NUTRITIONAL VALUES OF

DIFFERENT FOODS

Presented by: Rabina Ramtel

MSc.Clinical Biochemistry , 2nd year
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OUTLINE

 Food and its classification

 Nutrition
 Classification of nutrition
 Macro-nutrients
 Micro-nutrients
 Assessment of nutritional status
 Summary

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DEFINITIONS
 Food
 It is a substance consumed, other than water and drugs, for
maintaining the health, well-being and vitality of the individual.
 Some of the foods are eaten raw. But most of the time they are eaten
after some culinary process such as cooking, boiling, baking, frying
etc. After such treatment the foods becomes ‘diet’(meal).

 Nutrient
 It is a chemical factor (active ingredient) present in food items, which
determine the quality of food and in turn the health of the individual.
 For example: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals

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 Nutrition
Branch of science, which deals with the study of a dynamic process, in
which the consumed food is utilized for nourishing the body (a process of
assimilation of food).

 Dietetics
Science that deals with the study of nutrition in health and disease (i.e.
planning of meals for the healthy and the sick)

 Balanced diet
Diet consisting of right kinds of food in the right proportion, as to provide the
required energy and proximate principles for maintaining the health, vitality and
well-being and makes small proportion to withstand short duration of illness
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Harrion’s principle of internal medicine 17th edition
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NUTRIENTS
 Organic and inorganic complexes
contained in food
 provides energy, helps in growth and normal
development and repair of tissues
 Each nutrient has its own specific function
 Most of the foods contain more than one
nutrient.

FACTORS ALTERING NUTRIENT NEEDS:

 Physiologic factors
 Dietary composition
 Route of administration
 Disease
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CLASSIFICATION OF NUTRIENTS

Macronutrients
• They are so called because they are
required in large quantities and so they
constitute the main bulk of the food.
• They are often called ‘Proximate
principles’.
• For example, proteins, fats and
carbohydrates.
• Their contribution in the food is as
follows:
Proteins—7 - 15 %
Fats—10 - 30 %
Carbohydrates—65 - 80%
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MACRONUTRIENTS
Carbohydrate

 Major component of food.

 Dietary carbohydrate provides 4.1kcal/g and most is derived from sugars
and starch.
 Dietary sugars can be divided into those which are present in intact cells,
such as in whole fruit (intrinsic sugars), and those which are free and
readily absorbed as a result of having been added to food, usually as
sucrose (extrinsic sugars).
 Milk sugars are usually considered as intrinsic.
 A high intake of extrinsic sugars is associated with an increased prevalence
of dental caries.
 Sugar derivatives, such as the sugar alcohols sorbitol and xylitol, can be
partially digested and can provide 2.4kcal/g.
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Functions
 serves as a main source of energy. One gram yields 4 kcals of energy.
 essential for the oxidation of fat
 Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles.
 acts as a structural unit of nervous system, as cerebroside.
 It exerts protein sparing action.
 It adds flavor and texture to the food and increases palatability.

SOURCE Daily requirements

Starch: cereals, roots and tubers. Children- 60-250 gram
Sugars: white sugar, honey, glucose Adolescents – 400 gram
etc. Men - 300-700 gram
Cellulose: indigestible contributes to Women – 240-540 gram
dietary fibers.
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Protein
 Protein is the building material for all body parts, such as muscle, brain,
blood, skin, hair, nails, bones and body fluids.
 Protein constitutes 20% of adult body weight and made up of
amino acids.

Supplementary Actions of Proteins

 Cereal proteins are deficient in lysine and threonine. Pulses are
deficient in methionine, maize in lysine and tryptophan. These
are known as ‘Limiting amino acids’.
 When cereals and pulses are eaten together in combination, for
example, Rice and Dal, their deficient amino acids supplement
each other providing a protein comparable to first class protein in
respect to essential amino acids. This is known as
‘Supplementary actions of proteins’. 14
Functions of Proteins
Acts as Building blocks of cells and tissues.
 They are the constituents of enzymes, hormones, antibodies, plasma
and hemoglobin, regulates muscle contraction
 They maintain osmotic pressure and thus maintain fluid balance in
the body

Sources of protein
Animal sources: Milk, eggs, meat, fish, cheese etc.
Plant sources: Pulses, cereals, beans. nuts, soya bean etc.

