Quiz 1 Flashcards
packet 1
what are phytochemicals?
naturally occurring bioactive compounds found in plants that are not considered nutrients (not required by the body) but may offer health benefits (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects)
nutrients vs non-nutrients
nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, water, vitamins, and minerals
non-nutrients: phytochemicals, food additives, microplastics, PFAs
what are functional foods?
foods rich in phytochemicals that have medicinal value beyond basic nutrition (examples include cranberry juice reducing the occurrence of urinary tract infections)
what do antioxidants do?
phytochemicals can function as antioxidants, antioxidants help protect cells from oxidative damage caused by free radicals (unstable, reactive molecules that cause oxidative damage in DNA and cell membranes by stealing electrons), antioxidants stabilize free radicals by donating electrons
what does oxidative stress cause?
oxidative stress (an imbalance between free radical production and antioxidant defenses) increases risk of several diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, heart disease and certain cancers
what are ultra-processed foods (UPF)?
foods that have been altered from their natural state, processed foods often retain nutritional value and can make foods safer to consume and preserve shelf life, UPF often have little nutritional value
what are microplastics?
tiny pieces of plastic present in food and water that are transferred from packaging material, linked to health issues like heart disease, lung disorders, and certain cancers
what are PFAs?
forever chemicals in food, used in packaging, PFAs accumulate in human tissue and are linked to adverse health effects such as cancer
what are vitamins?
organic molecules grouped by solubility that are present in food
what are minerals?
naturally occurring inorganic elements present in food and grouped by amounts required daily
what is fortification?
the addition of nutrients to foods regardless of if it is naturally present, originally used to correct/prevent nutrient deficiencies in the population
what are some historic examples of foritification?
few foods naturally provide iodine, thyroid needs iodine to make thyroid hormones, low levels of thyroid hormone cause goiter to form, so salt was fortified with iodine
vitamin D is needed for bone development in children, the bone disorder rickets was an epidemic during the Industrial Revolution so milk was fortified to solve this problem
fortified cereal grain with folic acid to reduce the risk of neural tube defects
folate vs folic acid?
folate: naturally in food, especially dark green leafy vegetables
folic acid: synthetic and used in supplements and to fortify foods
macronutrients vs micronutrients
classified by daily requirements
macronutrients: nutrients needed by the body in large amounts on a daily basis (protein, lipids, and water)
micronutrients: nutrients needed by the body in small on the daily basis (vitamins and minerals)
organic foods vs non-organic foods
organic: grown/processed according to USDA standards, no synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, animals fed with organic feed
essential vs non-essential nutrients vs conditionally essential nutrients
essential: those the body cannot make or cannot make in amounts needed to satisfy physiological requirements
non-essential: those made by the body in amounts needed to satisfy physiological needs
conditionally essential: nonessential but under certain circumstances (illness, stress, etc.)
is vitamin D an essential, nonessential or conditionally essential vitamin?
while vitamin D can be synthesized by the body with sufficient exposure to sunlight, it is typically considered to be an essential nutrient, since few foods contain vitamin D, could be considered conditionally essential since some people can not produce it in adequate amounts
vitamin D2 vs vitamin D3
D2: produced by plants
D3: the form of vitamin D produced by humans and found naturally in animal foods
D3 supplements are more effective increasing vitamin D levels in the blood compared to D2
what is nutrient solubility?
extent to which a nutrient dissolves in water (bodily fluids)
what does nutrient solubility impact?
absorption: how nutrients are absorbed (how nutrients pass out of the digestive tract and into circulation)
circulation: how nutrients circulated in blood or lymph
stored: how much/where nutrients are stored in the body
removed: how nutrients are removed from the body
what are some examples and characteristics of fat soluble nutrients?
examples include lipids (fatty acids and cholesterol), fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
absorption: bound to carrier molecules (proteins) ot be absorbed
circulation: bound to carrier molecule (proteins) to circulate
storage: readily stored in the body (adipose tissue, the liver, and to some extent skeletal muscle)
eliminated in the feces
what are some examples and characteristics of water-soluble nutrients?
