6.

Nutrition and Energy

Balanced Diet: eating foods on a regular basis that provide all the right nutrients (carbs, lipids,
protein, minerals, vitamins, water and fibre) in the right amount and proportion for the person
to remain healthy.
Your diet will change according to your age, whether you’re pregnant, climate and occupation.
Your energy requirement will also change according to your activity.

Vitamin A: 0.8 mg

Vitamin C: 80 mg

Calcium: , a oneyear-old child needs to consume about0.6 g (600 mg) of calcium every day,

Iron: 16-year-olds need about 12 mg of iron in their daily food intake

Fibre: adult should include about 30 g of dietary fibre

Your diet will change according to your age, whether you’re pregnant, climate and occupation.
Your energy requirement will also change according to your activity

Carbohydrates: the recommended total carbohydrate in a healthy diet should supply about 50% of
the body’s daily energy needs, with less than 5% coming from sugars.

Protein: However, we do not need much protein in our diet to stay healthy. Nutrition experts
recommend a daily intake of 0.75 grams of protein per kilogram bodyweight per day for healthy
adults. For example: meat, fish, beans

Fats: The recommended total lipid in a healthy diet should supply less than 35% of the body’s
daily energy needs, with less than a third of this coming from saturated fat.
Vitamins

1. Vitamin A is used to make a light-sensitive chemical in the retina and protects the
surface of the eye. A lack of Vitamin A can lead to night blindness and total blindness. It
is found in fish liver oils, liver, butter, margarine and carrots
2. Vitamin C helps stick together cells lining surfaces such as the mouth. A lack of vitamin C
leads to scurvy. It is found in fresh fruits and vegetables
3. Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and phosphate. A lack of vitamin D causes rickets
and poor teeth. It is found in fish liver oil and also made in skin in sunlight.

Minerals

1. Calcium – Makes teeth and bones. It is found in dairy products, fish, bread, vegetables
2. Iron is part of haemoglobin in red blood cells and helps carry oxygen. It is found in read
meat, liver, eggs, some vegetables e.g. spinach.

Deficiency diseases:

Scurvy: (lack of vitamin c) Symptoms: bleeding gums, swelling of joints.

Anaemia: (lack of iron) Symptoms: tired and weak

Blindness: (lack of vitamin A). Symptoms: Poor sight vision, lack of night vision

Kwashiorkor: (lack of protein) Symptoms: swollen abdomen.

Alimentary canal:
Digestive System:
• 1. Mouth – food is ingested, and broken down by the teeth and tongue. Saliva is
secreted by the salivary glands which begins the digestion of starch.
• 2. Oesophagus – helps food move to the stomach through peristalsis.
• 3. Stomach – a muscular bag where food is mixed with hydrochloric acid and pepsin.
The acid is used to sterilise the food and create the optimum pH for pepsin to break
down protein.
• 4. Pancreas – produces pancreatic juices which contains digestive enzymes and
hydrogen carbonate which is used to neutralise stomach acids to create the optimum
pH for these enzymes to work.
• 5. Small Intestine – contains the duodenum where food is mixed with bile and
pancreatic juices and the ileum where enzymes complete digestion and digested food
is absorbed.
• 6. Large Intestine – contains the colon where water and also some vitamins and
minerals is absorbed from undigested food. Also contains the rectum which stores
undigested faeces.

Peristalsis: a series of muscle contractions that occurs in the gut. When the circular
muscle contracts and the longitudinal muscles relaxes the gut narrows. A rhythmic series
of narrowing and widening of the gut wall causes the food to be pushed along. Peristalsis
needs fibre to work efficiently as this gives the gut something to push against in order to
move the food along.
Digestive Enzymes:
• Amylase – breaks down starch into maltose. Created in the salivary glands, pancreas
and the wall of the gut.
• Maltase – breaks down maltose into glucose. Created in the salivary glands, pancreas
and the wall of the gut.
• Proteases – pepsin and trypsin breaks down proteins into peptides. Peptidases breaks
down peptides into amino acids. Both are produced in the stomach wall, pancreas and
gut wall.
• Lipase – this breaks down lipids into glycerol and fatty acids. Produced in the
pancreas

Bile: produced in the liver, stored in the gall bladder and released into the duodenum. It is
used to emulsify/breakdown fats from globules into an emulsion of tiny droplets, giving a
larger surface area to volume ratio for lipase to act on. It also neutralises the stomach acid.
Villus:

Teeth

There are four types of teeth:

1. Incisors

They are found at the front of the mouth. They are relatively sharped, chisel-shaped teeth,
used for biting off pieces of food. They cut food.

2. Canines

They are sharp and pointed which is used to tear meet.

3. Premolars

They have cusps and are used for crushing and grinding food. They crush and grind food.

4. Molars

They have cusps and are used for crushing and grinding food. They crush and grind food.

Molars contain ridges which trap food and form a plaque. Bacteria break down glucose to
produce lactic acid which dissolves the enamel and causes tooth decay. Moreover, molars are
found at the back so it is harder to reach with a toothbrush.
Enamel – It is the hardest substance in the body

Dentine – It is found underneath enamel and is a softer material

Pulp Cavity – It is found in the middle of the tooth. It contains blood vessels and nerves. There
are fine channels running through the dentine, filled with cytoplasm. These cytoplasmic strands
are kept alive by nutrients and oxygen from the blood vessels in the pulp cavity.

The root of the teeth is covered by cement containing fibres. This material anchors the tooth in
the jawbone but allows a slight degree of the movement when the person is chewing.

Factors affecting growth of teeth:

Calcium.

Vitamin D.

Genetics

Care

How to take care of teeth and gums:

Brushing teeth twice a day and rinsing with mouthwash.

Flossing.

Reducing sugar.

Visiting dentist regularly.

eat vitamic c rich food.

Fluoride in toothpaste
Body Mass Index

BMI = (mass in kg) / (height in metres)2

Being severely overweight is known as obesity. An obese person has a greater risk of developing
several serious diseases when compared with a person of a healthy body weight. Two of these
diseases are coronary heart disease and a type of diabetes. High cholesterol levels can cause
atherosclerosis. Because they build up in the artery.

Food Hygiene

Some bacteria that cause disease that are transmitted in food are:

- Salmonella Enterica – causes salmonellosis

- Salmonella Typhi – causes typhoid fever
- Listeria Monocytogenes – causes listeriosis
- Clostridium Botulinum – causes botulism

Preventing transmission of Microorganisms in food

- Prevent microorganisms from getting into the food in the first place
- Treat food to slow down the rate at which microorganisms multiply in the food
- Cook food properly to kill any microorganisms

At home, food should be stored in a way that minimises contamination. For e.g.:

- Cooked and raw foods should not be stored together. This is because bacteria in the
uncooked food may be transmitted to the cooked food
- Foods that have been previously frozen and then thawed should be cooked and eaten
straight away, and not re-frozen. This especially applies to foods such as meat, fish and
ice cream. Bacteria grow more quickly in previously frozen and thawed foods than in fresh
foods
- Food should not be left in the open air or on a work surface. Bacteria in the air could land
on the food, and insects such as flies could carry bacteria to the food

Methods of preservation:

- salting pickling pasteurisation

- beer ultra-heat-treatment (UHT)
- canning
- Drying
- Freezing
- irradiation