HUMAN NUTRITION

A healthy snack for a pregnant woman

By Ayra Sohhel
9D
BIOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

The healthy snack I made to satify the nutritional needs of a pregnant woman is
Hummus. The Hummus Imade is meant to be eaten with Carrots sticks, Olives and Pita
bread.

RECIPIE

1. Chickpeas- 120 g or ½ cup

2. Water- as required
3. Salt- as required
4. White Sesame seeds- 3 table spoons
5. Extra Virgin Olive oil- 4 tablespooons
6. Chopped garlic- 1 teaspoon
7. Lemon juice- 1 to 2 tablespoons
8. Cumin powder- 1 teaspoon

TO PRESSURE COOK THE CHICKPEAS

1. Chickpeas (soaked overnight for 8 to 9 hours) - ½ cup or 120 grams

2. Water- 1.5 cups of water
3. salt - ½ teaspoon
4. 1 pinch baking soda

GARNISH

1. Red Chili powder- as required

2. Corriander leaves- as required
3. Extra olive oil

SERVED WITH

1. Pita bread
2. Carrots
3. Olives

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PROCEDURE

1. Rinse half a cup of Chickpeas in water, then soak it overnight for 8 to 9 hours.
2. Rinse it again in the morning a couple of times. Drain the water and put the
chickpeas in a 2 lite stovetop pressure cooker.
3. Add 1 pinch of baking soda
4. Add ½ teaspoon of salt
5. Add 1.5 cups of water
6. Pressure cook it for 11-12 minutes in medium heat
7. Remove the lid and check the chickpeas when the pressure settles down by itself
in the cooker
8. You should be able to mash them, if they still even a bit raw, then add water and
cook it some more. Then you can drain the water. Cover it and put aside.
9. Take a pan, put 3 tablespoons of white sesame seeds in, and heat it on low heat.
10. Stir the sesame seeds to roast it.
11. Roast it till the sesame seeds become crisp and make a crackling noise. Then let it
cool down.
12. In a blender ( food processor, mixer-grinder or food chopper), put in the sesame
seeds.
13. Blend it till its is a fine or a semi-fine texture
14. Throw in a teaspoon of chopped garlic
15. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, as per your taste.
16. Add 4 tablespoons or ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
17. Salt it as required
18. Add 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
19. Blend it to a fine or semi fine texture
20. Add the Chickpeas, you may hold back a few Chickpeas for garnishing if you wish.
21. Blend till it has a smooth consistency, if you cannot grind it, you may add 2 to 3
tablespoons of water.
22. Place the hummus in a serving bowl
23. To Garnish you can ad extra virgin oil on top, and sprinke red chilie powder
24. You can now serve it with Pita bread, olives and carrots.

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 NUTRITION FACTS

HUMMUS

Amount per serving

Calories: 77 Calories from fat: 45
d %Daily Value*

Fat: 5g 8%
Sodium: 106mg 5%
Potassium: 73mg 2%
Carbohydrates: 4g 1%
Fiber: 1g 4%
Potein: 1g 2%
Vitamin A: 15IU 0%
Vitamin C: 0.3mg 0%
Calcium: 26mg 3%
Iron: 0.8mg 4%

PITTA BREAD

Amount per 100g

Calories: 275
d %Daily Value*

Total Fat: 1.2 g 1%

Saturated fat: 0.2g 1%
Cholesterol: 0mg 0%
Sodium: 536mg 22%
Potassium: 120mg 3%
Total Carbohydrates: 56g 18%
Dietary Fiber: 2.2g 8%
Potein: 9g 18%
Vitamin C: 0%
Calcium: 8%
Iron: 7%
Vitamin D 0%

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Vitamin B6 0%
Cobalamin 0%
Magnesium 6%

CARROT

Amount per 100g

Calories: 41
d %Daily Value*

Total Fat: 0.2 g 0%

Saturated fat: 0g 0%
Trans fat regulation: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg 0%
Sodium: 69mg 2%
Potassium: 320mg 9%
Total Carbohydrates: 10g 18%
Dietary Fiber: 2.8g 11%
Sugar: 4.7g
Potein: 0.9g 1%
Vitamin C: 9%
Calcium: 3%
Iron: 1%
Vitamin D 0%
Vitamin B6 5%
Cobalamin 0%
Magnesium 3%