examples include B vitamins, vitamin C, protein, carbohydrates, and most minerals
absorption: readily absorbed
circulation: circulate freely in the blood
storage: not readily stored in the body
excretion: excess filtered from the blood by the kidneys and excreted in urine
excess glucose and amino acids are converted to fatty acids and subsequently stored in adipose tissue
what are soluble mineral salts?
soluble mineral salts separate into charged particles called ions when dissolved in water (ionization)
- sodium chloride (NaCl Na + and Cl- ions)
- potassium chloride (KCl K + and Cl- ions
- sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 Na + and NO 3- ions)
ions with a positive charge are cations (Na + )
ions with a negative charge are anions (Cl- )
what is an example of an insoluble mineral salt?
calcium carbonate is an example that does no readily ionize in water, must be in an acidic environment to ionize
why is stomach acid a good thing?
stomach acid is important because it helps mineral salt ionization, health conditions that increase pH of stomach acid (e.g., certain medications, age) can hinder ionization and therefore impair mineral
absorption (e.g., calcium, iron, copper, zinc)
what is reduction and oxidation?
ions can change charges by reduction-oxidation
(redox) reactions that involves the transfer of a
negatively charged electron
oxidation: ion loses a negatively charged electron and becomes more positive
reduction: ion accepts a negatively charged electron and becomes more negative
how well iron is absorbed depends on its oxidation state
what are the two forms of iron in food?
heme iron: found solely in meat (meat also has non-heme iron), heme iron readily absorbed (15-35%)
nonheme iron: found in plants (no heme iron in plants), nonheme iron is not as readily absorbed (7-11%)
nonheme iron can have different oxidation states:
ferric iron (Fe3+) - oxidized form
ferrous (Fe2+) - reduced form
ferrous (Fe2+) is more readily absorbed
vitamin C can donate an electron converting ferric iron to ferrous iron
what is anemia?
impaired ability of red blood cells to deliver oxygen to cells
increases risk of premature birth and having
a low- birth-weight baby
increased maternal death due to lower tolerance of
excessive blood loss during delivery
impair growth and cognitive development in infancy and childhood
how are nutrients classified?
- macronutrients vs. micronutrients
- organic vs. inorganic
- essential vs. nonessential
- solubility vs. insoluble
- energy-yielding nutrients vs. nonenergy-yielding
nutrients
energy-yielding vs nonenergy yielding nutrients
all forms of life depend on an energy source; our
energy source comes from energy-yielding nutrients
energy-yielding nutrients: glucose, amino acids, fatty acids
nonenergy-yielding nutrients: vitamins, minerals, water
what is metabolism and what are its two pathways?
metabolism: a series of cellular, interconnected
chemical reactions, that collectively make up a
metabolic pathway
catabolic pathways: break down energy-yielding nutrients for the release energy
anabolic pathways: use energy to convert simple molecules (glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids) into
complex molecules (glycogen, triglycerides, and proteins)
what role do vitamins and minerals play in metabolism?
metabolic pathways require enzymes to catalyze
chemical reactions, enzymes require coenzymes and cofactors to function, vitamins needed to form
coenzymes and minerals are needed to form
cofactors
what is a calorie?
the amount of energy in food is measured in kilocalories, the number of grams of CHO, protein, and/or lipid in a food determines its caloric value (g of CHO x kcal/g = kcal (total calories)
what is a bomb calorimeter?
used to measure caloric value of food, bomb calorimeter measures the heat (kcal) released when
a food is combusted, a 1 degree C increase in
the temperature of 1 kg of water represents 1 kilocalorie (kcal), when spelled with a capital C a Calorie is equivalent to a kilocalorie
500 kcal = 500 Calories
what is food used a fuel?
many forms of energy (thermal, solar, kinetic energy), energy in energy-yielding nutrients is in the form of
chemical energy, when chemical bonds in energy-yielding nutrients are broken (energy metabolism), energy is released, unless that energy is captured, it will be lost as heat, energy released from energy-yielding nutrients is used to generate ATP, the energy source used by cells (cellular energy)
