Discuss tools other than the MyPlate website available for diet planning. How would they best be used in counseling clients?

Answer 1

Other available tools for diet planning include:

Information on Food Labels

The Nutrition Facts panel must indicate the amount of certain mandatory nutrients that one serving of the food contains. You can use the Nutrition Facts panel to help you follow a healthful diet by considering the nutrition information that it provides.

A client could be counseled to compare food products based on food label information including:

1) serving size
2) total calories and calories from fat per serving
3) nutrient information
4) percent Daily Values

Nutrient claims
By law, foods carrying terms called nutrient content claims—low-fat, low-calorie, light, and so forth—must adhere to specific definitions spelled out by the Food and Drug Administration.

Health claims
A statement linking the nutritional profile of a food to a reduced risk of a particular disease is known as a health claim. The FDA has set forth very strict rules governing the use of such health claims

A client should understand the meanings of nutrient and health claims.

Exchange lists
As their name implies, exchange lists are simply lists of categories of foods, such as fruit, with portions specified in a way that allows the foods to be mixed and matched or exchanged with one another in the diet.