Nutrition and Metabolism Assignment

Title - Siew Pau

This is the packaging of the siew pau.

Now, let me reveal out the ingredients of this delicious famous pau...

consists of:

• chicken meat
• soy sauce and oyster sauce
  
• green beans
• sugar, eggs and vegetable oil
• Flour

Nutritional values

	Per 100g	Per serving(60g) / 1pc
Calories	370 kcal	222 kcal
Fat	15.7g	9.4g
Carbohydrate	42.9g	25.7g
Protein	14.4g	8.6g

Healthy Ingredients

Vegetable oil

Health benefits of vegetable oil include maintaining cholesterol level, increase immunity, and enhance proper digestion and metabolism, relief from high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. These benefits are contributed due to the presence of lauric acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. Besides, vegetable oil is high in vitamin E and low in saturated fat. Linoleic acid is the primary member of the omega-6 family. It contains high levels of essential fatty acids called polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat and low in tans fat. Unsaturated fats help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels, decreasing risk of heart disease and stroke. Linolenic acid is the primary member of the omega-3 family. Omega-3 family is essential for normal growth and development, especially in eyes and brain. Omega-3 family helps in preventing various heart problems such as high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. It reduces the incidence of injury in arteries and therefore helps in preventing atherosclerosis. Study shows that vegetable oils also help in control of blood sugar and improve the secretion of insulin. It also helps in effective utilization of blood glucose, thereby preventing and treating diabetes (Sonestedt et al, 2008; Yong et al, 2007).

Green bean

Green beans are high in various kinds of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, folate, vitamin K, potassium and magnesium. By consumption of green beans can helps body prevents cholesterol from becoming oxidized and cause blocked arteries. This is because green beans are a good source of vitamin A which serves as important antioxidants that work to reduce the amounts of free radicals in the body. Moreover, being rich in potassium, folate, magnesium and riboflavin, green beans are good for the cardiovascular health of an individual. It also helps in strengthening human immune system. In addition, the presence of vitamin K and vitamin C helps maintain the health of bone structures and reduce the risk of colon cancer. Besides, iron in green beans serve as a very good source of energy and are beneficial for menstruating and pregnant women. Studies have revealed that green beans help reduce the frequency of migraine attacks in people.

Metabolism Involved

The digestible carbohydrates, mainly starch and sugar, are broken into simpler molecules by enzymes in the saliva, in juice produced by the pancreas, and in the lining of the small intestine. Starch is digested in two steps. First, an enzyme in the saliva and pancreatic juice breaks the starch into molecules called maltose. Then an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine splits the maltose into glucose molecules that can be absorbed into the blood. Glucose is carried through the bloodstream to the liver, where it is stored or used to provide energy for the work of the body. Sugars are digested by an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine. It digests sucrose, also known as table sugar, into glucose and fructose, which are absorbed through the intestine into the blood.

Foods such as meat, eggs, and beans consist of giant molecules of protein that must be digested by enzymes before they can be used to build and repair body tissues. An enzyme in the juice of the stomach starts the digestion of swallowed protein. Then in the small intestine, several enzymes from the pancreatic juice and the lining of the intestine complete the breakdown of huge protein molecules into small molecules called amino acids. These small molecules can be absorbed through the small intestine into the blood and then be carried to all parts of the body to build the walls and other parts of cells.

Fat molecules are a rich source of energy for the body. The first step in digestion of a fat such as vegetable oil is to dissolve it into the watery content of the intestine. The bile acids produced by the liver dissolve fat into tiny droplets and allow pancreatic and intestinal enzymes to break the large fat molecules into smaller ones. Some of these small molecules are fatty acids and cholesterol. The bile acids combine with the fatty acids and cholesterol and help these molecules move into the cells of the mucosa. In these cells the small molecules are formed back into large ones, most of which pass into vessels called lymphatics near the intestine. These small vessels carry the reformed fat to the veins of the chest, and the blood carries the fat to storage depots in different parts of the body (NDDIC, April 2008).

Most of the material absorbed through the small intestine is water in which salt is dissolved. The salt and water come from the food and liquid you swallow and the juices secreted by the many digestive glands.

To determine metabolism, there are complex procedures involved. The simplest would be simply to eat a full meal when you are hungry and wait till 2 hours later. If you are still feeling full, you have lower metabolism. If you feel hungry, you’re likely to have higher metabolism (NDDIC, April 2008).

Modification

In order to have maximum health benefit, we suggest using wheat flour instead of normal flour in siew pao manufacture. Wheat flour is also known as whole grain flour. It is nutritionally superior to refined grains due to its richer in dietary fiber, antioxidants, protein, dietary minerals such as magnesium, manganese and phosphorus and vitamins including niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin E. The reason why we suggest using wheat flour is because of the high content of fibers, which is four times of refined grains. Foods rich in fibers helps lower down blood cholesterol and may protect against heart diseases and stroke. Furthermore, high-fiber foods are important in reducing the risk of type II diabetes. When soluble fibers trap nutrients and delay their transit through GI tract, glucose enters the bloodstream more slowly. This helps prevent the glucose surge and rebound that seem to be associated with diabetes onset (Whitney and Rolfes, 2002). Additionally, the higher fiber content also results in a modest caloric reduction in whole grain foods.

Acknowledgement

Jeff Chong, Marketing Manager, 012-3325233.

References:

• National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC), April 2008. Your Digestive System and How It Works [Online] Available From: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/ [Assessed on 12 February 2009]
• Sonestedt E., Ericson U., Gullberg B., Skog K., Olsson H., Wirfalt E., 2008. Do both heterocyclic amines and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids contribute to the incidence of breast cancer in postmenopausal women of the Malmo diet and cancer cohort? [Online]. The International Journal of Cancer. Available from: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120780752/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 [Accessed on 16 February 2009].

• Whitney E and Rolfes SR, 2002. Understanding nutrition 10^th Ed. Thomson Learning Inc., United States of America, pg 124-125.
  

• Yong Q. Chen, et al, 2007. Modulation of prostate cancer genetic risk by omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids [Online]. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1890998
• [Accessed on 16 February 2009].

Done By:
Grace Eu Suk Chiew 1000716712
Wong Bao Ying 1000716430