5.

2 NUTRITION

VOCABULARY
Carbohydrate
Mineral
Vitamin
Calorie

THE VITAL NUTRIENTS

Carbohydrates
Source of energy for your body.
Are starches and sugars, starches are complex
carbohydrates found in bread, cereal, potatoes,
rice, corn.
Sugars are simple carbohydrates found mainly in
fruits.
During digestion complex carbohydrates are
broken down into simple sugars, such aer
glucose, fructose and galactose.
Some sugar is carried to the liven and store as
glycogen.
Cellulose is a complex carbohydrates that is not
digestible by humans, but its important to
consume it because it helps in the elimination of
wastes (fi ber).

 Fats
Essential nutrient, they provide energy to the body.
Are essential building blocks of the cell membrane
Needed to synthetize hormones, to protect body against
injury, and insulate the body from cold.
The liver converts the fat into glycogen or stores them as
fat throughout the body.
Ex. Nuts, meats, dairy products, oil.

 Proteins
Uses: enzymes, antibodies, hormones,
substances that help the blood to clot;
part of muscles and cell membrane.
During digestion proteins are broken
down into amino acids.
Liver converts amino acids to fats or
glucose, both can be used as energy. .
Your body uses amino acids for energy
ONLY OF other energy sources are
depleted.
Humans need 20 diff erent amino acids
to carry out the protein synthesis,
humans can make just 12, the other 8
must be consumed in the diet.

 Minerals
Mineral: inorganic substance that serves as a building
material or takes part in chemical reaction in the body;
minerals ARE NOT used as energy.
Minerals takes around 4% of your total body weight.

Vitamins
Organic nutrients required in small amounts to maintain
growth and metabolism.
There are two main groups of vitamins
Water soluble: cannot be stored in the body, they most be
included in our diet.
Fat soluble: can be stored in the liver, and excessive amount
can be toxic.

 Water
Most abundant substance in
your body, around 45 and 75 %
It facilitates the chemical
reactions in your body and is
necessary to break down foods
during digestion.
Excellent solvent, oxygen and
nutrients need water to
dissolve in it.
Water maintain your bodys
internal temperature.
Your body looses around 2.5 L
of water per day, so it needs to
be replaced constantly.

 Calories and metabolism

The energy content of food is measured in units of
heat called : calories.
A calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the
temperature of 1ml of water by 1 O C.
In general, 1 gr of fat contains 9 calories.
When the energy taken is greater than the energy
expended, the extra energy is stored as FAT, and then
in consequence the person gains weight
Being overweight increases persons risk for
developing health problems ( heart disease, high
blood pressure), being underweight also brings some
problems ( fatigue, anemia, bad immunological
system)