East Los Angeles College Nutrition Discussion

I’m working on a nutrition discussion question and need guidance to help me learn.

post 1

Across the world, we are influenced by what we see, hear, do, believe and more. One of those being nutrition. There are different definitions to what nutrition could mean to you. Nutritional science depicts what constitutes an adequate diet. Although, nutrition can be brought out to be anything from what culture you are from, religious views and social values. There are many factors that can also influence our food habits, dislikes or likes and meal routines. “Any given human individual is constructed, biologically, psychologically and socially by the food he/she chooses to incorporate” (Nordström, 2013). In some cultures food is symbolically presented in festivities or ceremonies. While in other countries, they consume the food as to what’s available through farming.

The word “nutrition” can hold different meanings depending on where a person is from. Our diet varies among the country and lifestyle. There are many dietary preferences or dietary restrictions to some cultures. These are not dietary restrictions like veganism or gluten-free because of allergens. They are dietary restrictions based on their custom or culture. For example, muslims do not eat pork and Islamic do not eat slaughtered animals. Fasting is also a part of a food routine that the islamic culture has adapted. There are also other conditions like most African Americans are lactose-intolerant which is more of a food sensitivity.

In most parts of the world, the food consumed is usually what is only available. Also, many cultures have food taboos which prohibit the meat of certain animals that pertain to their beliefs. Culture includes religious beliefs so there are many rules and restrictions that follow cultures who are very religious.In the healthcare field, it is a challenge to be culturally adaptable. It is a health care provider’s job to provide cross cultural communication skills. This skill is not only inevitable to take place but will better a relationship with the patient and their care. Healthcare providers should acknowledge and respect different cultural beliefs and motives. It is important for cultural variation to be applied in interventions where there are large populations of immigrants in a community.

Nordström, K., Coff, C., Jönsson, H., Nordenfelt, L., & Görman, U. (2013). Food and health: individual, cultural, or scientific matters?. Genes & nutrition, 8(4), 357–363.

post 2

In nursing it is imperative to consider cultural differences and mold your nursing practice into fitting the patients needs, nutritional beliefs are a very important area to consider when planning care for a patient who may not have a well rounded diet or missing vital nutrients. For instance, in areas of South Africa residents commonly avoid foods such as meat products, fish, potatoes, fruits, beans, eggs, butternut and pumpkin, which are rich in essential micronutrients, protein and carbohydrates. Their reason for avoiding such foods were because of pregnancy outcomes, labour and to avoid an undesirable body form for the baby (Chakona & Shackleton, 2019, para. 1).

With this in mind, South African nutritional beliefs as stated previously, it is vital to implement specific measures to ensure the patient is obtaining optimal amounts of important nutrients to aid the process of recovery. For this case in particular it is important to provide the patient with lab checks to see specifically which vitamins and micronutrients are lacking within the body. For the most part it would be a good idea to provide the patient with a multivitamin to level out any deficiencies and then once the blood results come back showing the micronutrients that are lacking planning care can be more specific. In terms of the protein and carbohydrates it is vital to consider yogurt as a complete protein source and whole grains as a source of carbohydrates to ensure the body’s macronutrient needs are met. As discussed previously in the term, carbohydrates are a key factor for energy and protein is necessary for healing wounds and many other conditions. If nutrition is in check and those deficiencies in nutrition are handled the patient will be able to recover adequately and that is one less problem to be concerned about aside from their admitting diagnosis and chief complaint.

All in all, it is seen that various cultures and regions believe in different habits of nutrition and implementing the appropriate plan of care can heavily impact and improve the patient’s condition so it is evidently a priority to make sure that the patients deficiencies are handled and maintained within normal levels.