Goals of this session:

• Brief introduction to the UC Irvine Libraries Homepage
  
• Brief introduction to Antpac (UCI online catalog)
• Brief introduction to Dance Subject Guide
• Main Event - *Nutrition Analysis Tool*
• Listing of other resources of interest:  more nutrition databases, anatomy websites, medical texts and tutorials, metasites and calculators, online journals and articles (fitness, nutrition and more)

URL:  http://nat.crgq.com/

The Nutrition Analysis Tool (NAT) is a web based program that allows anyone to store and analyze the foods they eat for various different nutrients.  It was produced by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Version 2.0 is the main version but the "My NATS" feature allows you to save foods (click option on left-hand menu).  You must select a login and password but the service is free and the foods you save in your list are stored under your login.  Features include ability to add and save more commonly eaten foods and to enter foods from a nutrition label (including those not included in the NAT database); also some ethnic foods are included.

Instructions below are designed to coach you through the project.  You can analyze days separately by selecting individual foods from your frequently consumed list (print out analysis results for each day).  Examine the color coded analysis to see what nutrients you are deficient in and use the "Suggest Foods" option to determine how to supplement your diet.  We will demo this in class; please be patient as this program is not highly sophisticated.

CAVEATS:

• You can only save frequently consumed foods in one large list, however you can select individual meals from the list to analyze.
• A few nutrients show up with blanks under Rec and %Rec (RDA) - for these simply estimate and calculate amounts based on other nutrients or do some additional research to obtain RDA (see me or Dr. Plastino).
• Use the Martindales site or Ask Jeeves (below under Metasites and Calculators) for quick help with tricky measurements and conversions.  Refer to common household items as well (soda bottles, milk cartons, labels, etc).
• Remember, after analyzing foods to SAVE to your frequently consumed list (scroll to bottom and check off item, save second time).
• NATS does not have sophisticated browsing, you'll have to use the browser back button a lot or log in again.
• Load Frequently Consumed Foods list and Personal Foods List are separate lists (although you can save from PFL to FCF).
• To delete foods from your FCF list, select them (check) and then click "Change Quantity/Serving" (has delete option).
• There are occasional problems with data being lost from foods list so as a backup PRINT FREQUENTLY.  If you lose a saved list, then you can re-enter foods exactly instead of hunting them all over again.

The NAT site also has an Energy Calculator (calory burning) and other Educational Resources (Sports Nutrition Information, Soy Information Page, etc.) and other resources.

To begin (using My NATS select login and password) -- then click "Enter Food" to start selecting and adding.  In class we will demo a saved foods list and also enter new foods:

