Human Nutrition (T2) Flashcards
What are carbohydrates made of and what % of the human body mass do they make up?
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They form 5% of the human body mass.
What are the five main groups of food substances?
- carbohydrates
- lipids
- proteins
- minerals
- vitamins
Carbohydrates are the body’s main supply of energy. How is this energy produced?
Cells produce this energy by oxidising glucose via a process called respiration which takes place in the mitochondria of the cells.
Give some examples of carbohydrates as sugars…
- glucose, found naturally in many sweet tasting foods including fruit and vegetables
- fructose, found in fruit
- lactose, found in milk
- sucrose, ordinary table sugar
What two properties do sugars have?
- they all taste sweet
- they are all soluble in water
What is the main sugar transported through plant stems?
Sucrose
Most of the carbohydrates in our diet come from …… ?
Starch
Describe starch..
- starch is a large insoluble molecule and is found as a storage carbohydrate in many plants, eg: potato, rice, wheat and millet
- starch is made up of long chains of hundreds of glucose molecules joined together and is therefore called a polymer of glucose
- starch is only found in plant cells but animal cells contains a similar carbohydrate called glycogen
Describe glycogen..
- found in animal cells
- made from many glucose units
- found in tissues within the liver and muscles where it’s role is to act as an energy store
Along with starch and glycogen, what other carbohydrate is a polymer of glucose?
Cellulose, which forms plant cell walls
How does the body absorb large carbohydrates like starch and glycogen?
Large carbohydrates such as starch and glycogen must be broken down into smaller, simple sugars during digestion so they can be absorbed into the blood.
Describe cellulose and how it can interact with the human body..
- human guts do not produce the enzyme required to break down the cellulose molecule
- however cellulose forms the dietary fibre (roughage) which provides the muscles of the gut with something to push against as food is moved through the intestines
- this helps to keep the gut moving and helps prevent serious diseases of the intestine like colitis or bowel cancer
Describe how you can test for starch…
- glucose is sweet and dissolves in water while starch is not sweet and does not dissolve
- a further test is to shine a beam of light through solutions of each
- this is the “Tyndall beam effect” and dispersal only happens in starch as the large starch molecules are big enough to affect the light
- you can also add iodine solution (red) and see if it turns black, eg: if you add iodine to a peeled potato it will turn black
Describe testing for glucose…
- Benedict’s or Fehling’s reagent is used to test for glucose but not sucrose
- you heat sugar with either of these chemicals and observe the colour change from blue to orange
- this reaction occurs because glucose is a reducing sugar, ie: it can help another chemical to be reduced
Benedict’s or Fehling’s reagent is used to test for glucose, fructose, maltose and other sugars but not..
Sucrose
What are lipids?
- can be fats or oils
- also contain the same three elements as carbohydrates; carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
- however the proportion of oxygen in a lipid is much lower than in carbohydrates
List seven sources of fats from animals…
- meat
- butter
- cheese
- milk
- eggs
- oily fish
- foods fried in fat or oil
List four examples of plant oils…
- olive oil
- corn oil
- rapeseed oil
- products made from oils like margarine
What % of our body’s fats are lipids?
Around 10%
Lipids are made of two types of molecules / units called…
Glycerol and fatty acids
How is fat used by the body to its advantage?
- fat is deposited around the body as a long-term store of energy, eg: under the skin and around the heart and kidneys
- under the skin, fat acts as an insulation layer, reducing heat loss at the surface of the body
- fat around organs can provide protection from damage
What is glycerol?
An oily liquid also knows as ‘glycerine’ and used in many types of cosmetics
To form a lipid, what needs to join with what?
A single molecule or glycerol is joined to three fatty acid molecules
What are proteins made up of?
Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sometimes sulphur
Proteins are polymers made from…
20 different sub units called amino acids
What % of our body mass is made up of proteins?
Around 18%
List three compounds in the body which are proteins..
- enzymes
- hormones
- anti-bodies
What is protein needed for in the body?
The growth and repair of body cells and tissues
List four sources of proteins from animal products..
- meat
- fish
- cheese
- eggs
List three sources of proteins from plant material…
- beans
- peas
- nuts
What is the RDA for protein?
70g