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Daily Requirements
 Since proteins cannot be
stored in the body, its daily
requirement is essential.
 The daily requirement of
proteins is 1 g/kg body weight
for adults.
 It is more for growing
children, during pregnancy,
during lactation, during
infections, infestations, stress
and during recovery from
diseases.

Suryakantha community
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Evaluation (Assessment) of Proteins
i. Digestibility coefficient
ii. Biological value
iii. Net protein utilization
iv. Amino acid score
v. Protein efficiency ratio
vi. Protein-energy ratio.

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 Digestibility Coefficient(DC)
percentage of ingested proteins that is absorbed in the blood stream (i.e.
ingested nitrogen minus fecal excreted nitrogen).

 Biological Value (BV)

percentage of nitrogen retained (after its excretion in the feces and urine) out of
the nitrogen absorbed from the diet (i.e. absorbed nitrogen minus nitrogen
excreted in urine).

 Net Protein Utilization (NPU)

• It is the proportion of ingested protein or nitrogen that is retained in the body,
for the maintenance and growth of the tissues (i.e. percentage of nitrogen
utilized by the body tissues). 18
•NPU is directly related to the dietary intake of nitrogen. If net protein
utilization (NPU) is low, the protein requirement is high and vice-versa. A
NPU value above 50 is considered satisfactory.

Essential Amino Acid Score (Chemical Score)

It is the concentration of the essential amino acid in the test protein,
expressed as percentage of that essential amino acid in the reference
protein (i.e. egg-albumin).

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 Protein Efficiency Ratio
It is the weight gain in an young growing animal per unit weight of
protein consumed. • A high protein efficiency ratio (PER) (> 2.5) is
assigned to proteins that are efficient in promoting
growth. i.e. animal proteins.
• The PER between 0.5 and 2.5 is assigned to
proteins that are efficient in supporting life but not
growth. i.e. vegetable proteins

 Protein Energy Ratio (PE)

percentage of the energy value obtained from the protein content of
the food.

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Fats
 Composed of smaller units called fatty acids.
 Saturated fatty acids: All animal fats except fish oil.
 Unsaturated fatty acids: All vegetable oils except coconut and palm oils.
 Saturated fatty acids are cholesterologenic, i.e. they increase blood
cholesterol level.

Functions
 Fats provide energy: 1 gram of fat provides 9 calories of energy.
 Dietary fats supplies essential fatty acids needed for growth and
maintenance of the integrity of the skin.
They maintain our body temperature.

 Fats provide support for many organs in our body such as heart,
kidneys, intestine etc.
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Sources
Animal sources: ghee, butter,
fat of meat, fish oils etc.
Vegetable sources: groundnut
oil, ginger oil, mustard oil,
cotton seed and nut oil and
coconut oil etc.

Daily requirements:
Men- 20-60/day
Women – 20-40 gm/day

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Applied Aspects
 A diet rich in fat, predisposes for obesity.
 Deficiency of essential fatty acids is associated with dry and
rough skin, i.e. Phrynoderma, characterized by horny papular
eruptions on the posterior and lateral aspects of limbs, which can
be cured by administration of safflower oil, rich in EFA.
 High fat intake, more than 40 percent of the total energy per day,
containing high proportion of saturated fatty acids, is a major risk
factor for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), because it increases the
serum cholesterol level.
 (Hypercholesterolemia), which in turn predisposes for the
development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

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MICRONUTRIENTS
 Requires in small quantity
and so called micro-
nutrients i.e. vitamins and
minerals.

