Key Nutrition Concepts Introduction Welcome to Introductory Nutrition. The field of nutrition encompasses the study of food and the impact of its consumption on human health. Nutrition is a multidisciplinary field that stretches from behavioural and social sciences used to understand the reasons people choose the foods they choose, to biology and chemistry, which evaluate the effect of the nutrients on human cell health. Lessons in this unit will provide a broad overview of nutrition and human health. Key Nutrition Concepts Part 1: Nutrient Categories a) The Meaning of Nutrition - Nutrition is the study of food and health. - The scope of nutrition ranges from food choices and why people make the choices to the biochemistry of the effect of foods on our bodies. - Components of Nutrition: 1. Food 2. Nutrients in food 3. Other chemical constituents in food (components that do not fall into the 6 categories of nutrients in food) 4. The effects of food constituents on health b) What is a Diet? - A pattern of foods consumed. - What someone usually eats and drinks. - Examples: fast-food diet, fruit and vegetable diet, Mediterranean diet. c) Foods Provide: 1. Nutrients - Chemical constituents of food required for specific body functions. 2. Energy - Eating food provides energy for body functions. - A Calorie is the unit by which energy in food is measured. - 1 kcal (or kcalorie) has 1000 calories. This is a calorie with a small c. Commonly people refer to a kcal (or kilocalorie) as a Calorie, with a capital C. - Energy is not a substance and thus is not a nutrient. REMEMBER: 1000 calories = 1 kilocalorie = 1 kcalorie = 1 kcal = 1 Calorie/Cal 3. Other substances - Food components beneficial to health. - Phytochemicals represent a major type of other substances which are biologically active in the body. d) Nutrient Categories The essential nutrients are grouped in to 6 categories: Macronutrients: Carbohydrate - simple sugars - complex carbohydrates Protein - 20 amino acids - 9 essential - 11 nonessential Fat Micronutrients: Vitamins - 13 essential Minerals - 15 essential Water