Unit 1 Nutrition

Health - The state of a human when it functions optimally without evidence of disease or
abnormality

Nutrition is the study of:

 the nutrients in foods;

 how nutrients are used in the body; and
 human behaviours related to food.

Malnutrition - any condition caused by excess or deficient food energy or nutrient intake or by
an imbalance of nutrients. Nutrient or energy deficiencies are classed as forms of undernutrition;
nutrient or energy excesses are classed as forms of overnutrition.

Diet - the foods and beverages a person usually eats and drinks.

Food - any substance that the body can take in and assimilate that will enable it to stay alive and
healthy.

Chronic disease - long duration degenerative disease characterized by damage of body organs.
- Many have a connection to poor diet. These diseases cannot necessarily be prevented by
a good diet alone, as other factors like genetic and lifestyle play a role as well.  For
example, forms of heart disease can vary—some are nutrition related, others are not.

Nutritional genomics - The science of how nutrients affect the activities of genes and how
genes affect the activity of nutrients.

Nutrients - Components in food that are indispensable (or essential) to the functioning of the
body.

Nutrients provide energy and building material used to help maintain or repair the body and
support growth

Nutrient Density - a measure of nutrients provided per Calorie of food.

There are 6 classes of nutrients that can be divided into 2 groups:

A. energy providing (meaning that the body can use the energy they contained)

1. carbohydrate
2. fat
3. protein

B.  other nutrients (or non-energy containing)

 4. water
5. vitamins
6. minerals

Within the 6 classes of nutrients, there are essential, conditionally essential and non-essential
nutrients.

Essential nutrients - The nutrients that the body cannot make for itself from other raw materials.

There are 8 essential amino acids (TV TILL PM)

 Threonine
 Valine
 Tryptophan
 Isoleucine
 Leucine
 Lysine
 Phenylalanine
 Methionine

1. There are 2 essential fatty acids:

 linoleic acid, linolenic acid
2. Most of the vitamins are essential
 3 fat soluble (A, D, E), 1 conditional (K)
 all water soluble
3. All minerals are essential

Conditionally essential nutrients - Some nutrients are conditionally essential, meaning that the
body can not make enough to meet the requirements for health (e.g., the amino acid histidine
during periods of growth).

Non-essential nutrients - These are nutrients that the body can make for itself, so does not have
to rely on our food intake (e.g., some amino acids, some fatty acids).

Food Energy

Calorie – amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 L of water by 1 degree
Celsius

Food energy is measured in calories

 Carbohydrate (CHO) provide us with 4 Cal/g (=kcal/g)

 Fat (lipid) provide us with 9 Cal/g
 Protein provide us with 4 Cal/g
 Alcohol provide us with 7 Cal/g
 Alcohol provides energy, but is not a nutrient
Food quantity is measured in grams

We can use those known values to do different calculations to determine information about a
food product. For example, if we wanted to calculate what percentage of total calories was
coming from fat, we would take the grams of fat, multiply it by our known value of 9 calories
per gram to determine the total calories that the fat in the food provides. We could then divide
that number by the total calories in the food to determine what percentage of calories is coming
from fat.

Healthy Diets

There are five characteristics of a healthy diet.

 Adequate in essential nutrients, fiber and energy

 Balance in nutrients and food types
 Calorie control:  foods provide amount of energy to maintain healthy body weight
 Moderation in fat, salt, sugar or other unwanted constituents
 Variety:  choose different foods each day

Many factors play a role in the foods that we choose:

 Availability, cost, convenience

 Emotional, social, cultural factors
 Media advertising
 Habit, positive association
 Weight, nutritional value

Dietary guidelines and nutrition objectives

Nutrition research can help countries establish nutrition guidelines and health objectives. These
are set to help guide people in what to eat to stay healthy.

The 2 dietary guides that we are going to review in this course are:

1. Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

2. Canada’s Food Guide (CFG)

Nutrient density - A measure of nutrients provided per calorie of food.

Nutrition research

Scientists uncover nutrition facts by experimenting and asking questions, following the scientific
method
There are four common research designs used in nutrition research

1. case studies–individuals
2. epidemiological study–populations
3. intervention study–populations with manipulation
4. laboratory study–tightly controlled conditions

One experiment does not prove/disprove anything. It must be replicated many times before
findings are confirmed. Even then, science is more theories than facts. Theories can always be
challenged and revised. This process is a slow path and contrasts to the media’s desire for the
latest news.

Valid nutrition information is derived from scientific research, conducted by scientists who
follow specific characteristics. They:

 Test ideas through properly designed scientific experiments

 Recognize inadequacies of anecdotal evidence / testimonials
 Do not apply research findings from animals to humans
 Do not generalize findings to all population groups
 Report their findings in respected scientific journals that are peer reviewed

Who can you trust for accurate nutrition information?

Nutritionist

This term is not regulated. The individual may have a university degree in nutrition, however,
may not have formal training, may be self-taught, and may have a variable degree of nutrition
information. Your pet can even get a nutrition diploma from a diploma mill! So, the information
received from a nutritionist may or may not be accurate.

Registered Dietitian (R.D.)

This term is regulated by law. To use the term R.D., an individual must be a member of their
provincial regulatory body (in Manitoba, this is College of Dietitians of Manitoba [CDM]) who
ensure continued competency. To become a registered dietitian, you must complete a 4-year
undergraduate degree plus an 8–12 month internship (practical experience) in health care setting,
and then successfully pass the Canadian Dietetic Registration Examination (CDRE). So, the
information you receive from a registered dietitian will be accurate.

Research Design Terms

blind experiment an experiment in which the subjects do not know
whether they are members of the experimental group or the control
group. In a double-blind experiment, neither the subjects nor the
researchers know to which group the members belong until the end of
the experiment.
case studies studies of individuals. In clinical settings, researchers can
observe treatments and their apparent effects. To prove that a
treatment has produced an effect requires simultaneous observation
of an untreated similar subject (a case control).
control group a group of individuals who are similar in all possible
respects to the group being treated in an experiment but who receive a
sham treatment instead of the real one. Also called control subjects.
correlation the simultaneous change of two factors, such as the
increase in weight with increasing height (a direct or positive
correlation) or the decrease in cancer incidence with increasing fibre
intake (an inverse or negative correlation). A correlation between two
factors suggests that one may cause the other but does not rule out
the possibility that both may be caused by chance or by a third factor.
epidemiological studies studies of populations; often used in nutrition
to search for correlations between dietary habits and disease
incidence; a first step in seeking nutrition-related causes of diseases.
experimental group the people or animals participating in an
experiment who receive the treatment under investigation. Also called
experimental subjects.
intervention studies studies of populations in which observation is
accompanied by experimental manipulation of some population
members—for example, a study in which half of the subjects (the
experimental subjects) follow diet advice to reduce fat intakes while
the other half (the control subjects) do not, and both groups’ heart
health is monitored.
laboratory studies studies that are performed under tightly controlled
conditions and are designed to pinpoint causes and effects. Such
studies often use animals as subjects.
placebo a sham treatment often used in scientific studies; an inert
harmless medication. The placebo effect is the healing effect that the
act of treatment, rather than the treatment itself, often has.
randomized controlled trials (RCT) sometimes also referred to as
clinical trials, studies in which the subjects are selected in such a way
that they have an equal chance of being included in the
experimental/treatment group or the control group. This type of study
is considered the gold standard in research.