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NCM 35 Lecture What is food made of?
Instructor: Mark Genove
Transcribed by: Claire J. Tenaja
Link source: (139) NCM35 Session 1 2020 - YouTube
Basic Concepts in Nutrition and Diet Therapy
Nutrition Other substances in food
- [WHO] is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary
needs
- Added that a cornerstone of good health good nutrition is an
adequate well-balanced diet combined with regular physical activity
adequate diet means that one eats the right amount of food in
relation to the person's height health age and physical activity
- Balanced diet → would mean that a person should have consumed
the right amounts of macronutrients (go, grow, and glow foods)
- Physical activity → done even in as low as 30 mins per day is just
the right
→ walking, doing chores, at home, gardening, etc.
→ does not have to be a full-on exercise
- Science of foods and the nutrients and other substances they contain
- Study of food we eat and how our body uses them
→ different types of food we consume are used by the body in different
ways
- Concerned with how food is produced, processed, handled, prepared,
shared, and eaten
→ if not taken seriously, it could lead to disease
- Concerned with what happens to food in the body
→ e.g. carbohydrates are used as energy source Types of food
- Ingestion, digestion, absorption, and utilisation of nutrients
- Concerned with the study of the environment in the context of food
production and availability
- Concerned with human behavior because food choices are personal
→ food can mean different things to a person (ex. A person may salivate
with mangoes instead of chocolates; chocolates can give you a set of
unexplainable emotions)
Food
- Nutrition comes from food
- Any substance that is inorganic/organic
- When ingested, it nourishes the body by building and repairing tissues,
supplying heat and energy, and regulating body processes
- All nutrient that the body needs
- Basic human need that is able to sustain life (aside from air)
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● Nutrients → chemical components needed by the body
○ Three general General Functions
a. Provide energy
b. Build and repair tissues
c. Regulate life processes
● Anti-nutrients → substances in food that are natural poisons or toxins
○ Ex. Poison found in bitter cassava
● Food additives → chemicals added to some processed foods
○ Improve taste or appearance, nutritive value, antioxidants
○ Mark the real appearance of food to make it look fresh and deceive
the customers
● Contaminants → chemicals, poisons, microorganism, and dirt which gets into food
by accident
○ Biological contaminants: can be parasites, bacteria, molds, viruses,
etc.
■ Can include fertilizers, insecticides, lead, and mercury
○ Physical contaminant: can be fragments of insects, animal hair,
human hair, wood, soil, etc.
■ Ex. hair in rice
○ Radiological contaminant: radioactive contaminants like Iodine 131
and Barium
● Harmless microorganisms → used to ferment food
○ Can be yeast in bread, yeast in making wine, bacteria in making
cheese
● Basic foods
○ Milk and milk products, meats, poultry, vegetables, dried beans,
peas, fruits, and grains
○ Can be enriched or fortified
○ Easily identifiable when you see it
● Enriched food → Foods that are added with vitamins and minerals to restore
what was lost during processing
○ Prior to processing, the food had vitamins and minerals
○ During processing, vitamins and minerals are lost
○ After processing, vitamins and minerals are added back
● Fortified foods → Addition of one or more nutrients such as vitamins,
minerals, amino acids, or protein concentrates in the food so that it contains
more than what was originally present
● Fast food → Restaurant foods that are available within minutes after
customers have ordered
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○ Eg. French fried, hamburgers, milk shakes; salads, vegetable ■ Eg. outside layer of skin are dead cells, new cells are growing
dishes (healthier options are popping up lately) underneath to replace them → dead skin cells get removed when
● Functional foods → A group of foods known to possess nutrient or non bathing and brushing
nutrients that might lend protection to diseases (although all nutritious can ● Repair tissues
support health in some ways) ○ Usually happens after injury, illness, or vigorous exercise
● Natural foods ○ Body makes new cells to repair the damaged ones
○ No legal definition
○ Could be basic food grown naturally 6 General Groups of Nutrients
● Organic food → Food grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers → First 3 are MACRONUTRIENTS: required in large amounts in the diet (measured in
● Nutraceutical food → term with no legal/scientific meaning but sometimes used to grams, not kilograms)
