Chapter 2 - Nutrition as a Science Flashcards
nutrition
a science that studies the interactions between liiving organisms and the food they consume
advances in science –> _______
the scientific method
what are the 4 steps to the scientific method?
1) observe something
2) hypotheiss
3) experiment
4) theory
list 4 types of research studies
1) epidemiological studies
2) case control studies
3) intervention studies
4) clinical trials
epidemiological studies
the study of diet, health and disease patterns
intervention studes
intervening into normal patterns or diets
clinical trials
- control group vs. experimental group
- placebo
- randomize
6 things a well-designed experiment will haev
1) quantifiable data
2) appropriate experimental population
3) proper controls
4) a suitable study duration
5) proper analysis of results with statistical methods
6) peer-review and publication of results
biomarker
a biological measurement that indicates risk of future disease development
- e.g. blood cholesterol, blood glucose, BRCA1 gene
3 different models scientists can use for their experiments
humans, animals, cell culture
why would scientists choose to use human models for their experiments?
long life span and lots of variables
why would scientists choose to use animal models for their experiments?
- less expensive than human studies
- easier to control variables
- short life spans
- ethics
- different physiology
2 types of studies we can use to determine nutrition requirements
1) depletion-repletion studies
2) balance studies
depletion-repletion studies
- take a specific nutrient completely out of diet: if the nutrient is essential there will be a deficiency disease (e.g. iron deficiency anemia)
- second step is to reintroduce the nutrient slowly and with small amounts: symptoms will reverse and we figure out what the minimum amount possible is
why are balance studies not always used?
not appropriate for all nutrients
