NUTRIENT CONTENT OF FOOD
What’s in your food?
The answer is nutrients!
Yup, all of the foods and beverages we consume contain things that are called “nutrients”.
As to what nutrients are, they’re any of a number of substances that help the body survive and maintain itself. The function of these substances include providing the raw materials that are responsible for body structure; supplying energy for the physiological and metabolic activities of daily life; and/or regulating chemical processes throughout the body.
Because the body can’t synthesize or produce nutrients on its own, they have to be obtained from external sources, such as the foods and beverages you eat and drink. Below are the two major classes of those nutrients, which are grouped depending on how much of them the body needs. Also included are the individual nutrients that comprise each category. And it must be noted that while the nutrients are discussed in isolation, one or more of them are present in almost all foods and beverages to varying degrees and work in combination with one another for the body to function properly.
MACRONUTRIENTS
Nutrients that a person needs in large amounts.
• PROTEIN
◦ Complete Proteins
◦ Incomplete Proteins
• CARBOHYDRATES
◦ Simple Carbs
— Monosaccharides
— Disaccharides
◦ Complex Carbs
— Polysaccharides
• DIETARY FIBER
◦ Soluble Fiber
◦ Insoluble Fiber
• DIETARY FAT
◦ Saturated Fat
◦ Trans Fat
◦ Monounsaturated Fat
— Omega-9 Fatty Acids
◦ Polyunsaturated Fat
— Omega-3 Fatty Acids
— Omega-6 Fatty Acids
• ALCOHOL
• WATER
MICRONUTRIENTS
Nutrients that a person needs in small amounts.
• VITAMINS
◦ Fat-Soluble Vitamins
◦ Water-Soluble Vitamins
• MINERALS
◦ Macrominerals
◦ Trace Minerals
◦ Ultratrace Minerals
Alcohol
A macronutrient that provides energy but has no other beneficial functions. In fact, it isn’t essential for survival and is recognized by the body as a poison.
Carbohydrates
A macronutrient that’s used by the body to make energy via their conversion into glucose, a sugar that the cells, tissues, and organs use to power their various processes.
Complete Proteins
Proteins that contain all nine essential amino acids.1Essential amino acids are those that the body can’t make on its own. In alphabetical order, the nine are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.
Complex Carbs
Carbs that take longer to process into energy.
Dietary Fat
A macronutrient that’s used by the body for energy and to make hormones, build nerve tissue and cell membranes, and transport and absorb fat-soluble vitamins.
Dietary Fiber
A macronutrient that’s a type of carbohydrate that’s indigestible by the body and helps feed the good bacteria in the gut, in addition to regulating blood sugar and a number of other functions depending on the variety.
Disaccharides
Carbs that contain two sugar molecules.2Sucrose and lactose, for example.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Vitamins that can only be utilized by the body in the presence of fat.3Vitamins A, D, E and K.
Incomplete Proteins
Proteins that lack one or more essential amino acids.
Insoluble Fiber
A form of fiber that doesn’t dissolve in water, thus adding bulk to stool so it’s easier to pass through the bowels. This type of fiber also accelerates the processing and movement of waste, which promotes regularity.4Some insoluble fibers include lignin, cellulose, some pectins, and some hemicellulose.
Macrominerals
Minerals that the body requires in hundreds of milligrams per day.5e.g. calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, sodium, chloride, and potassium.
Minerals
Solid inorganic compounds that have a variety of important functions including but not limited to converting food into energy; providing components for enzymes and hormones; helping with the production of protein and DNA; supporting the immune system against disease and infection; and regulating fluid balance, blood pressure, muscle contraction, and nerve transmission.
Monounsaturated Fat
A type of fatty acid chain that has one carbon-carbon double bond and single bonds on all the remaining carbon atoms instead of them being filled, or saturated, with hydrogen atoms.
Monosaccharides
Carbs that contain one sugar molecule.6Glucose and fructose, for example.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Polyunsaturated fats that have a chemical structure consisting of multiple carbon-carbon double bonds, with the first appearing three carbon atoms away from the omega, or terminus, of the molecular chain.
Omega-6 Fatty Acids
Polyunsaturated fats that have a chemical structure consisting of multiple carbon-carbon double bonds, with the first appearing six carbon atoms away from the terminal end of the molecule.
Omega-9 Fatty Acids
Monounsaturated fats that have a chemical structure consisting of one carbon-carbon double bond nine carbon atoms away from the omega end of the fatty acid chain.
Polyunsaturated Fat
A type of fatty acid chain that’s connected by two or more carbon-carbon double bonds instead of the individual carbon atoms being saturated, or filled, with hydrogen atoms.
Polysaccharides
Carbs that contain several sugar molecules.7Starch, glycogen, and cellulose, for example.
Protein
A macronutrient that provides energy and is the building block of every structure in the body, such as the bones, muscles, organs, skin, hair, and nails. The nutrient is also important for making hormones and enzymes.
Saturated Fat
A type of fatty acid chain that’s connected by single bonds, which means that the individual carbon atoms are filled, or saturated, with hydrogen atoms.
Simple Carbs
Carbs that are easily digested and absorbed by the body for immediate energy.
Soluble Fiber
A form of fiber that lowers cholesterol. And because it dissolves in water, it creates a gel-like substance that helps promote fullness by taking up space in the stomach and slowing down the transit time of food from the gut to the small intestine.8Some soluble fibers include inulin oligofructose, mucilage, beta-glucans, polydextrose polyols, resistant starch, wheat dextrin, psyllium, gums, and some pectins.
Trace Minerals
Minerals that are required in amounts of 15 mg per day or less.9e.g. chromium, cobalt, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc.
Trans Fat
A type of unsaturated fatty acid chain with a carbon-carbon double bond arranged in the trans configuration instead of the cis configuration found in other fats.10In the trans configuration, the hydrogen atoms appear on opposite sides of the double bond as opposed to positioning themselves on the same side in the cis configuration.
Ultratrace Minerals
Minerals that the body requires in micrograms per day.11e.g. arsenic, boron, nickel, silicon, and vanadium.
Vitamins
Organic compounds that have diverse functions, such as releasing and utilizing energy from food, building bones, producing red blood cells, regulating hormones, supporting immune function, maintaining the nervous system, helping blood clot properly, and protecting against free radical damage, among other roles.
Water
A macronutrient that doesn’t provide caloric energy like the others but is the most important because virtually everything in the body depends on it, as demonstrated by a few of water’s many roles, which include transporting nutrients throughout the body; acting as a medium for chemical reactions; cushioning the organs; lubricating the joints; maintaining blood pressure and blood volume; regulating body temperature; producing fluids like urine, blood, and saliva; and transporting waste products for removal.
Water-Soluble Vitamins
Vitamins that dissolve in water.12Vitamin C and the B vitamins, which include thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, biotin, folate and cobalamin.
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