Diet and Food Production

Learning Outcomes
Define the term balanced diet.
Explain how consumption of an
unbalanced diet can lead to
malnutrition, with reference to
obesity.

Starter Question
Nutrition come from the food we eat.
What advantages are gained from
eating well?
E.g. better health
Stronger immune system
Ill less often
Learn more effectively
Make you stronger
Make you more productive.

Next question
List the seven components of a
balanced diet

Carbohydrates
Proteins
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
Water
fibre

The macronutrients
Nutrient

Element
s
present

Carbohydra Carbon,
te
hydrogen
, oxygen

Use in
body

Good food
sources

Source
of
energy

Rice, potato,
bread

Fats and
oils

Carbon,
hydrogen
, oxygen

Source
of
energy
Insulatio
n

Butter, milk,
cheese, egg
yolk

Protein

Carbon,
hydrogen
, oxygen,
nitrogen

Growth
and
tissue
repair

Meat, fish,
eggs, soya,
milk

Requirements of a balanced
diet
Sufficient energy for our needs
Essential amino acids
Essential fatty acids
Micronutrients vitamins and
minerals
Water
fibre

Guidelines (17 year old girl)

Nutrient

Mass/g per day

Carbohydrates

250

Fats

80

Proteins

60

Minerals

9.2

Fibre

12

Vitamins

Traces

water

variable

Looking at the guidelines

Are these the same for everyone?
What factors will influence the
energy requirements of different
people?

Energy intake
It is recommended that energy
intake come from
57% carbohydrates
30% fats
13% protein

In an active person the amounts of

each of these will increase

Malnutrition
Malnutrition is caused by eating an
unbalanced diet
This could mean eating much more than
is needed or much less

Eating too little

A person who does not eat enough
Lacks energy
Shows signs of protein energy
malnutrition
Can have deficiencies that impair health
Vitamin D rickets
Vitamin C scurvy

Eating too much

Obesity is defined as when excessive
fat deposition impairs health.
Body mass index > 30
This is an indication that body weight is
20% or more above that recommended
for your height.
BMI = mass in kg/(height in m)2

Health risks associated with

obesity
Cancer
Type 2 diabetes
Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Body Mass Index

BMI

Category

<18.5

Underweight

18.5 24.9

Acceptable

25 29.9

Overweight

30 34.9

Obese (class 1)

35 39.9

Obese (class 2)

>40

Morbidly/severely obese
(class 3)

Prevalence of obesity
Increasing in affluent countries
People eat more than they need
Take less exercise

In the UK
25% men obese
20% women obese

Learning Outcomes
Discuss the possible links between
diet and coronary heart disease
(CHD).
Discuss the possible effects of a high
blood cholesterol level on the heart
and circulatory system, with reference
to high density lipoproteins (HDL) and
low density lipoproteins (LDL).

Coronary Heart Disease

CHD is a degenerative condition
It involves the build-up of fatty tissue
in the walls of the arteries that
supply the heart muscle.

Atheroma

CHD
As a result of the build up
Arteries become narrow
Flow of blood decreases
Supply of nutrients and oxygen to heart
muscle is restricted
The muscle does not release enough
energy
The heart becomes weak

CHD
Heart attack / myocardial infarction
A blood clot in the coronary artery cuts off the
blood supply to an area of heart muscle.

Cardiac arrest
Severe heart attack / heart stops

Angina
Pain when exercising

Thrombosis
Development of a blood clot

Lipoproteins
Lipoproteins
Made in the liver
Move cholesterol around the
bloodstream

As cholesterol is water soluble, it is

coated with phospholipids and
proteins so that they can travel in
blood plasma

Structure of a lipoprotein
Phospholipids and
protein coat
Centre
Cholesterol
Triglycerides
Other lipids

Two types of lipoprotein

There are two types of lipoprotein
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
Transports cholesterol to the tissues

High-density lipoproteins (HDL)

Remove cholesterol from tissues and return
it to the liver

HDLs have less lipid than LDL

Cholesterol and CHD

If there is a tear in the endothelial
lining of coronary arteries
LDLs enter the inner layer of the arteries
The cholesterol and fat that they carry
are oxidised and build up
This forms an atheromatous plaque
This enlarges the wall, giving the
arteries a rough lining

Atheromatous plaque

HDLs good fat

Appear to protect against CHD by
removing cholesterol from the
tissues, including the tissues in the
walls of blood vessels.

Its all about proportions

Health professionals are now less
concerned about the quantity of
cholesterol in the body
The focus is now on the proportions
of HDLs and LDLs
The more HDLs - the less chance of
heart disease

Fats in diet
Diets rich in saturated fats tend to
increase the cholesterol
concentration of the blood due to a
high LDL concentration
Polyunsaturated fats in foods, e.g.
fish oils help protect against heart
disease and lower the concentration
of cholesterol in the blood.

