They say food is our common ground and universal experience. Isn’t that quite true? Food is the foundation of life for some who live on this earth for the sake of food. We are not here to mock such people we are just admiring how true they are in their concepts of life.
It is food that gives us energy to literally move about and gives motivation to a father or a mother to go out and earn for their kids. And again, it is food which if not taken properly or sufficiently or if taken too much and in an unhealthy manner results in us getting deteriorated and sick.
Those individuals who love food but love their life and health always keep moderation as a rule of thumb and enjoy health, food, and life all at one time.
How can one achieve a balance in dietary intake?
Track your food is the answer. This is literally the most effective way of keeping a check on your dietary habits. What you eat and how much you eat conveniently come under control by simply keeping a record.
We all know that the required quantity of food and the percentage of nutrients is different in different age groups and those requirements must be fulfilled on a daily basis. A child needs a different quantity of carbohydrates than an adult and ultimately the source of their carbohydrates becomes different.
Similarly, the requirement of proteins is different for an elderly man than an adult and he should stick to what his body demands. Providing too much or too less to your body always has implications and most of the time, if not taken care of results in serious diseases and morbidities affecting the quality of life badly.
Description of dietary intake tracker
Many forms of dietary intake trackers are available and most of them are quite precise. The only thing one needs to do is fill it regularly.
A dietary intake tracker can be used on a normal healthy person as well as on a sick debilitating person as well.
It is also used to keep a record of undernourished children whose cause of clinical symptoms shows an association with dietary irregularities.
Introduction
The chart starts with the introduction of the person whose dietary intake chart is going to be maintained. His name, age, gender, and medical record number, if it is a patient with serious nutritious deficiencies and the form, is to be filled by a health professional. Email address and contact number along with postal address are also required for follow-up.
Food components
A column is dedicated to all the food items that must be taken at least once a day or once a week. But basically, the routine of the patient is noted down in the tracker.
Quantity of food
Most important is noting down the number of food items taken per meal or per day. This gives us a better idea of what a person is taking too much or too less and what is causing the deficiency of certain nutrients.
