Introduction to Nutrition

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 What nutrition? What is food?

Nutrition:
– It is a science of food and its constituents
– Is the sum total of the process by which living things
receive and utilize the necessary materials for
survival, growth and maintenance of worn out
tissues.

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Food:
– Is any solid or liquid which when ingested will enable the body to
carry out any of its life function.
Healthy Diet:
– is defined as food containing all the nutrients in a sufficient amount
and in proper ratio.

 Adequacy and balance are key characteristics of a healthy diet.

 A Variety of foods are required to obtain all the nutrients

needed since many combination of foods make up a healthy diet

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 Principles of Good Nutrition

• Adequacy
• Balance
• Energy Control
• Nutrient Density
• Moderation
• Variety
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• Adequacy
– Diet provides sufficient energy and
– enough of the nutrients to meet the needs of healthy
people.
• Balance
– Getting enough but not too much of each type of food
– Meats fish and poultry rich in iron but poor in calcium
– Milk-rich in calcium but poor in iron

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• Energy control
– Adequate balanced diet without overeating
– type II diabetes-obesity contributes to this epidemic
• Nutrient density
– Eating well without overeating:
• accomplished by having lots of nutrients relative to
energy content of food
• contributes to adequacy and energy control

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 Moderation
Providing enough but not to much of a substance
Contributes to adequacy, balance and energy control
 Variety
Eating a wide selection of foods within and among the
major food groups
Contributes to adequacy, balance, energy control,
nutrient density and moderation

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 Why nutrition matters?

• Nutrition is human right • Human & Economic

 “every man, woman & Costs:
child has the absolute • (negative functional
right to be free from
conséquences)
hunger & malnutrition
 Illness & Mortality
in order to develop their
 Intelligence loss
physical & mental
 Redue productivity
faculties”
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 Defn. (cont’d)
Malnutrition:
– Is the condition that results from an imbalance between
dietary intake and requirements.
– It includes under nutrition, which results from less food
intake and hard physical work and over nutrition results
from excess food intake and less physical activities.

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 Defn. (cont’d)

Roughage:
– Is defined as food fibers which enable the body to
get rid of waste products, which would otherwise
become poisonous to the body.
– It prevents gastrointestinal disorders (gastritis,
appendicitis, gallbladder stone and constipation)
and metabolic disorders (diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, ischemic heart disease and colon
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cancer).
 Diet and Health

• Diet - the foods one consumes

• The quality of your daily diet affects the risk of
chronic diseases
• The food choices you make daily have a cumulative
impact on your health

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 Improving your Health

• Goal is to reduce the number of risk factors that are in

your control
• Risk factor = something that statistically increases the
incidence of a disease
• Risk factors may not be the cause of the disease

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• Risk factors in your • Risk factors you cannot

control: control:

– Smoking – Age

– Alcohol intake – Gender

– Over-consumption of – Genetics (family

calories history)

– Physical inactivity – Ethnicity

– Poor quality diet

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Nutrition situation Health consequences, outcomes
Optimum Food-secure individuals Health, well-being, normal
nutrition with adequate, balanced development, high quality of life
and prudent diets
Under Food-insecure individuals Decreased physical and mental
nutrition: living in poverty, development
hunger ignorance, politically Compromised immune systems
unstable environments, Increased infectious diseases
disrupted societies, war Vicious circle of under nutrition,
underdevelopment, poverty

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Nutrition situation Health consequences,
outcomes

Over Overconsumption of Obesity, metabolic syndrome,

nutrition food, especially cardiovascular disease, type 2
macronutrients, plus: diabetes mellitus, certain
•low physical activity cancers: chronic NCDs, often
•smoking, characterized by over nutrition
•stress, of macronutrients and under
•alcohol abuse nutrition of micronutrients

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Nutrition situation Health consequences,
outcomes

Malnutrition Nutrition transition: Double burden of infectious

Individuals and communities diseases plus NCDs, often
previously food insecure characterized by over
confronted with abundance nutrition of macronutrients

of palatable foods  some and under nutrition of

undernourished, others too micronutrients

many macronutrients and too

few micronutrients

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 What’s Considered Food?

