Nutrients: Fueling Your Body for Optimal Health
Essential Nutrients for a Healthy Body
The energy stored in food molecules is released during cellular respiration and used to produce ATP molecules that power cellular activities.
Raw Materials for Body Building and Repair
Food also supplies the raw materials used to build and repair body tissue. A healthy diet ensures that your body receives all the required substances.
Key Nutrients Your Body Needs
The nutrients that your body needs are water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
Read MoreCarbohydrates: Types, Functions, Sources & Requirements
Carbohydrates in Diet: Sources and Allowances
Types of Carbohydrates:
- Monosaccharides (e.g., glucose, fructose)
- Disaccharides (e.g., sucrose, lactose)
- Oligosaccharides (e.g., raffinose, stachyose)
- Polysaccharides (e.g., amylose, glycogen)
In general, monosaccharides and disaccharides, which are smaller carbohydrates, are commonly referred to as sugars. The term carbohydrate often refers to foods rich in complex carbohydrates like starch (cereals, bread, pasta) or simple carbohydrates like sugar (candy,
Read MoreKey Facts in Nutrition and Food Science
Here are some key facts related to nutrition, food science and diet:
- Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble. True
- Palmitic acid is a saturated fatty acid with 16 carbons. True
- Carbohydrates should make up 45-55% of total calories. True
- A high-protein diet is always healthy. False
- Lipids provide 9 kcal/g. False (Lipids provide 9kcal/g)
- Micelles interact with the brush border of the intestinal wall, facilitating lipid absorption. True
- Chylomicrons are high in triglycerides. True
- It is advisable to increase
Vitamins and Fruits: Types, Benefits, and Deficiencies
Vitamins and Fruits: A Nutritional Overview
The term “vitamins” was coined in 1912 by Casimir Funk to describe essential food accessory factors necessary for life.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
A, D, E, K
Water-Soluble Vitamins
B1, B2, B6, B12, C, niacin, biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid.
Fruits: An Edible Delight
Fruits are edible products obtained from cultivated or wild plants.
Types of Fruits
- Stone Fruit: Peach
- Pome Fruit: Pear and apple
- Grains: Fig and strawberry
- Fresh Fruit: Consumed immediately or within
Proteins and Amino Acids: Sources and Requirements
Proteins and Amino Acids: Dietary Sources, Allowances, Deficiency, and Risks
Background:
- Proteins are polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds.
- The most important aspect and defining characteristic of protein, from a nutritional standpoint, is its amino acid composition.
- 1g of protein = 4kcal.
- Physiology:
- Proteins are broken down in the stomach during digestion by enzymes known as proteases into smaller polypeptides to provide amino acids for the body.
Amino Acids
- Amino acids
Digestive Glands: Types, Functions, and Digestive Process
Digestive glands are a set of glands responsible for producing digestive juices needed for the chemical digestion of food in the digestive tract. These glands include the salivary glands, gastric glands, intestinal glands, liver, and pancreas.
Gastric and intestinal glands are numerous, very tiny, and located in the inner wall of the stomach and intestines, respectively. The salivary glands, liver, and pancreas are located outside the digestive tract and pour their secretions into it through ducts.
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