Chapter 1: Nutrition Flashcards
define: nutrition
Scientific study of food and nutrients and their effect on body structure, function and health
define: diet
Total food a person regularly eats
define: nutrient
substances obtained from food that are used for the maintenance, growth and survival of an organism
define: essential nutrient
the body cannot make these themselves; must be obtained by diet
define: phytochemical
chemicals produced by plants that play a role in growth and defence against competitions; more stress on plant, more produced
define: non essential nutrients
not required for growth and survival but do play important roles in the body
List the 6 categories of essential nutrients
- water
- carbohydrates
- lipids
- proteins
- vitamins
- minerals
of the 6 categories of essential nutrients, which ones are micronutrients
- vitamins
- minerals
define: organic nutrients
- carbon chains
- carbs, lipids, proteins, vitamins
define: macronutrients
Found in higher proportions in the body and are required in larger quantities from the diet; also energy yielding
define: micronutrients
Found in smaller quantities and are required in smaller amounts from the diet
define: nutritionism
Describes why reducing the effects of foods to the sum of their parts can be problematic
define: fortified foods
Amount of nutrients has been increased in the food by a process called enrichment
NOVA food classification system: List all 4 groups
- Group 1: unprocessed or minimally processed foods (whole foods)
- Group 2: processed culinary ingredients
- Group 3: Processed Foods
- Group 4: Ultra- processed Foods
Group 1: unprocessed or minimally processed foods (whole foods)
- Plants and animals that have minimal alterations
- Can be dried, crushed, roasted, boiled, refrigerated or pasteurized
Group 2: processed culinary ingredients
- Oils, butters, sugar, salt
- Foods from group 1 that have been pressed, refined, and grinded
Group 3: Processed Foods
- Canned foods, cheese, breads, fruits in syrup
- Made to enhance shelf life, taste, and marketability
Group 4: Ultra- processed Foods
- Have minimal amounts of group 1 ingredients; almost entirely made from group 2 and 3 ingredients
- Made to improve shelf life, taste, marketability, and profit
define: organic foods
- Foods with minimal synthetic or artificial inputs and are grown, raised, and harvested in a way that preserves biodiversity
pros of organic foods
- Use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are restricted
- Not genetically modified
- Crop rotation may be used to keep soil healthy (good for environment)
- Lower levels of pesticide residue and nitrate levels
define: GMO
foods that have undergone alterations to their DNA through the process of genetic engineering
pros and cons of GMO
Pros:
- Can be used to make crop more resistant to herbicides or viruses
- Scientific consensus says GMO does not pose a risk to human health in comparison to conventional foods
- Increase crop yield
- Lowered the amount of pesticide we apply to crops
Cons
- Has lead to less biodiversity because less variety of plants planted over favoring high profit GM crops
- May promote food allergies
- Ethical question on editing DNA
define: cash crops
Heavily produced, sold and traded crops (ex: corn and soy)
food additives
- substances added to food for the purpose of taste, appearance, safety, freshness or other factors
- Preserving agents, thickening agents, sweeteners, etc
- MSG
why we eat
- sustenance (body structure, body function, energy provision)
- enjoyment
- psychological
calories
- fats, carbs, proteins, alcohol
- Measurement of energy for body processes and physical activities
- 1kcal= 1000 calories = 1 Calorie
Fats: 9kcal/g
Carbs: 4kcal/g
Protein: 4kcal/g
Alcohol: 7kcal/g
Modifiable risk factors vs unmodifiable
- Modifiable: smoking, extreme stress, inactive lifestyle
- Unmodifiable risk factors: gender, age, genetics
Malnutrition (2 types)
- Undernutrition
- Over nutrition (excess calories) (excess trans fats)
Nutritional epigenetics
- Study of how the food we eat can change DNA expression
List the foundations of dietary direction (4)
Balance
Variety
Moderation
Nutrient density: amount of nutrients in a food or meal compared to a reference amount
Nutrient profiling
- definition and example
- Science of ranking foods based on nutrient density
- 100kcal of milk vs 100kcal of coke
What is the gold standard for making inferences from research and why?
- experimental studies and randomized control trials
- all variables are controlled
What are some ways we can collect diet information? List the strengths and limitations to these methods
- food diary
- observation
- 24 hour diet recall
- see table 1.1 for strengths and limitations
List some reasons why human nutritional studies are hard to perform
- People can eat less or more of what they’re supposed to
- Food contains a combination of nutrients and non nutrients; difficult to know if it was what was in the food or the food as a whole that led to observable change
- People don’t know food portions
- Unethical to test unhealthy dietary factors on humans
define: epidemiological studies
- Looks at trends in populations without manipulating any variables
- Inaccurate in determining a population’s diet
- Larger the group, stronger the study
- Cannot establish causality, only associations, could be other variables at play
define: prospective epidemiological design
- a large group of similar people are followed forward through time
define: primary journal articles
summarize a scientific study, are often highly specific and it may be challenging to find more general answers
define: review articles
may be more helpful for general questions, as they often summarize different studies to give a broader sense of a phenomenon
define: meta-analysis
new analyses and statistical tools are applied within a systematic review to come to new statistical conclusions
define: impact factor
Score that determines the importance and rank of a journal based on how many times it has been cited by other researchers
define: peer review
Experts in a field of study not involved in the study process make sure the study was properly conducted, the results were properly analyzed and conclusions were properly drawn before the scientific article may be published
recite the credibility pyramid from most to least credible
- systematic reviews
- randomized control trials
- epidemiological evidence
- expert opinions
- anecdotal evidence
VETO system
- usage
- acronym
- used to evaluate nutritional claims to assess their credibility
- is it valuable
- is it evidence based
- is it trustworthy
- is it opinion based
