INTRODUCTION TO NUTRITION

LECTURE. 1
BY
MR. SERUGO ISAAC
CLARK INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
ALLIED HEALTH DCM.1
 objectives
1. Define Food, Nutrition, Diet and Malnutrition
2. Understand best practices and harmful traditions, which
affect nutrition,
3. Explain the dietary guidelines,
4. Outline the important causes of malnutrition
 Definitions
• Food: - is defined as any solid or liquid which when
ingested will enable the body to carry out any of its life
function
• Most foods are made up of several simple substances,
which we call nutrients.
• There are six nutrients each of which has specific
function in the body.
• Those that supply energy are the carbohydrates and fats.
Those responsible for growth and repair of tissues cells are
proteins.
• Those, which regulate chemical process in the body, are
the vitamins and minerals.
• Water is present in most foods and is an indispensable
component of our bodies.
• It is the means of transportation for most nutrients and is
needed for all cellular activities.
 What Is Nutrition
-Nutrient: A chemical substance in food
that helps maintain the body.
-Nutrition: The study of how your body
uses the food that you eat.
Nutrition: - is the sum total of the process
by which living things receive and utilize
the necessary materials for survival,
growth and maintenance of worn out
tissues.
-
• Nutrition studies the interaction between the individual
and the environment mediated by food
• Malnutrition: is the lack of the right proportions of
nutrients over an extended period
• Malnutrition: - is the condition that results from an
imbalance between dietary intake and requirements. It
includes under nutrition, which results from less food
intake and hard physical work and over nutrition results
from excess food intake and less physical activities.
• Diet: - is defined as food containing all the nutrients in a
sufficient amount and in proper ratio.
• Roughage: - is defined as food fibres which enable the
body to get rid of waste products, which would otherwise
become poisonous to the body. It prevents gastrointestinal
disorders (gastritis, appendicitis, gallbladder stone and
constipation) and metabolic disorders (diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, ischemic heart disease and colon cancer).
 What is a Nutrient
(A nutrient is a chemical substance in food
that helps maintain the body.)
Some provide energy. All help build cells
and tissues, regulate bodily processes
such as breathing. No single food supplies
all the nutrients the body needs to
function.

Deficiency Disease: failure to meet your

nutrient needs.
Areas of Study
1. Food production
2. Diet composition (including non-nutritive substances)
3. Food intake, appetite, food preferences
4. Digestion and absorption of nutrients
5. Intermediary metabolism, nutritional biochemistry
6. Biological actions of essential nutrients
7. Nutrient requirements in individuals and populations
8. Heath effects of nutrient deficiencies and excesses
9. Long-term effects of diet constituents
10. Therapeutic and preventive effects of foods
• ,
 What Is a Healthy Diet?
1. Fulfills energy needs (macronutrients)
2. Provides sufficient amounts of essential
nutrients(micronutrients)
3. Fulfills energy needs (macronutrients)
4. Provides sufficient amounts of essential
nutrients(micronutrients)
5. Reduces risk of disease
6. Is safe to consume (low contaminants or potentially
harmful added substances)
Evolution of the Human Diet
 other Definitions
• Requirement
Minimum amount of a nutrient needed to sustain a
physiological state, function, or structure in an individual
Recommendation
Normalized estimate of nutrient needed to cover most
individuals in a population group
Guideline
Advice on diet composition to population groups, aimed at
maintaining health and preventing diseases
 Essential Nutrients
1. Chemical substances found in food
2. Necessary for life, growth, and tissue repair
3. Cannot be synthesized
Good nutrition enhances your quality of life and helps
you prevent disease. It provides you with the calories and nutrients your body needs
for maximum energy and wellness.
NUTRITION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE BODY TAKES IN
AND USES FOOD.
NUTRIENTS: SUBSTANCES IN FOODS THAT YOUR BODY NEEDS TO
GROW, TO REPAIR, AND TO PROVIDE ENERGY.
CALORIES: UNITS OF HEAT THAT MEASURE THE ENERGY USED
BY THE BODY AND ENERGY SUPPLIED TO THE BODY BY FOODS
1. Hunger and Appetite:
Hunger: Natural need to eat and not starve.
Appetite: A desire to eat.
2. Emotions:
•Stress, Anger, Happy, Sad, Boredom, etc,
3. Environment:
•Family and Friends
4. Cultural and Ethnic Background:
•Race, Religion, Heritage
5. Convenience and Cost:
•Where you live, On the go lifestyle, Family income
6. Advertising:
•Health messages, Influence your looks
Dietary guidelines
1.Eat a wide variety of foods
2.Maintain healthy weight
3.Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
4.Choose a diet with plenty of vegetable, fruits and grain products
5. Use sugar in moderation
6. Use salt and sodium in moderation
7. If you drink alcoholic beverage, do so in moderatio n.
Food groups
♦Milk, cheese, yoghurt
♦Meat, poultry, fish and alternates
♦Fruits and vegetables
♦Bread and cereals
♦Fats, sweets and alcohols
Why human beings need food?
Human beings need food to provide energy for the essential
physiological functions like:-
1. Respiration
2. Circulation
3. Digestion
4. Metabolism
5. Maintaining body temperature.
6. Growth and repair body Tissues
• An adequate supply of nutrients is needed to maintain all the
functions of the body and daily activities at maximum efficiency,
thus ensuring healthy living.