refer to food, nutrients, or dietary supplements believed to have medicinal effects → 4 and 5 are MICRONUTRIENTS: required in trace amounts (milligrams)
● Partitioned foods → foods that are composed of parts of whole food → 6 is the universal solvent
○ Butter comes from milk
○ Sugar come from sugar canes 1. Carbohydrate
○ Corn oil comes from corn - Made of CHO (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen)
● Processed foods → foods that were subjected to any process such as milling, - Major source of fuel for the body
alteration of texture, addition of additives, cooking, etc. - Easy to convert to ATP (“adenosine triphosphate”)
● Staple goods → foods used frequently or daily - Can be found in grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits
○ If well-chosen, these foods are NUTRITIOUS - Spares proteins from being used as energy sources
2. Protein
Nutrients - Has the unique function of building and repairing cells
- All the food mentioned above contain nutrients - Contains CHON (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen)
- Nutrients are chemical components needed by the body - Made of smaller building blocks called amino acids
→ Recall the functions of nutrients Can be classified as
a. Provide energy ● Essential → cannot be synthesized in the body and has to be taken from
b. Build and repair tissues exogenous sources
c. Regulate life processes ● Semi-essential → can spare essential amino acids but cannot completely
take its place
Uses of Nutrients in the body ● Non-essential → can be synthesized in the body
● For growth 3. Fat / Lipids
○ Cells use nutrients as a building material for the new cells and other - Concentrated source of energy: For every 1g fat = 9Kcal
nutrients as fuel for energy - Provides structure for the body cells
○ Cells continue to absorb nutrients then grow and divide until there - Protects organs from temperature extremes and mechanical shock
are millions of cells which form the different tissues (such as skin, - Carriers several vitamins
muscle, and bone) - Starting material for making many hormones
● During pregnancy 4. Vitamins
○ Nutrients are used for the baby and the placenta - Regulate body processes such as energy production, blood
○ Increases the size of uterus and the breast clotting, and calcium balance
○ Make more blood and stores fat and other nutrients - Keeps organs and tissue function healthy
● Secretion of body fluids 2 groups of Vitamins
○ The body keeps on making fluids such as saliva, other digestive ● Fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) → absorbed and transported in the body
juices, tears, and breast milk using fat
● Replace cells ● Water-soluble vitamins (B, C)
○ Cells live only for a short time ○ Most of vitamin B is involved with the pathways for energy
○ Cell replacement happens throughout life production
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○ Present in watery compartments of food and are easily ● Highest average daily nutrient intake level likely to pose no
excreted adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the
5. Minerals general population
- Simple inorganic substances
- Non-caloric
- Found in structural roles like calcium, phosphorus, and fluoride in Quiz: 1 September 2021
the bones and teeth
- Regulatory roles when it helps control fluid balance and regulation
of muscle contraction
2 groups of Minerals
● Macrominerals → needed in relatively large amounts
● Microminerals → needed in trace amounts
6. Water
- Universal solvent
- Provides a medium where most of the body’s activities are
conducted
- Participates in metabolic reactions
- Medium for transporting vital materials to cells and waste products
away from them
- Controls temperature
- Lubricates joints
- Found in beverages and most food products
- Fruit and vegetables have high water content

Dietary Reference Intakes

- The collective term comprising reference value for energy and nutrient levels
of intakes
Includes:
1. Estimated Average Requirements (EAR)
● Daily nutrient intake level that meets the median or
average requirement of healthy individuals, in particular:
life stage and sex group, corrected for incomplete
utilization or dietary nutrient bioavailability
2. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
● Level of intake of energy or nutrient which is considered
adequate for the maintenance of health and well-being of
healthy persons in the population
3. Adequate Intake (AI)
● Daily nutrient intake level that is based on observed or
experimentally-determined approximation of the average
nutrient intake by a group(s) of apparently healthy people
that are assumed to sustain a defined nutritional state
4. Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL)

TENAJA 2021 | NCM 35 Lecture