Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is nutrition?
“The study of nutrients and other biologically active compounds in foods and in the body; sometimes also the study of human behaviours related to food”
What does diet mean?
“The foods (including beverages) that a person usually eats and drinks”
Effect overtime vs. one bad thing
6 Classes of Nutrients**
- Water
- Lipid (Fats)
- Minerals
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Vitamins
*** Alcohol is not a nutrient as it actually interferes with body processes
Overview of the body to nutrition
Lifetime of nourishment
- Body is constantly renewing its structures: muscle, bones, skin, blood
- Fat used and accumulated the body
- Best kind of foods support growth and maintenance of the body: strong muscles and bones, healthy skin, etc
- Too much or too little of a nutrient over time can have serious effects
What is malnutrition? What is undernutrition and overnutrition?
Malnutrition: Any condition caused by excess or deficient food energy or nutrient intake or by imbalance of nutrients
Undernutrition: Nutrient or energy deficiencies
Overnutrition: Nutrient or energy excesses
What are two common lifestyle habits that have more influence on long term health?
- Alc
- Smoking
Nutrition and Chronic Disease
- Genetics and lifestyle, together with diet, can influence the risk of getting chronic diseases such as: heart disease, diabetes, some kinds of cancer, dental disease, adult bone loss
What is chronic disease?
- Long duration, degenerative diseases characterized by deterioration of the body organs
Nutritional Genomics
- Helps to determine an individual’s nutrient needs, fighting disease, etc
- How nutrients affect activity of genes and how genes affect activity of nutrients
- Also called molecular nutrition or nutrigenomics
Genetics and nutrition on disease
- Some diseases are purely hereditary but some of these diseases can still be influenced by diet
- Some diseases are almost purely dietary (ex. vitamin deficiencies)
- Some disease are influenced by both genetics and nutrition (hypertension)
What is energy?
- Capacity to do work
- Energy that fuels the human body comes indirectly from the sun via plants: eats plants, eat animals that eat plants
- Food energy is measured in Calories (kcalories)
What is a calorie?
- Units by which energy is measured)
- 1000 calories = 1 kilocalorie
- 1 kilocalorie is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temp of 1kg of water by 1 degree
Macronutrients
- Required in relatively large amounts per day
- (Usually grams/day)
Micronutrients
- Required in small amounts per day
- (usually milligrams or micrograms/day)
Vitamins/minerals
Essential nutrients
- Nutrients a person must obtain from food because sufficient amounts cannot be made by the body
i.e essential amino acids
Inorganic nutrients
- Nutrients that contain no carbon
Water and minerals
Organic nutrients
- Nutrients that can be broken down to provide energy to the body
Carbohydrates, lipids, protein
Energy yielding nutrients
- Nutrients that can be broken down to provide energy to the body
Carbohydrates, lipids, protein
Nutrient Classifications: Macronutrients
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Lipids
- Water (may or may not be included)
Nutrient Classifications: Micronutrients
- Vitamins
- Minerals
Nutrient Classifications: Inorganic
- H2O
- Minerals
Nutrient Classifications: Organic
- Carbs
- Protein
- Lipid
- Vitamins
Nutrient Classifications: Non-Energy Yielding
- Minerals
- H2O
- Vitamins
Nutrient Classifications: Energy Yielding
- Carbs
- Protein
- Lipids
B-vitamins
Used in metabolic pathways as coenzymes
Vitamins and minerals
Regulators that assist in all body processes, such as digestion and healing
*Not energy yielding
Alcohol
- Energy-yielding
- Not a nutrient
Energy Yielding Substances + How Much
- Carbohydrate: 4 kcal/g
- Protein: 4 kcal/g
- Fat: 9 kcal/g
- Alcohol: 7 kcal/g
Most energy dense nutrient -> be more kcal/g
Can one live on only supplements?
*Yes
*Elemental diets
- Diets composed of purified ingredients can supply all the nutrients to people who cannot eat food
- Ex: include enteral nutrition and TPN (total parenteral nutrition)
- Liquid formulas are also advertised a meal replacements or insurance against malnutrition
- Contain micronutrients and macronutrients but they are not superior to real foods
- Can potentially lead to medical complications
- Digestive tract is a dynamic system that responds to the food it receives (Sight, aroma, taste - if only fed through a vein - digestive organs atrophy)
- Lack of digestive tract stimulation (may weaken the bodies defenses against certain infections)
- Eating can offer both physical and emotional comfort
Foods are chemically complex what do they include? (2)
Include nutrients and non nutrients - non nutrients include phytochemicals
Phytochemicals: “non nutrient compounds that are found in plant-derived foods and have biological activity in the body”
What are enriched foods and fortified foods?
- Foods which have had nutrients added
“If the starting material is a whole food such as milk or a whole grain, it may be a nutritious food”
“If the starting material is high in fat or sugar, the result may be less nutritious”
What are functional foods?
“A term that reflects an attempt to define as a group the foods known to possess nutrients or non nutrients that might lend protection against diseases”
- Ex: orange juice with calcium
Natural foods
Has no legal definition. Often used in advertising.
Super foods
Has no legal definition. Often used in fads.
Processed foods
“foods subject to any milling, alteration in texture, additives, cooking or others”
- Processed foods can be nutritious or not
- Canada’s food guide recommends limiting highly processed foods
Nutraceutical
A term used to describe a product that has been isolated from food often sold in pill form
Staple foods
Foods used frequently or daily
5 Characteristics of Planning and Recognizing a Nutritious Diet
- Adequacy: Providing all of the essential nutrients, fibre, and energy in sufficient amounts to maintain health and body weight
- Balance: Providing foods of a number of different types in proportion to each other, such that foods some rich in some nutrients do not replace foods that are rich in other nutrients
- Calorie-Control: Control of energy intake - nutrient density; a measure of the nutrients provided per kcalorie of food *the more nutrients and the fewer calories, the higher the nutrient density (highest: non starchy veggies)
- Moderation
- Variety
