The Six Laws of Nutrition
So that feeding can cover the necessary nutrients, it must comply with the universal laws of nutrition.
1. Law of Quantity
The feeding amount is adequate and has to cover energy requirements. This means the minimum amount that a person requires depending on age, activity, and stage of development. Foods that provide mainly calories (energy) are carbohydrates and fats. The number of calories must be sufficient to provide heat to maintain body temperature, energy for muscle contraction, and nutritional balance.
From the standpoint of heat, a diet may be sufficient, insufficient, or excessive. Under this law, slimming regimes are considered “poor,” as they allow a decrease in weight at the expense of reduced caloric content.
2. Law of Quality
Provides that any diet or feeding must be complete. It must contain all the nutrients to give the body all the substances that make up tissues, ensuring the proper functioning of organs and systems. All arrangements must be present: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. According to this law, the regimes are classified as complete (varied) and incomplete.
3. Law of Balance
You have to know the proportion of nutrients with which to operate. The quantities of the various principles that make up the food have to save a relationship of proportion between them so that each brings a portion of the total caloric value. It recommends that any normal diet contain:
- Proteins: 12 to 15% of total caloric value
- Fat: 30 to 35% of total caloric value
- Carbohydrates: 50 to 60% of total caloric value
4. Law of Fitness
Diet must be appropriate to the age, sex, needs, and condition of each individual. This implies a correct choice of foods, as well as proper preparation.
5. Law of Purity
Maintaining that the feed must be free of germs or contamination.
6. Law of Presentation
Stipulates that food must have a nice presentation on the palate and the eye.
Nutrients
Nutrients are organic or inorganic compounds in food that can be used by the body for various vital processes (energy supply, forming cells, or regulating body functions).
A nutrient is a substance essential to life. It contains or stores chemical energy that the body will transform into metabolic energy. It cannot be formed or synthesized within our body, so it is provided from outside, through food and diet. Moreover, if not consumed in sufficient quantity and quality, it can lead to shortages or nutritional deficiencies cured only when the nutrient is consumed again. This is especially a sensitive problem.
The nutrients are:
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
Classification
According to their molecular weight, they are classified as:
1. Macronutrients
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Lipids
2. Micronutrients
- Vitamins
- Minerals
According to Their Functions
1. Energy
Provide as much metabolic energy to perform vital functions.
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fat
2. Structural
These allow the composition to maintain the body and are essential for tissue formation or regeneration.
- Protein
- Water
- Minerals
Nutrition and Feeding
Nutrition is the science that deals with food and the nutrients they contain.
We can say that nutrition is the science that deals with feeding healthy and diseased humans and healthy and sick populations, taking into account the social, economic, cultural, and psychological factors related to food and feeding.
Feeding is the process by which the outside world takes a series of substances contained in food that is part of our diet.
Food is any product or substance that, once consumed, contributes materials that perform a function equivalent to nutrients in the body.
To maintain health from a nutritional standpoint, humans need to consume daily a quantity/quality of energy and 50 nutrients found stored in food. Humans need to drink 2 fatty acids and 8 essential amino acids, about 20 minerals, and 13 vitamins with food. Therefore, a correct and balanced diet must contain all the energy and nutrients in adequate and sufficient amounts to meet human needs and maintain nutritional status within the parameters considered normal.
Diet is defined as the set and quantities of food or food mixtures consumed regularly. It can also refer to the regime that, under certain circumstances, makes healthy, ill, or convalescing people eat and drink.
The dietary studies how to provide each person or group of people with the food needed for their proper development, according to their physiological status and circumstances.
A balanced diet is known as one that contains all the energy and nutrients in sufficient quantity and quality to maintain health.
Regulators
Regulators are used to regulate specific body functions. They are used to form enzymes directly involved as catalysts or facilitators of some chemical reactions within the body.
- Proteins
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
Energy Capacity
Energy capacity is the ability to do work. This energy is supplied to the body through the food we eat and is obtained from the oxidation of carbohydrates, fat, and protein.
All foods are potential sources of energy but in varying amounts according to their different content of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins).
- 1g fat 9 kcal/g
- 1g protein 4 kcal/g
- 1g carbohydrate 3.75 kcal or 4 kcal/g
Nutritional Requirements and Recommendations
Nutritional requirement is the minimum amount of a specific nutrient an individual needs to maintain an optimal state of health and be able to prevent clinical manifestations of malnutrition or lack thereof. Quantitative requirements may vary from one individual to another depending on biological factors such as age, genetic features, and difficult precision.
Nutritional recommendation is the level of daily ingestion of a nutrient considered high enough to cover the requirements of all similar groups. The recommendations for calorie and nutrient consumption are regarded as guidelines or goals for good nutrition and establishing a healthy population group. Therefore, the recommendations should provide a margin of safety because they are preventive.