Nutrition and Health Questions

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1. What is nutrition? Why is nutrition essential to our daily lives?

Nutrition is the sum of everything a person intakes and its utilization, including ingestion, digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients found in food. It is influenced by a variety of psychological, sociological and economic factors, according to the American Dietetic Association. Nutrition is essential to our daily lives because it provides the fuel for our bodies, basically supplying the energy necessary for our bodies to thrive. The primary purpose of the food we eat is to provide us with nutrients essential for the function of our bodies.

2. What is the connection between nutrition and health?

A person's health depends in large part upon the fuel he or she intakes. Poor nutrition is a major health problem in the United States, according to The Healthy People 2010 report. Choosing to eat nutritiously (whole grain foods, mostly plant foods, limiting red meat and choosing a diet moderate in fat and low in sugar) maximizes nutrients for the body. Eating the wrong food or too much food can result in poorer health. Dietary guidelines provides by major professional health organizations promote heath and can help prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

3. What are the six classes of nutrients? What are essential nutrients? What are the sources of nutrients? What do nutrients do?

The six classes of nutrients are: water, carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals. Water regulates body temperature by regulating heat (a by-product of energy production), carries nutrients throughout your body and helps with elimination. Carbohydrates supply energy. Protein builds and repair muscles. Fats store energy. Vitamins and minerals regulate body functions and, in the case of minerals help form structures (bones) of the body. Nutrients are found in food. Carbohydrates can be found in fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, pastas, sweets, soda, juice, and sugary drinks. Protein is found in dairy and meat products (tofu, too!). Fats are found in dairy, meat, sweets. Vitamins and minerals can be found in fruits, vegetables, meat (iron), whole grains, and supplements. Water can be found in fruits and vegetables as well as from drinking water and other liquids.

4. How do vitamins and minerals work?

The body can't manufacture vitamins and minerals so they must be obtained through diet. Once consumed, a vitamin becomes a coenzyme that attaches itself to an enzyme (a protein molecule). Enzymes are used to digest food, make muscles contract, release energy, and transport gases like carbon dioxide throughout the body, help with growth, clotting of blood, etc. Enzymes are catalysts that induce changes without changing themselves. B complex vitamins are involved in activation of enzymes. Other vitamins act as antioxidants to protect cell membranes, and Vitamin D functions as a hormone to promote bone metabolism. Minerals help to regulate the metabolic process and some carry electrical charges. Neither vitamins nor minerals supply energy to the body but they enable the body to unlock energy stored in food. Different vitamins/minerals have different benefits, for example, zinc and Vitamin A help to promote good vision. Calcium and Vitamin D help with bone and heart health.

5. What does it mean to eat a balanced diet? Why is food choice important for good nutrition?

For a person to eat a balanced diet typically means taking in the recommended servings of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) based on their research. The USDA came out with a healthy food plate last year which recommends two to three servings of dairy products (this may be a result of funding from the Dairy Council, experts at Harvard University suggest), two to three servings of lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans or nuts, three to five servings of vegetables, two to four servings of fruit, and six to 11 servings of bread, rice, pasta, or cereal. Fats should be used sparingly. The plate basically shows a ...