 The quantity of nutrients

required depends upon
age, sex, weight, physical
activity and health status
of the body.

https://www.publichealthnotes.com
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Micronutrients

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Micronutrients

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 Daily requirements of different micronutrients

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MACRO-NUTRIENTS AND
MICRO-NUTRIENTS

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MACRO AND MICRO-NUTRIENTS

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MACRO AND MICRO-NUTRIENTS

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ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS
 Clinical assessment
 Dietary assessment
 Measurement of anthropometric indices
 Functional assessment
 Laboratory-based techniques.

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CLINICAL ASSESSMENT

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Physical findings of nutritional deficiencies

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 Physical findings of nutritional deficiencies

Harrion’s principle of internal medicine 17 th edition

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DIETARY ASSESSMENT
 Dietary assessment involves reviewing the intake of food, and its
individual dietary components, and comparing the amount
consumed with reference values to see whether deficiency or
excess is likely.

 To be maximally accurate, this would involve weighing all food

eaten and analysing its chemical composition, which is clearly
impractical for clinical purposes.

 Methods of dietary assessment can be divided into those that

record current intake, recall past intake or estimate typical intake.

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MEASUREMENT OF ANTHROPOMETRIC
INDICES
 Height and weight.
 Circumference measurement
 Mid-arm circumference
 Waist and hip circumference
 Skinfold thickness

The BMI can be used to grade the severity of

obesity or of chronic energy deficiency but as it
cannot distinguish between fat mass and lean
mass it can be unrepresentative in patients with
a large muscle mass, for example athletes, or in
patients with an increased weight due to fluid
retention
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FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT
 Functional tests of muscle mass have also been used, for example grip
strength, isometric knee extension and response to electrical
stimulation.
 haematinic deficiency on red blood cell morphology where, for
example a hypochromic, microcytic picture may be the first indication
of iron deficiency and macrocytosis of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency
 Hepatic secretory proteins.
 The liver synthesizes most of the circulating plasma proteins and there
is a clear correlation between plasma concentrations of these proteins
and other markers of malnutrition.
 For example, in adults who are otherwise well, a plasma albumin
<35g/L and a plasma transferrin <1.5g/L usually indicate protein
malnutrition.
 Immune response (Delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity)
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LABORATORY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF INDIVIDUAL NUTRIENTS

 Energy metabolism index

 Blood levels of proteins, vitamins, minerals

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Laboratory test for nutritional assessment

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Laboratory test for nutritional assessment

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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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National Nutrition Program, 2012. Food composition table for Nepal.
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SUMMARY
 Man is a mass of proteins (muscles), built upon minerals (bones),
protected by fats (adipose tissue), energized by carbohydrates.
 different diets can sustain life equally well is the concept that
individual foodstuffs actually comprise different combinations of
certain basic nutrients, and that it is the supply of these basic
nutrients that is important rather than their origin.
 When individual nutrients are considered, the definition of the
‘correct intake’ may be taken, for example, to be any of the
following: the intake that avoids clinical signs of deficiency; the
intake that maintains a given circulating concentration or tissue
content of the nutrient; the intake that cures symptoms or signs of
clinical deficiency; the intake that maintains a balance between
intake and consumption or loss from the body over a defined period,
or any one of a variety of other definitions.
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REFERENCES
 https://www.publichealthnotes.com/15-differences-between-macro-nutr
ients-and-micro-nutrients
/
 Harrion’s principle of internal medicine 17th edition
 Burtis CA, Bruns DE. Tietz fundamentals of clinical chemistry and
molecular diagnostics-e-book. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2014 Aug 14.
 William J Marshall CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY Metabolic and
clinical aspects
 Circulation. 2017 May 09; 135(19): e1017–e1034.
doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000439.Added Sugars and
Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children
 Omega-3 fatty acids for breast cancer prevention and survivorship
Carol J Fabian1*, Bruce F Kimler2 and Stephen D Hursting
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THANK YOU

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