1. Click on "Enter Food", type in selection and click "Search":
• Some sample categories to type (you can enter ingredients, ex: flour, wheat germ, as well):
• Yogurt
• Beverage
• Cereals
• Fast foods
• Fruit; Specific fruit (bananas, etc.)
• Milk
• Pasta
• Salad
• Soup
• Snacks
• Soy
• Sweets
• Vegetable
• Helpful Hints - The USDA database has nearly any food that you can possibly think of, but sometimes it has the food listed under a different name or phrase than you might expect. If you have trouble finding a particular food try thinking of other words that mean the same thing.  For some items like salad, you may need to enter separate ingredients (lettuce, tomato, etc.)
• start general; but if too many foods are matched, go back and be more specific
• chicken (225 items matched)
• chicken leg (9 items matched)
• chicken leg fried (3 items matched)
• try a different word or phrase
• coke (will not match)
• carbonated beverage (will match)
• some foods are entered as verbs rather than nouns
• french fries (will not match)
• french fried (will match)
• other foods are entered as plural not singular
• jelly (will not match)
• jellies (will match)
• some commercial names and brands may not be in the database (pick equivalent).
2. Select the food(s) you want to analyze and click on "select".
3. Select the serving size and type the number of servings (use Ask Jeeves for measurement help). Click on "Add this Food"
4. Then either add more foods, make changes, or select "Analyze Foods"
5. To get a nutritional break-down, you can click on "yes" for "Display all nutrients" (ok to message) and/or "Individual food listing" (breakdown).
6. If you want to save foods for later analysis (or save meals), click "Save Food as Frequently Consumed" (you'll get your complete list back of old and new items -- remember to scroll down to new items, check off and click "save" again).
7. Click on "Printer-friendly version" to print out results.
8. If you are unsure what a nutrient is click "Nutrition Analysis" on left menu for a quick definition and food examples.
9. Other menu options include:  Loading  frequently consumed foods (view list) and searching/modifying personal foods lists .
10. To analyze a nutrition label use "Modify Personal Food List".  Add as much information as you have in fields and click "Add Personal Food Detail" at bottom to analyze.
11. Once you have your week's worth of food saved and analyzed (or day by day, meal by meal), note which nutrients you are deficient in and go to "Suggest Foods" on left menu.  You'll be asked to select age and gender and then select the nutrient from the drop-down list.  You'll retrieve a list of suggested foods to supplement your diet.  You can only select one nutrient at a time, so might be helpful to have printout your foods analysis.
12. Once you've selected suggested foods you can do another analysis.  Quirk of program does not allow you to save these foods to the Frequently Consumed List.  So make sure you print out or copy and paste the name of the food -- go back to MY NATS -- simply search and add it there using the exact name (substitute semi-colon for dash).
1. Color coding here:  Red = Less than RDA, Yellow = Permissible RDA, Black = Exceeds RDA

USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
Search for values in the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15. An alternative way of analyzing nutritional value of food.

USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 13 - Maintained by Linda Brady, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Minnesota
http://www.ardilla.umn.edu/nutritiontools/USDA/
This database currently contains approximately 6,000 foods. It provides the nutrient composition of a specific food.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (from Time-to-Run online magazine)
http://www.time-to-run.com/nutrition/rda.htm
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the amounts of selected nutrients considered
adequate to meet the known nutrient needs of healthy people. The RDA are based on
scientific knowledge and have been presented by a committee of the Food and Nutrition
Board (FNB) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

-go to top-

Human Anatomy On-line
http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html
Reference for students studying human anatomy. This program contains over one hundred illustrations of the human body with animations and thousands of descriptive links.

Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body
http://www.bartleby.com/107/
Bartleby.com edition of this famous and comprehensive reference work (descriptions and illustrations).

NPAC Visible Human Viewer
http://www.dhpc.adelaide.edu.au/projects/vishuman2/ Allows you to see cross-sections of the human body.

-go to top-

Structure of the Human Body - John A. McNulty, Ph.D., Loyola University Medical Center
http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/meded/grossanatomy/GA.html
Various tutorials including "Master Muscle List".  Also includes cross-sectional anatomy viewer.

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
http://www.ortho-u.net/
Online version to Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics.

-go to top-

**Ask Jeeves**
Excellent quick look-up resource.  See "Conversions made easy" -- "Quickly find measurements".

Martindale's Health Science Guide
http://www.martindalecenter.com/
Metasite to numerous medical links including Nutrition section and Measurement Tools.

Folic Acid Calculator
http://www.citt.ufl.edu/projects/folic/
Helps you calculate your folic acid intake.

Calcium Information Resources
http://www.calciuminfo.com/index.aspx
Online Calcium Information Resource, including the Calcium Calculator (helps you calculate your intake).

-go to top-

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
http://www.ajcn.org

Journal of Nutrition
http://www.nutrition.org/

Dancespirit
http://www.dancespirit.com
Click on "Survival Guide" then "Health and Safety Resources" for articles on nutrition, kinesiology, therapy and other health issues.

Fitness Find's Food & Fitness Page
http://fitnessfind.com/fitnessandfood.html
Links to other calculator tools (body-mass, nutrition), articles re energy bars, diets, supplements, vitamins, etc. A mix of popular/commercial and research-oriented sites.

-go to top-

Copyright © 2005
The Regents of the University of California