What Is Nutrition?
By: Chuck Rudolph RD
NUTRITION =
Nutrition is the science of foods and nutrients and
their actions within the body (including ingestions, digestion,
absorption, transport, utilization and excretion). Nutrition has
played a significant role in your life, even before birth, and will
continue to affect your life in major ways depending on the foods
you select.
Food Selections – People decide what to eat
and when to eat often based on social motives rather than on awareness
of nutrition importance to their health. The following are various
behavioral/social motives for food selections:
- Body weight and personal image – Some people select
certain foods and supplements that they believe will improve their
physical appearance. They avoid foods they feel might be detrimental.
These decisions can be beneficial when based on sound nutrition
and exercise information, but can be the reverse if based on quick
fixes and fads.
- Availability, convenience and economy – People eat
foods that are accessible, quick and easy to prepare and within
their financial means. With today’s daily stressors (work, children,
finances, personal appearance, etc), quick, easy and comforting
out weigh healthy nutrition selections all the time.
- Social interactions – Many people enjoy eating with
friends. Meals are social events and the sharing of food is part
of hospitality.
- Emotional comfort – Many people eat in response to
stress or emotional stimuli. Eating in response to emotions and/or
stress can lead to overeating and increased weight gain.
- Personal preference – People like certain flavors and
certain foods.
- Habits – Certain foods are selected based on habit.
People will eat cereal every morning for breakfast. Eating a familiar
food and not having to make any decisions can be comforting.
- Ethnic heritage or tradition – One of the strongest
influences on food selections.
- Positive and negative association – People tend to
like foods that were related to a fun or happy moment in their
life. On the other hand, they may not like a food because it made
them sick or they ate it while they were sick.
- Values – Food selections that may reflect ones religious
beliefs, political views or environmental concerns.
FOODS vs. NUTRIENTS
= ENERGY
- Foods are
products derived form plants and animals that can be consumed
by the body to produce energy and nutrients for maintenance
of life and the growth and repair of tissues.
- Nutrients are the chemical compounds
obtained from food and used by the body to provide energy, structural
materials and regulating agents to support growth, maintenance and
repair of the body’s tissues and organs.
- ENERGY is the capacity
to do work. The energy from food is chemical energy. The body
can convert this chemical energy into mechanical, electrical and
heat energy.
The Six Essential Nutrients
The body can make some nutrients, but it cannot make all of them
and it makes some nutrients in insufficient amounts to meet the
body’s needs. The body must obtain these nutrients from foods. The
nutrients that food must supply are called ESSENTIAL
NUTRIENTS.
There are six classes of essential nutrients:
- Carbohydrates
- Fats/Lipids
- Proteins
- Water
- Minerals
- Vitamins
These nutrients will be examined in future articles. |