Diet and CHD

Antioxidants e.g. vitamin C and E
Protective and reduce the risk of
developing CHD
Fresh fruit and vegetables are rich
sources

Question time!!
A study followed 639 people with a
family history of CHD over a period
of 14 years. Some has an LDL:HDL
ratio of more that 8, while some had
an LDL:HDL ratio of less than 8. The
graph shows the probability of
survival of a person in each of these
groups over the 14 years of study.

The questions
Explain why the survival probability
is 100% at 0 years
Suggest why the graph is drawn so
that it goes down in steps rather
than in a smooth line.
Describe the conclusions that can be
drawn from these data.

The answers
This means that everyone was alive at the start
of the study
Data collected once a year
Researchers did not know what happened in between
If one or more people died in a year the graph goes
down by a step

Clear difference between results for people with

high LDL:HDL ratio and the lower LDL:HDL ratio
The lower ratio had the greater probability of survival

Learning Outcomes
Explain that humans depend on plants for
food as they are the basis of all food
chains.
Outline how selective breeding is used to
produce crop plants with high yields,
disease resistance and pest resistance.
Outline how selective breeding is used to
produce domestic animals with high
productivity.

Food Chains
Food chains represent feeding
relationships between living
organisms
Plants are the basis of all food chains
Autotroph
Use an external energy source and simple
inorganic molecules to make complex
organic molecules
Photosynthesis

Food Chains
All other organisms in the food
chains are consumers
Heterotroph
Take in complex organic molecules as a
source of energy

Your diet depends on plants

Food Production
We can increase food production by
making food chains more efficient
Plants
Improve growth rate of crops
Increase yield
Reduce losses due to pests and diseases

Animals
Increase rate of growth
Increase productivity
Increase resistance to disease

Selective Breeding
Artificial selection is the intentional
breeding of certain traits
Humans apply the selection pressure for
the change in the population

Stages
Isolation
Artificial selection
inbreeding

Selective Breeding in Plants

Examples
Tomatoes
Bred with improved disease resistance

Apples
Varieties with improved texture and flavour

Better quality
Nutritional value
flavour

Selective breeding in
Animals
Increase in the yield of meat, milk and
eggs
Faster growing breeds
Farmed salmon
reduce time to market

Production of lean (low fat) meat

Egg laying chickens can lay up to 300
eggs per year

Learning Outcome
Describe how the use of fertilisers
and pesticides with plants and the
use of antibiotics with animals can
increase food production

Fertilisers
Replace the minerals in the soil that
are removed when crops are
harvested.
Help to increase growth rate and the
overall size of the crops

Fertilisers
Artificial fertilisers contain
Nitrogen (ammonia or nitrate ions)
Make amino acids

Magnesium ions
Make chlorophyll

Potassium ions
Enzyme co-factors
For Guard cells to open stomata

Phosphate ions
Make DNA, RNA and coenzymes

Pesticides
Pesticides are chemicals designed to
kill pest species
Herbicide
Fungicide
Insecticide

Organic farmers use methods of crop

rotation and biological control to
control the number of pests

Antibiotics
Antibiotics can be used to:
Reduce the spread of disease among
intensively farmed animals
Add to animal feed to reduce the activity
of gut bacteria (banned in EU)

Learning Outcomes
Describe the advantages and
disadvantages of using
microorganisms to make food for
human consumption.
Outline the methods that can be
used to prevent food spoilage by
microorganisms.

Micro-organisms in food
production
Micro-organisms are used in food
technology, where they act as
production agents
Turning ingredients into food
Modifying food ingredients

Micro-organisms in food
production
Bacteria
Cheese
Yoghurt

Fungi
Cheese
Single celled protein / mycoprotein

Yeast
Brewing
Winemaking
Bread making

Advantages of using microorganisms

Low fat foods free from saturated
fat and cholesterol
No ethical issues
Quick growth, high yields, fast
production

Disadvantages of using microorganisms

Infection
Contamination of fermenters by
competitors
Fungi, yeast and bacteria all use
plant substrates
Purification
Palatability taste and texture

Micro-organisms and Food

Spoilage
Food spoilage begins as soon as an
item is picked, slaughtered or
manufactured.
Food poisoning is the presence of
microbes or their toxins that cause
illness or death

Micro-organisms and food

spoilage
Visible growth (e.g. bread mould)
External digestion process
Clostridium botulinum produces
botulin (toxin) - 1g is enough to kill
Can cause infection e.g. Salmonella
present in poultry
Aspergillus produces carcinogenic
toxins

Preventing food spoilage

In order to grow micro-organisms need:

Organic material
Water
Suitable temperature
Oxygen
Suitable pH

Food preservation removes one or

several of these conditions.

Preventing spoilage
Cooking
Pasteurising
Salting
Pickling
Freezing
Irradiation

Preventing contamination
To prevent further contamination
Canning
Vacuum wrapping
Plastic or paper packaging