• Foods contain nutrients and are derived from plant or

animal sources
• Nutrients are used by the body to provide energy and
to support growth, maintenance and repair of body
tissues

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 Classifying Nutrients
There are 6 Classes of Nutrients
1. Carbohydrates
2. Lipids (fats)
3. Proteins
4. Vitamins
5. Minerals
6. Water

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 Describing the Nutrients

• There are several ways to classify the classes of

nutrients.
– Essential or nonessential
– Organic or inorganic
– Macronutrient or micronutrient
– Energy yielding or not

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 Essential nutrients

• nutrients the body either cannot make or cannot make

enough of to meet its needs.
– These nutrients must be obtained from foods
(ingested in some manner)
– Examples:
• Vitamins
• Calcium, iron, and other minerals
• Some of the amino acids
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 Essential Nutrients

• To be classified as an essential nutrient:

– The biological function of nutrient is known
– Omission from the diet leads to a decline in a
biological function
– Return of the nutrient restores the biological
function

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 Non - essential nutrients

• body can make from other nutrients ingested

 Examples:
• Cholesterol
• Some amino acids

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 Classifying Nutrients by Composition

• Organic nutrients - • Inorganic nutrients - do

contain carbon not contain carbon
• Carbohydrates • Minerals
• Lipids • Water
• Proteins
• Vitamins

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 Classification based on Quantity Needed

• Macronutrients: need in relatively large amounts

– Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins
• Micronutrients: need in relatively small amounts
– Minerals and vitamins

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Class/category Subclass/category Nutrient examples

Carbohydrates Mono saccharides Glucose, fructose, galactose

(macronutrients) Disaccharides Sucrose, maltose, lactose
Polysaccharides Starch and dietary fiber

Proteins Plant and animal source Amino acids (n = 20):

(macronutrients) proteins aliphatic, aromatic, sulfur-

containing, acidic, basic
Fats and oils Saturated fatty acids Palmitic and stearic acid
(lipids) Monounsaturated fatty Oleic (cis) and elaidic (trans)
(macronutrients) acids fatty acids
Polyunsaturated fatty Linoleic, á-linolenic,
acids (n-3, n-6, n-9) arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic,
docosahexaenoic acid
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Class/category Subclass/category Nutrient examples

Minerals Minerals and Calcium, sodium, phosphate,

(micronutrients) electrolytes potassium, iron, zinc,
Trace elements selenium, copper, manganese,
molybdenum, fluoride,
chromium

Vitamins Fat soluble Retinol (A), calciferols (D),

(micronutrients) tocopherols (E), vitamin K
Water soluble Ascorbic acid (C), thiamine
(B1), ribofl avin (B2), niacin
(B3), pyridoxine (B6), folate,
cobalamin (B12)

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 Energy-yielding nutrients

– Carbohydrates
– Fats (lipids)
– Proteins
• The body uses the energy yielding nutrients to fuel all
activities
– All energy yielding nutrients are “caloric”.
• If more energy is ingested than is needed to fuel body
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Energy-Yielding Nutrients

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 Energy-Yielding Nutrients

• Carbohydrates: C, H, O
– 4 kcal/gram
– Body’s primary source of energy
• Use as glucose
• Glucose is the brain’s only source of energy
– Carbohydrate stores are limited ~12-24 hours (in
liver and muscle)

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 Energy Density

• Measure of the kcal per gram of food

• Foods with a high energy density provide more kcal per

gram than low density foods.

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Energy Density

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 Food Choices

• Small group exercise

– What influences your food choices each day?
– Why do you eat what you eat?
 Get into groups of ~4 and make a list of what
impacts your food choices most days.

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 Food Choices

1. Personal 8. Economy $
preferences 9. Positive or negative
2. Habit associations
3. Ethnic heritage 10.Emotional Comfort
4. Tradition 11.Values -Religious,
5. Social interactions political, envt’l
or pressure 12.Health concerns 33
 What are the factors affecting nutrition ?
History- e.g. historical factors including war, food
availability
Psychology- e.g. eating disorders
Economic -e.g. poverty
Politics- e.g. ethnic cleansing
Anthropology-cultural (e.g. religious) influences
Sociology-e.g. eating in groups
Health-e.g desire for health
Combination of all the above-i.e. all related 34
Thank you!

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