Human

Nutrition
 Your body needs nutrients
found in foods.
 The food you eat is a source of nutrients.
Nutrients are defined as
the substances found in food that keep your body
functioning.
 Nutrients provide energy and materials for cell
development, growth, and repair.

 You need energy for every activity and to

maintain a steady internal temperature.
The Essential Nutrients
 Carbohydrates
 Protein
 Fat
 Vitamins & Minerals
 Fibre & Water
1. Carbohydrates
a. The main source of energy for
your body.
b. Made up of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen atoms; energy holds
these atoms together.
c. Sugars are simple
carbohydrates; starch and fibre
are complex carbohydrates.
d. Sugars are found in fruits, honey,
and milk.
e. Starches are found in potatoes
and pasta.
f. Fibre is found in whole-grain
breads, beans, and peas.
2. Proteins
a. Used to make new cells.
b. Used for replacement
and repair of body cells
and for growth.
c. Made up of amino acids.
d. Found in eggs, milk,
cheese, and meat.
e. Essential amino acids
must be supplied by food
to make enzymes and
antibodies.
3. Fats
a. Also called lipids
b. Provide energy and help your body absorb vitamins
c. Because fat is a good storage unit for energy, any
excess energy is converted to fat.
d. Fats are essential for:
 To make cell membranes
 To store them under the skin to insulate heat.
Obesity:
Obesity is the opposite of starvation. It is eating too much
of every nutrient, especially carbohydrates and fats.
Obesity doesn’t strike alone, it brings with it several other
diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiac diseases,
diabetes, stress on joints and bones. To prevent obesity, a
person need to control carbohydrates and fats intake and
exercise regularly.
4. Vitamins
 Needed for growth, regulating body functions, and
preventing disease.
 A well-balanced diet usually gives your body all the
vitamins it needs.
 Unlike carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, vitamins DO
NOT provide energy.
 Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is needed to help heal
wounds and maintain healthy connective tissue (which
gives support to other tissues and organs).
 The human body can make vitamin D when our skin is
exposed to sunlight.
 Vitamin A is needed to maintain good vision, healthy skin
and strong immunity against infection.
 Sources : Fruits, vegetables, milk, whole-grain breads,
cereals and legumes.
Nutrient Vitamins Sources Function Deficiency
Symptoms

Vitamins C Fruits • Healthy skin • Scurvy -

(citrus), • Strong gums Weak skin
potatoes, • Helps heal • Bleeding gums
green wounds • Loose teeth
vegetabl • Aids in iron •Slow healing
es absorption of wounds
D Fish, liver • Absorption of • Rickets –
oil, dairy phosphorous and Weak bones
products calcium • Mainly in
• Builds and children
maintains bones • Leads to
and teeth
bowlegs and
Minerals
a. Are inorganic nutrients
like calcium, Iron etc.
b. Regulate many chemical
reactions in your body
c.Food Sources:
 Meats, beans, nuts, fruits,
vegetables, dairy products, and
grains.
Mineral Sources Function Deficiency
Symptoms
Calcium Cheese, • Development of • Soft bones
milk, oyster, strong bones and • Slow blood clotting
green teeth • Weak bones and
vegetables teeth.
• Blood clotting
• Muscle contraction • Wounds heal slowly
• Nerve/heart activity
Iron lean meat, • Forms haemoglobin • Anaemia – blood
legumes, in RBC. cannot carry enough
green leafy • Transport oxygen oxygen.
vegetables • Paleness of skin
as oxyhaemoglobin.
• Fatigue
5. Water
a. Required for survival.
b. Water is found in drinks and food
 About two-thirds of the human body is water. It is found in
the cytoplasm of our cells and in body fluids like blood.

 Sources of water include:

 food
 drinks
 metabolic processes - such as aerobic respiration
Function of water in the human body
Function Mode of action
Transport • Main constituent of blood and body
fluid
• Medium for transport of nutrients,
water, hormones, etc
Reactions • Solvent for chemical reactions
• Hydrolytic reactions during digestion

Lubricants • Constituent of synovial fluids in

joints and mucus in alimentary canal

Homeostasis • Evaporation of water from sweating

cools the body. Thus preventing
overheating.
Dietary fibre
 Dietary fibre consists of material in food that cannot
be digested, in particular cellulose from plant cell
walls.

 Sources of fibre include:

 fruit
 vegetables
 Cereals

 Dietary fibre is important because it provides bulk,

which helps the walls of the intestine move food and
faeces along the gut. Lack of dietary fibre can lead
to constipation.
 Also called roughage.
 Helps to keep food moving easily through the
digestive system.
A balanced diet and
Nutritional Deficiencies
 A diet is the food that we consume (eat) each
day.
 A diet that provides all the different kinds of
nutrients, and the right amount of energy, is called
balanced diet.
 A balanced diet is a diet in which all the
components needed to maintain health are
present in appropriate proportions.
 A person does not eat enough of a particular
nutrient, their body may not able to work properly.
They may get nutritional deficiency disease.
Energy requirements
 The amount of energy we need varies. This is due to the
following factors:
 age
 activity levels
 pregnancy
Age
 The amount of energy we need tends to increase as we
approach adulthood.
Daily energy
Age in years
requirement in KJ
0 (newborn) 2,000
2 5,000
6 7,500
13 (girl) 9,000
13 (boy) 11,000
16 (girl) 9,000
16 (boy) 12,000
 The energy needs of adults go down as they age.
For example, people in their 50s need about 17%
less energy in their diet than people in their 30s.
 Activity levels
People who are active tend to need more energy
than sedentary people. For example, an adult office
worker might need 10,000 kJ per day, but a manual
worker might need 15,000 kJ per day.
 Pregnancy
In general, the greater a person’s mass, the more
energy they need. Men tend to need more energy
than women, and a woman’s energy needs
increase when she is pregnant. This is mainly
because she is carrying extra mass.
Malnutrition & Starvation
Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM)
 PEM is also referred to as protein-calorie
malnutrition.
 It develops in children whose consumption
of protein and energy (measured by
calories) is insufficient to satisfy their
nutritional needs.
 There are two main types of PEM:
 Maramus – severe protein and calorie deficit
 Kwashiorkor – moderate calorie deficit, severe
protein deficit, and infection
 Kwashiorkor is a form of PEM characterized
primarily by protein deficiency. This condition
usually appears at about the age of 12 months
when breast-feeding is discontinued, but it can
develop at any time during a child's formative
years. It causes fluid retention (edema); dry,
peeling skin; and hair discoloration.
 Marasmus, a PEM disorder, is caused by total
calorie/energy depletion rather than primarily
protein calorie/energy depletion. Marasmus is
characterized by stunted growth and wasting
of muscle and tissue. Marasmus usually
develops between the ages of six months and
one year in children who have been weaned
from breast milk or who suffer from weakening
conditions such as chronic diarrhea