Nutrition Analysis

      Throughout a 5- day period, I tracked down the nutritional facts in the food I ate, including the number of Calories, the amount of protein, fat, fiber, vitamin C, iron, sodium, vitamin A, and calcium for everything I consumed. On the first day, I ate 1391 calories total with 7 different food items. I tracked this on Sunday so I could see how my eating habits on the weekend affected my average and compared to the nutrition tracking from typical school day. I noticed that I ate closer to my average daily values on the weekends than I did during the weekdays. For all three meals of the day, there was a decent proportion of protein, with 55.68 mg on the first day, vitamins (A and C), and calcium. As most of my nutritional values fell below the recommended values, the highest contrast was my calculated Caloric need compared to the amount of Calories I actually consumed. My daily value should be around 252, however my average was at 1451, as I didn't meet the suggested value on any of the 5 days.

     Despite the lower value of Calories, all of my other nutrients fell below the recommended amount within the range of about 15, except for fiber which lacked the most on each day. My recommended value of fiber is 30.78 mg per day, and I never met the value through any of the 5 days. I ate 18 mg, 12 mg, 13 mg, 9.2 mg, 8.3 mg respectively for each day, averaging a total of 12.1 mg. In the future, in order to improve my fiber intake, I will be more attentive to eating a sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits each day and making sure I always pack some into my lunch for school. Though a salad or sandwich may have vegetables in it, the dressing or meats inside could counter act the fiber and make it insufficient, such as the Starbucks Chicken BLT Sandwich that had only 3 mg of fiber and a startling 890 mg of sodium. Staying away from fried vegetables, or processed vegetables would be the safest and healthiest choice in terms of avoiding excess sodium.
     Another major issue I noticed was the amount of processed food I ate throughout the process. Having to read nutrition labels, I found myself frequently looking at box labels. Many of these packaged items, including the Trader Joe's Pad Thai shown above contain a low amount of vitamins, fiber, and protein and should be avoided at best. Along with the lack of nutrients, there was a large amount of sodium in these foods. I ate at least 1100 mg of sodium each day and although this is below the recommended value of staying below 2400 mg, I should strive to stay below 1000 mg since packaged foods are also often low in essential nutrients such as fiber, iron, or vitamins. I found that I met more of the suggested daily values with non-packaged foods and I had more control over the different elements I was eating.

     I eat Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with whole milk everyday as my breakfast, and after analyzing the nutrition inside of each, I realized that it wasn't the best choice for an everyday breakfast because it didn't contain any fiber whatsoever, only 2.4 mg of Vitamin C, and 0.49 mg of iron. In addition, there was only 10 g total of Vitamin C and iron between both the milk and cereal. Because breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I always have to eat it, due to hunger, I should change my everyday breakfast routine and add in foods that are higher in fiber and protein, such as a fruit bowl which has only 20 mg of sodium and 400 re of Vitamin A.
     Overall, most of the food I was eating met the nutritional recommendations in combination but throughout each day many of them were unbalanced and/or processed. I didn't eat as much fiber as my body needed, with one day contrasting as much as 12.8 mg of fiber from the suggested value. Proceeding this analysis of my nutrition, I hope to develop a more balanced diet between all my foods, spend more effort in adding fiber into each day, and avoid processed food as much as possible.

 Daily Nutrition Charts:

Health

Personally, I believe that health is taking care of your body both physically and mentally and allowing those benefits to result in a more positive and energized lifestyle. I find that my strongest pillar would be "Social" because I spend a lot o my energy interacting with other people and appreciating my surroundings. I enjoy traveling and exploring different places, people, and foods. Being a part of the color guard also helps my "Exercise" pillar and keeps me on track with my fitness with our long hours of rehearsal. Overall due to poor time management and busy schedules, "Sleep" and "Stress" are my weakest 2 pillars as the higher stress I have, the less I sleep and vice versa. I want to learn more about how the maintenance of my health currently will affect me in the long run, and how each different pillar will shape and provide the foundation for my future self.   

Sweat Glands: Merocrine Glands & Aprocrine Glands

Structural Characteristics and Comparison to typical Eurkaryotic Cell:

     Sweat glands are categorized into two different types: Aprocrine glands and Eccrine or Merocrine glands. Aprocrine sweat glands are found in hair follicles of most mammals, and are located throughout their bodies. Aprocrine glands are larger than eccrine glands and are located only in the axillae (armpits), breasts, pubic, and perineum areas of the human body. Eccrine glands also known as Merocrine glands, are found on smoother and friction-less surfaces, with an average of 3 million of them in the human body; much more common and spread out among the human body. These secretory glands are hollow tubular glands originating in coiled sacs at the dermis level of the skin. They strectch up into pores on the surface of the skin above the epidermis. Merocrine cells and Aprocrine cells both have a nucleus and Golgi bodies however Merocrine cells have their secretory products stored in vesicles, while Aprocrine cells have their secretory products stored within the cell ducts. They lack many of the organelles in a typical cell and have more basic and limited structures within the cell.

Function and Specialization:

     The primary function of a sweat gland is to discharge sweat or water to the surface of the skin in order to cool the body. However, the many Eccrine glands on the palms or soles produce sweat in order to maintain moisture and ensure a damp environment. Eccrine glands respond to both thermal senses and psychological stimuli. Aprocrine glands do not actually produce sweat, as this is done by the Eccrine glands, but they are considered "scent glands," which means they give off an odor when they reach the surface of skin. They begin their function and secrete only after puberty and are activated when emotional stresses are increased. For example: Your palms get sweatier when you are nervous or stressed.

Type of Tissue:

Aprocrine sweat glands' tissue type are simple columnar and Merocrine sweat glands are stratified cuboidal.

Works Cited:

Ebling, F. John G., and William Montagna. "Human Skin." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.

Integunmentary System. Digital image. Modesto Junior College, n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2016.

Michelle Peckham, M.D., and Adele Knibbs. "Skin." The Histology Guide. Ed. Steve Paxton. University of Leeds/ Faculty of Biological Sciences at Leeds., 2003. Web. 6 Sept. 2016.