Chapter 1: Introduction to nutrition and Nutrition Guidelines

 Nutrition: science that links foods to health and diseases; involves the ingestion of
foods.
 Modifiable factors: factors that can be changed to cater to a condition
 People should try a diet and lifestyle modification first before medication
 Nutrition and Diseases:
o Some Diseases are genetic: down syndrome, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell Anemia…
o Some are Dietary: deficiencies (iron, Vitamin D, Minerals…), Toxicities…
o Certain foods and diets can be used to combat/ reduce the risk of certain
diseases
 Malnutrition:
o Over nutrition: excess food energy/nutrition intake
o Under nutrition: deficient food energy/nutrition intake
 Nutrients vs. Food:
o Food: any substance that the body can take in and break down to be able to stay
alive and grow
o Nutrients:
 6 classes: 4 organic (contain carbon); 2 inorganic(do not contain carbon)
 Micro nutrients(small amounts):
 Vitamins: zero cal
 Minerals: Zero Cal
 Macro nutrients (large amount)
 Carbs: 4 Cal/g
 Fats: 9 Cal/g
 Proteins 4 Cal/g
 Water: zero cal
 Not all include calories (calories: energy that fuels the body)
 Calculate Cal: multiply the gram weight by the Cal value
 Why do we need energy?
 Metabolism: sum of all chemical reactions in the body
 Anabolism: synthesis reaction (requires energy) (i.e.: breaking
down glycogen)
 Enzymes: proteins that facilitate the process of breaking down
nutrient molecules.
 How to choose the most nutritious foods:
 Foods that offer the most nutrients per Cal count
 Nutrient density
 Empty Cal: getting additional Cal with no added benefits of
nutrients
 Plant based foods contain phytochemicals that are also beneficial
 o Capsaicin: Gives the pepper the burning taste+ has heart
benefits
o Allicin: gives the strong taste of garlic+ antimicrobial
benefits
o Tannins: Antioxidants found in wine and tea +
 Challenges of Choosing Food:
o Social needs
o Marketing
o Psychological needs: i.e.: stress eating chocolate
o Availability
o Health nutrition concerns
o Lifestyle
o Social network
o Customs and culture
o Food costs
o Education and income
o Routines and Habits
 How to recognize A nutritious diet
o Adequacy: make sure diet provides enough essential
nutrients to survive
o Balance: don’t overemphasize one nutrient over others
o Calorie Control: must contain the right amount of energy
to maintain weight – adjusted to energy expenditure
o Moderation: stay moderate with salt, sugar, and lipids
o Variety: try having different food choices each day to
ensure the intakes of all nutrients
 Dietary reference intake (research purposes)
o Scientists take data to determine which ranges/ numbers
of different groups of people to follow to stay healthy
o These values are turned to dietary guidelines
o EAR – only for research
o Adequate intakes – for public as target intakes
o Tolerable upper intake levels – for safety to avoid toxicity
o Estimated Energy Requirement

Dietary Guidelines:
o Set by the government
o Recommendations
 Pictorial Guidelines:
o Lebanon: the cedar
 o The base of the pyramid is the most crucial and must be
consumed most as you go up the pyramid this shrinks (old
pyramid)
o New pyramid emphasizes the importance of all food
groups and the QUALITY over the QUANTITY of the foods
consumed (i.e.: types of foods from each food group and
how to consume them)
o My plate: is the current American pictorial guide and
shows how a daily nutritious plate should look like
 Focus on fruits
 Vary with veggies
 Make grains at least half
 Go lean with proteins and have variety
 PART 5: food labelling
o In Lebanon nutrition fact labels are not mandatory
o Nutrition label:
 In yellow  reduce your conception of
 In blue  increase consumption
 Footnotes are just based on a 2000 cal diet
 Anything below 5% In a diet is considered low (per
serving)
 Anything above 20% is considered high
 RDA: is according to different age, gender group
 DV: just based on a 2000 cal diet
 Trans fats, sugars, and proteins don’t have a daily
value:
 Trans fats: worst type of fat to consume thus has
no safe consumption value
 Sugars: contains both added and natural sugar
combined thus it cannot have a DV
 Proteins: related to kilograms per body weight thus
has no DV percentage
 Ingredients are listed in descending order of
predominance by weight
o Nutrient Claims vs health claims:
 Nutrient Claims:
 Reduced calories: at least 25% less in Cal
than the regular food
 Low Cal: not more than 40 Cal per serving
 Fat free: less than 0.5g of fat per serving
 Health claim: links certain nutrient to disease or
condition i.e.: diet low in total fats can reduce risk
 of cancer  needs may or might to become a
health claim
 New food labels:
 Modified to reflect what people actually
consume per serving
 Updated daily values
 Include added sugars separately
 Change nutrient requirement
 Actual amounts are declared
 Footnote updated