HUMAN NUTRITION

DIET
• Describe what is meant by a balanced diet
• State the principal dietary sources and describe the importance of:
carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, vitamins, limited to C and D, mineral ions,
limited to calcium and iron, fibre (roughage) and water
• State the causes of scurvy and rickets
The Need For Food
• To provide energy for the vital activities of the body.
• To synthesis new protoplasm for cell growth, repair of worn-
out parts and cell division
• To stay healthy
 Balanced Diet
• A healthy diet requires enough
nutrients (fats, proteins, and
carbohydrates) and calories to
support energy needs, and
meet the needs for human
nutrition without inducing
toxicity or excessive weight
gain from consuming excessive
amounts.
 Carbohydrates
• Functions:
• Substrate for respiration, to provide
energy for cell activities.
• To form supporting structures. (cell
wall) • Sources:
• Converted into fats and proteins • Potatoes, bread, maize, rice and
• Formation of nucleic acid other cereals.
• Synthesise lubricants like mucus and • Sugars (jam, biscuits,cakes)
nectar in flowers • Fruits and vegetables
• One gram of carbohydrate = 16kJ of
energy
Lipids (Fats and Oils)
• Functions:
• Source and store of energy
• Insulating material
• Solvent for fat-soluble vitamins
• Essential part of protoplasm
• Reduces water loss from the skin
surface.
• Sources:
• Meat, milk, cheese, butter and egg
yolk (animal fat)
• Oils in fruits (palm, olive, etc) and
seeds (sunflower seed oil)
• One gram of fat = 37 kJ of energy
 • Sources:
Proteins • Lean meat, fish, eggs, milk and
cheese (animal protein)
• Beans and seed (plant protein)
• Functions:
• Synthesis of new protoplasm, for
growth and repair of worn-out • One gram of protein = 17 kJ of
body cells energy
• Synthesis of enzymes and some
hormones
• Formation of antibodies.
Vitamins
• Features shared by all vitamins:
• They are not digested or broken
down for energy
• They are not usually built into
body structures
• They are vital for health and
needed in small quantities
• They are needed for chemical
reactions in the cells
• Groups:
• Water – soluble
• Fat- soluble
Vitamins
• Vitamin C
• Sources: citrus fruits and green
leafy vegetables.
• Needed for a range of metabolic
reaction in the body.
• Synthesis of collagen
• As an antioxidant
• Deficiency: SCURVY
• Symptoms include:
• Bleeding gums
• Open wounds
• Loss of teeth
• May cause death
Vitamins
• Vitamin D
• Sources: sunlight, milk fortified
with vitamin D, oily fish, egg, and
fish-liver oil.
• Promotes the healthy growth and
remodeling of bones
• Helps in the absorption of calcium
and phosphorus (bones are made
of calcium phosphate)
• Deficiency: RICKETS
• Characterised by the softening of
the bones in children.
Mineral ions/salts
• Iron
• Found in haemoglobin. Binds and
carries oxygen
• Sources: red meat, lentils, beans,
poultry, fish, leafy vegetables, and
tofu, eggs, brown rice, spinach
and other green vegetables
• Nutritional Anaemia
• caused by inadequate oxygen
reaching important organs.
• Loss of stamina, shortness of
breath, rapid heart beat, paleness
and headache
Minerals
• Calcium
• plays an important role in
building strong bones and
teeth; for muscle contraction
and transmission of nerve
impulses
• Sources: dairy products,
seaweed, nut and seeds, some
vegetables like broccoli and
kale.
• Calcium deficiency leads to
rickets.
Fibre/ roughage
• To increase bulk, soften stool
and shorten transit time
through the intestinal tract.
• Prevent constipation
• Sources: vegetables, fruits,
wheat and corn.
 Water
• Essential component of • Needed in hydrolysis
protoplasm. • Help control body temperature.
• Functions: • Essential for photosynthesis.
• As a solvent • Keep plant cells turgid
• As a medium in which chemical
reactions occur • Transport mineral salts in xylem
• Helps to transport dissolved • Transport food substances in
substances. (digested products, phloem.
hormones and excretory products)
• As a key component of: protoplasm,
lubricants, digestive juices, blood
and tissue fluid.
Activity:
• Answer TEST YOURSELF on page 113 of textbook
• Answer on foolscap
Digestive system
• Identify the main organs of the digestive system
• Describe the functions of the organs of the digestive system
Holozoic nutrition
• Ingestion - taking of substances
into the body through the
mouth.
