Lesson 1: Nutrition Flashcards
What are nutrients?
a chemical that an organism needs in order to grow, build and repair tissues, and produce energy
What does nutrients allow us to do?
- allows us to extract the raw materials from food which supports the growth and maintenance of our body
- also provides us with energy to complete biological processes: this can be things even we are not aware of
What are some biological processes nutrients help us with?
- heart beating
- lungs breathing
- muscles holding us upright
- brain processing information
What are carbohydrates?
carbs are the main source of energy for the human body
what are carbs made up of?
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
what are the three types of carbs and what is each?
- monosaccharides: a ring shaped structure that consists of one simple sugar molecule
- disaccharides: made up of 2 simple sugar molecules that are joined together
- polysaccharides: made up of multiple sugar rings that are joined together to form a large complex chain
Examples of monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides
glucose, fructose, galactose - if you link two of those together, you get disaccharides: lactose, maltose, sucrose
*oligosaccharides are carbs that contain 3 to 10 sugar rings
*polysaccharides are those that contain over 10 sugar rings
Polysaccharides include: starch, glycogen, cellulose
carbs in foods include…
grains, fruits, veggies
how does the body store carbs? where do they store them? why do they store carbs?
complex carbs must be broken down into simpler sugars before the body can use them or store them
- they are stored in the liver and in muscle tissues as glycogen
- they store carbs when they do not need them for energy
what happens when the body requires the stored carbs?
when energy is needed, the glycogen (stored carbs) are converted back into glucose for energy
what happens if there are excess carbs that cannot be stored?
they are converted into lipids, which become stored as body fats
- this is how you gain fat or weight (when you overeat or consume too many carbs)
what are proteins? what is it made up of?
they are enzymes that speed up reactions- basically helping processes go forward; most complex nutrient that is made up of long chains of amino acids (can be strung up together in so many ways which makes it so diverse)
how many proteins are there? what are their functions?
there are several different proteins that each have their own function- very diverse and complex
- storage proteins store amino acids
- transport proteins transport substances
- structural proteins are for support, etc
how many types of amino acids are there that make up proteins?
20 types of acids make up all proteins
- our body can produce 12 of these amino acids
- 8 amino acids called essential amino acids, we must obtain from food
what are some examples of proteins in our diets?
can be found in plants or animals: meat, eggs, fish, cheese, lentils
is there a difference between plant based proteins and animal based proteins?
plants have a less concentrated source of proteins, so they lack amino acids (compared to meat sourced proteins)
- So, a meat eating person may obtain the required amount of protein from animals, and a non meat eating person may obtain some protein from plant based proteins: however, this may not amount up to the required amount of proteins needed, so they will need to ensure to eat more plant proteins to be at the same level as meat proteins
what are vitamins? where do they come from?
vitamins are compounds we need to injest in small amounts in order to keep functioning
- they are obtained from our food eaten or produced in our bodies