OLIVES, SMALL

Amount per 100g

Calories: 115
d %Daily Value*

Total Fat: 11g 16%

Saturated fat: 1.4g 7%
Cholesterol: 0mg 0%
Sodium: 735mg 30%

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Potassium: 8mg 0%
Total Carbohydrates: 6g 2%
Dietary Fiber: 3.2g 12%
Sugar: 0g
Potein: 0.8g 1%
Vitamin C: 1%
Calcium: 8%
Iron: 18%
Vitamin D 0%
Vitamin B6 0%
Cobalamin 0%
Magnesium 1%

TOTAL CALORIES: 508

HOW THE SNACK HELPS THE PREGNANT WOMAN

1. The carbohydrates from the pita bread supply the mother and the fetus energy.
2. The protein from the chickpeas and pita bread build new cells for the fetus to
grow.
3. The fats and oils from the extra virgin olive oil make new cell membranes, cell
membranes that the fetus needs as its cells are multiplying everyday.
4. The vitamin C from the the raw carrot sticks make antibodies that help your
immune system. The pregant women needs it so she and the fetus don’t get sick.
5. Calcium from the olives and pitta bread are needed for the development of the
fetuses bones and teeth, it also helps with blood clotting. This is also helpfull to the
mother as it strenghtens her bones and teeth and helps with blood clotting too.
6. Iron from the olives and pitta bread is crucial for making hemoglobin, which
carries oxygen in the blood to the fetus. Pregnant women also often need more
iron to prevent anemia.
7. Fibre from the carrots and olives prevent constipitation.
8. Water help support the increased blood volume and amniotic fluid.
9. Folate or folic acid from the chickpeas prevent neural tube defects.

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HOW THE NUTRIENTS ARE DIGESTED AND ABSORBED BY THE BODY

The pregnant mother’s teeth bites the pita bread, carrot and hummus, and grinds it into
smaller pieces, the tongue mixes the food with saliva provided from the salivary gland.
The saliva is made of water, mucus and the enzyme amylase. The mucus from the saliva
binds the food together to make a small ball called the bolus. The bolus is lubricated by
the mucus can now slide down the esophagus easily. Then the amylase enzyme begins to
digest the starch from the pita bread. The food goes from the esophagus, through the
lumen and into the stomach. The stomach uses its strong, muscular walls to contract and
relax, this movement of the stomach's walls mixes the food with enzymes and the mucus
provided by the goblet cells that secrete it. The enzymes produced by the stomach digest
the proteins from the chickpeas and pita bread. All the food in the stomach is mixed with
hydrochloric acid that produces a low pH of 2 to kill any harmful microorganism found
in the food . The stomach stores the food for 1 to 2 hours till the sphincter, a hole at the
bottom of the stomach, opens up and lets the semi digested food into the duodenum.
Pancreatic juice flows from the pancreatic duct to the duodenum, this juice contains
many enzymes so all the food will be chemically digested. By now most of the large
molecules have been digested into small ones, the carbohydrates from the pitta bread
would have broken down into glucose, the proteins from the chickpeas and pita bread
would have turned into amino acids, and the fats and oils from the olive oil would have
broken down to fatty acids and glycerol, these molecules can now pass through the walls
of the small intestine. The ileum is where all the nutrients from the snack is absorbed
into the blood including water. The colon absorbs the remaining water from the food.
The rectums holds the undigested food as faeces. They are then egested through the
anus.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/hummus-recipe/
2. https://www.verywellfit.com/foods-high-in-folate-2505913#:~:text=Chickpeas&text
=Chickpeas%20are%20high%20in%20protein,your%20daily%20folate%20needs%
20covered.
3. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/about.html#:~:text=Why%20folic%20acid%2
0is%20important,and%20spine%20(spina%20bifida).
4. Biology coursebook for cambridge IGCSE from the CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
PRESS by Mary Jones and Geoff Jones.

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 THANK YOU