• Digestion:
• Mechanical/ physical digestion -
the breakdown of food into
smaller pieces without chemical
change to the food molecules
• Chemical digestion - the
breakdown of large, insoluble
molecules into small, soluble
molecules
• Absorption- the movement of
small food molecules and ions
through the wall of the intestine
into the blood
• Assimilation- the movement of
digested food molecules into the
cells of the body where they are
used, becoming part of the cells
Buccal cavity
Teeth
• Incisor – for biting
• Canine – for tearing
• Premolar and molar – for
grinding/crushing
Processes that take place in the mouth
• Food in the mouth stimulates
the salivary glands to secrete
saliva.
• Saliva is mixed with the food.
Mucin in saliva helps to soften
the food.
• Saliva contains salivary amylase
which digests starch to maltose.
• The pH of saliva is neutral.
Salivary amylase is active at this
pH.
• Chewing breaks the food up into
smaller pieces. This increases
the surface area to volume ratio
for salivary amylase to work in.
• The tongue rolls the food into
small, slippery, round masses or
boli (singular: bolus)
• The boli are swallowed and
passed down into the
oesophagus via the pharynx.
 • Particles of sugary foods get trapped
Tooth decay in cracks of the teeth.
• Bacteria feeding on the sugar form
acids, which dissolve the enamel
and dentine.
• The infection may reach the pulp,
become painful, spread rapidly and
even form an abscess at the root of
the tooth.
Dental care and hygiene
The alimentary canal
Peristalsis
• PERISTALSIS - Antagonistic
muscles, longitudinal and
circular muscles contract and
relax to make food move along
the alimentary canal.
• Series of involuntary wave-like
muscle contractions that move
food along the digestive tract.
Oesophagus and Trachea
The role of the oesophagus
• Peristalsis in the walls of the
oesophagus pushes each bolus
of food down into the stomach.
• Gravity also helps the food to
pass down the oesophagus.
 Stomach
• Stomach walls have goblet cells that secrete mucus.
• Enzymes pepsin and rennin are produced.
• Rennin is produced in young mammals to solidify milk proteins.
• Pepsin breaks down protein into polypeptides
• Hydrochloric acid is present
• Kill any bacteria in the food.
• Provide an acidic environment
• Activate enzymes: rennin and pepsin.
• Stops action of salivary amylase
Digestive processes that take place in the
stomach
• The presence of food in the
stomach stimulates the gastric
glands to secrete gastric juice
into the stomach cavity.
• Peristalsis in the stomach wall
churns and breaks up the food.
Peristalsis also mixes the food
well with gastric juice.
• Gastric juice is a dilute solution
of hydrochloric acid and two
enzymes: pepsin and rennin.
• Food remains in the stomach for
about 3 – 4 hours. The partly
digested food becomes
liquefied, forming chyme.
Small intestine and associated organs
• Bile:
• Greenish-yellow alkaline solution
• Produced by the liver
• Temporarily stored in the gall
bladder
• Creates an alkaline environment in
the small intestine
• Emulsifies fats by lowering surface
tension producing smaller fat
droplets.
Small intestine and associated organs
• Pancreatic juice: • Intestinal enzymes:
• Contains amylase, trypsin and • Maltase
lipase. • Sucrase
• Amylase breaks down starch to • Lactase
maltose. • Peptidase
• Trypsin breaks down protein to • Lipase
polypeptides.
• Lipase breaks down lipids to fatty
acid and glycerol
• Contains sodium
hydrogencarbonate to reduce
acidity of chyme
Digestion in the small intestines
• Amylase - starch to maltose
• Trypsin- protein to polypeptides
• Lipase – fat to fatty acids and glycerol
• Maltase –maltose to glucose
• Sucrase – sucrose to glucose and frutose
• Lactase – lactose to glucosa and galactose
• Peptidase- polypeptides to amino acids
• Lipase- fat to fatty acids and glycerol
Absorption in small intestine

• Adaptations:
• Very long, about 5 m in adult
humans to provide more
absorption time
• Has villi and microvilli to increase
surface area.
• Has blood capillaries and lacteal
• Continuous blood flow in capillaries
ensure faster diffusion and transport.
• Villi walls are one-cell thick
How does absorption take place in the
intestines?
• Glucose and amino acids are
absorbed by diffusion into the
blood capillaries of the villi.
• Glucose and amino acids are
also absorbed by active
transport. This happens when
there is a lower concentration of
these digested food substances
in the lumen of the small
intestines than in the blood
capillaries.
How does absorption take place in the
intestines?
• Glycerol and fatty acids diffuse
into the epithelium. Here they
combine to form minute fat
globules which enter the
lacteals.
• Water and mineral salts are
absorbed by the small intestines
and the colon. Most of the water
is absorbed by the ileum.
Large intestine
• In the colon, water and salt
are absorbed.
• Undigested food is
temporarily stored in the
rectum and egested through
the anus.