Nutrition Basics: Chapter 1 Overview

Lecture #1: Chapter 1: Overview of Nutrition

• Diet refers to the food and beverages a person consumes.
• Personal preference, habit, ethnic heritage, availability, positive/negative associations, emotions, religious beliefs, political views, environmental concerns, body weight/image, and health benefits influence food choices.
• Hunger is a physiological drive for food that can be satisfied by variety.
• Appetite is a psychological desire to eat a specific food, aroused by environmental cues.

Nutrition and Health

• Poor nutrition over time is linked to chronic diseases and a rise in obesity rates.
• Food plays a vital role in supporting health.

What is Nutrition?

• Nutrition is the study of how food nourishes the body and influences health.
• It includes ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, and excretion.
• Food is any substance the body can take in, assimilate, and use to produce energy and support life functions.

Why is Nutrition Important?

• Proper nutrition supports overall wellness, encompassing physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
• It goes beyond the absence of disease.

What are Nutrients?

• Nutrients are components of food required for the body's functioning.
• They may provide energy, promote growth and maintenance, and regulate body processes.

The Six Classes of Nutrients

• Carbohydrates
• Lipids (fats)
• Proteins
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water

Macronutrients

• Provide energy to the body in relatively large amounts.

Calories

• Units used to measure food energy.

Energy-Yielding Macronutrients

• Carbohydrates: 4 kcal/gram
• Protein: 4 kcal/gram
• Fat: 9 kcal/gram
• Alcohol: 7 kcal/gram

Energy Density

• A measure of energy a food provides.
• Fat provides more energy per gram than carbohydrates or protein.

Nutrient Density

• A measure of the amount of nutrients present in a given amount of calories.

Sample Nutrition Label Calculations

• Examples demonstrating calculations using a sample label.

Carbohydrates

• Comprised of C, H, and O.
• Supply energy: 4 kcal/gram.
• Includes monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
• Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that is not digested by the body but helps with stool.

Lipids

• Composed of C, H, and fewer O.
• Supply energy: 9 kcal/gram.
• Include triglycerides, phospholipids, and sterols.

Proteins

• Composed of C, O, H, and N.
• Supply energy: 4 kcal/gram.
• Essential for building and repairing tissues; creating hormones and enzymes.

Vitamins

• Organic compounds needed in very small quantities.
• Support many metabolic functions.
• Two types: water-soluble and fat-soluble.

Minerals

• Inorganic substances needed in relatively small amounts.
• Important for cellular function and structure.

Water

• Composed of H and O..
• Essential for most bodily functions.
• Is a major component in many foods.

Establishing Nutrient Recommendations

• Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) provide nutrient intake guidelines for healthy individuals in the US and Canada.
• Important for maintaining overall health.
• Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), Adequate Intakes (AIs), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs) are components of DRIs.
• Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDRs) provide a range for macronutrients.

State of Nutritional Health

• Malnutrition refers to an imbalance of nutrients over a significant period, resulting in too much or too little of a particular nutrient or energy. (a sign of long-term health issues)

Measuring Nutritional Status

• Anthropometrics, biochemical, clinical, and diet history analysis help assess nutritional status.

The Science of Nutrition

• The study of nutrients in food and how the body uses them.
• It involves several other sciences.

Evaluation of Research

• Research is evaluated systematically, considering the research methods, the group(s) studied, how the data was collected, who funded the research, who is reporting the information, whether or not the report is well documented and peer-reviewed.

Lecture #2: Chapter 2: Planning a Healthy Diet

• Diet planning basics including whole foods, refined/processed foods, nutrient dense, energy dense, and phytochemicals, which are compounds found in plants that have health benefits.

Lecture #3: Chapter 3: Digestion, Absorption, Transport

• The video about the digestive system discusses how the body processes food.

• Basic cell biology concepts are reviewed.

• The digestive process, step-by-step, from mouth to anus, is described, including the roles of organs, hormones, and enzymes.

• Digestion, absorption, and transport of nutrients are explained.

• Different ways the body absorbs nutrients (passive, facilitated, active, endocytosis) are discussed.

• The importance of the various organs in the digestive process (mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, pancreas, gallbladder, and the liver) is described.

• GI problems (e.g., diarrhea, constipation, ulcers, heartburn) are discussed.

• Food recommendations, including the concept of empty calories, are touched upon.