1. Overview of nutrition Flashcards
What are some factors which influence food choices?
- Personal preferences for flavours
- Genetics
- Habit
- Cultural or religious beliefs and traditions
- Social interactions such as events or customs where food is involved
- Food availibility, convenience and the economy
- Personal values related to ethical treatment of animals and the planet
What are the four macronutrients?
- Lipids
- Proteins
- Carbohydrates
- Water
What are the two micronutrients?
- Vitamins
- Minerals
What distinguishes the macronutrients and the micronutrients?
The macronutrients except for water are energy containing
What are the two categories of vitamins?
Water soluble and fat soluble vitamins
What are the organic and inorganic compounds food is made up of?
- Organic compounds: protein, carbohydrate, lipids and vitamins
- Inorganic compounds are mineral and water
Body composition
Comparing vitamins and minerals
In energy terms what is the breakdown of the human diet for the macronutrients?
50% carbs
35% fat
15% protein
What is the role of protein in the body?
Protein is not really metabolised for energy but it has other functions such as muscle tissue, skin, enzymes, hormones (messengers), antibodies (immune funcitons)
What is the conversion between kilo joules and calories?
1 kcal = 4.2 kJ
What is metabolism?
The process by which nutrients are broken down to yield energy or are rearranged into body structures (catabolism and anabolism)
What are the types of nutritional studies?
- Epidemiological studies include cross-sectional, case-control and cohort designs.
- Laboratory-based studies include animal studies and laboratory-based in vitro studies.
- Human intervention or clinical trials.
What are the four systems of dietary reference values?
RDIs
EARs
AI and
UL
What is the estimated average requirement? EAR
A daily nutritient level estimated to meet the requirements of half the healthy individuals
What is the reccomended dietary intake? RDI
The average daily dietary intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all heatlhy individuals in a particular life stage and gender group
What is the adequate intake? AI
Used when RDI cannot be determined. The average daily intake level based on observed or experimentally determined approximates of nutrient intake by a group that are assumed to be adequate
What is the upper level of intake?
The highest average daily nutrient intake level likely to pose no adverse health effects to almost all individuals in that general population. As intake increases above the UL the risk of adverse effects increase
Setting RDI
How does the RDI for energy differ that other nutrients?
The RDI is set the mean so that half the population’s requirements fall below and half above them.
What is the EER?
Estimated energy requirement
The average dietary intake that will maintain energy balance in a person with a healthy body weight and level of activity
What is teh AMDR?
Acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges
(45 – 65 % energy from carbohydrates, 20 – 35 % E from fats and 15 – 25 % E from proteins)
What is the difference between EAR and RDI in terms of who it applies to?
EARs for groups/populations while RDI/AI for individuals
What are some biometric measures of healthiness?
Body fat determination through fatfold measures, hydrodensitometry, bioelectical impedence.
Body shape
Waist to hip ratio
Body mass index
How has the relationship of diet and health changed over the times?
- Early nutritional research was focused on diseases of nutritional deficiency, which were once very common when diets were poor and unbalanced
- Recently however most research is on chronic diseases whic come from overnutrition where food is abundant
- Food becoming more processed and energy dense leading to excess energy intake and weight gain as fat and chronic diseases such as CVD cancers, diabetes
What is the definition of a risk factor?
A condition or behaviour associated with an elevated frequency of a disease but not definitively known to cause the disease status
What are the types of risk factors?
