 (snack)

30 grams pea protein powder


1 banana

Meal 5

200 grams potato or 100 gram quinoa

50 grams Kale

100 grams tofu

Pint of water

5 grams yeast flakes

40 grams peas

Meal 6 (snack)

30 grams pea protein powder



Tables and figures


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Figure 1 Calories Consumed

Figure 2 Protein Consumed

Figure 3 Carbohydrates Consumed


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Figure 4 Fat Consumed


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Figure 5 Food intake 25 January


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Figure 11 Iron Consumed

Figure 9 Sodium consumed

Figure 10 Calcium consumed


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Figure 12 Potassium consumed

Figure 13 Vitamin A consumed

Figure 14 Vitamin C consumed


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Figure 15 Fibre consumed

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