• Health and nutrition are closely linked and to ensure proper

development and life quality they must be adequate from
early childhood on and
most vulnerable groups are
1. Infants,
2. young children,
3. pregnant women and
4. lactating mothers.
Diets in public health practice
1. Resettlement areas,
2. HIV/AIDS patients,
3. Displaced compatriots due to natural and man made
disasters.
It is important to make sure that any recommended ration
scale is compared with acceptable standards and that
its use is not likely to cause deficiency disease
Diets in public health practice
1. Resettlement areas,
2. HIV/AIDS patients,
3. Displaced compatriots due to natural
and man made disasters.
It is important to make sure that any
recommended ration scale is compared
with acceptable standards and that its
use is not likely to cause deficiency
disease
Major causes of malnutrition
I. Lack of knowledge in selecting foodstuff with high
nutritive value
II. Poverty and infectious diseases
III. Drought Uneven distribution of the available foods
IV. Social arrest and civil conflicts,
V. Transport problems (inaccessibility)
VI. Increased populations
vii. Inadequate weaning
viii. Farming technique
ix. insufficient Poor management of resources
x. Topographical differences in different regions
(variation inproductivity)
xi. Loss of food through destruction by insects
xii. Exploited land due to planting the same type of food
crop for many years,
xiii. erosion because of overgrazing and moreover the
farmers could not use the fertilizers due to many
reasons.
 Harmful traditional practices with regard to
nutrition
a) During period of fasting important nutrients are not
eaten, such as milk, eggs, butter, meat, fish, meal
pattern, etc.
b) Pork is forbidden for religious and cultural reasons
c) Lack of sun light (lack of Vitamin D) during infancy to
protect the child from the “evil eyes”
d. Discrimination in feeding among family members, adults
before children, adult males over adult females
e. Practising heavy meals once, may be twice a day
f. Giving butter to neonate to swallow, hoping to keep the
intestine smooth
g. Delay to start complementary food
h. Refusing to give the child meat for fear of infection
i. Feeding children with diluted milk
j. Feed children with left over and may be contaminated food
Best practices which favor nutrition
i. Breast feeding
ii. Mixing of foods E.g. Injera with wat prepared from- Cereals -
Legumes – Vegetable
iii. Traditional use of dark green leaves “gobbe, sukuma wiki,
jobyo.”
iv. Eating cereals in the form of mbelenge (roasted) and nefro
(cooked)
v. Additional high calories and high protein diet for pregnant
and lactating mothers
vi. After the 7th day of delivery the mother and the child warm in
the sun every morning
vii. Special care for children and lactating mothers
viii. Drinking sour milk and yoghurt
 Good nutrition must
 meet the needs of varying ages and activities and
always with individual differences.
 Therefore, the planning of food to meet especial
needs begins with:
i. Pregnant women
ii. Nursing mothers
iii. Infants
iv. Adolescents and
v. Adults
 A well-nourished individual:-
 Is alert mentally and physically fit
 Has optimistic outlook on life
 Has good resistance to infection
 Shows numerous other signs of good health such
as an increased life span extending the active and
vigorous period of life.
The energy requirements of individuals depend
on
♦Physical activities
♦Body size and composition
♦Age may affect requirements in two main ways
1. During childhood, the infant needs more energy
because it is growing
2. During old age, the energy need is less because aged
people are engaged with activities that requires less
energy.
♦ Climate:
• Both very cold and very hot climate restrict outdoor
activities.
In general feeding is dependent on the controlling
centres, appetite and satiety in the brain.
• There are a variety of stimuli, nervous, chemical and
thermal, which may affect the centres and so alter
feeding behaviour.
Daily calorie requirements of individuals
① Infants 1 - 3 years need 1,000 cal/day
② Children 5 years need 1,500 cal/day
③ Children 5 – 8 years need 1,800 cal/day
④ Children 10 – 12 years need 2,000 cal/day
 For adolescents and adults calorie requirements depend
on the degree of physical activities
 From 13 – 20 years of age Office worker 2, 800 cal/day
 Heavy work 3,500 cal/day
 Adults2,300-cal/day2,700 cal/day
 Very heavy work up to 4,000 cal/day
For pregnant woman,
•the daily figure must be increased
• by 150 calories for the first trimester and
• 350 for the second and third trimester.
• For the nursing mother the daily figure must be increased by
800 calorie.
Staple foods
Staple foods are foods, which form the largest part of a
nation’s diet.
They are of plant origin and are classified into three
main groups
① The grain and cereals
② The roots and tubers
③ The starchy fruits
 6 Nutrients
① Carbohydrates
② Proteins These 6 nutrients
③ Fats (Lipids) you body NEEDS
④ Vitamins to function
properly!!!
⑤ Minerals
⑥ Water
 Carbohydrates
• What are they?
– Starches & sugars found in foods
• What is their function?
– Body’s preferred source of energy
• What if I don’t get enough?
– Decreased energy
• If I get too much?
– Can be stored as fat
 Types of Carbohydrates
• SIMPLE • COMPLEX
– Sugars – Starches/fibers
– Provide quick energy – Provide long-lasting
– Sweet to the taste: energy
honey, fruit, candy, – Ex) potatoes, pasta,
etc. bread, etc.
 Carbohydrates in your
diet …

• Carbohydrates should account for 45-65%

of your daily diet.
• 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories of
energy.
 Proteins
• What are they?
– Nutrients which build & maintain body tissues
• What is their function?
– Build & maintain: muscle, skin, hair, nails, etc.
• What if I don’t get enough?
– Decrease in muscle & tissue maintenance
• If I get too much?
- Stored as fat
 Types of Protein
• Complete • Incomplete
– Contain all essential – Lack some amino
amino acids acids
– Come from – Can combine to make
animal/soy products complete proteins
– Complete proteins
are what your body
wants!

Amino Acids are the

building blocks of proteins!
 Proteins in your diet …

• Proteins should account for 10-35% of

your daily diet.
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories of energy.
 Fats (Lipids)
• What are the main functions of fats?
– Provides energy
– Cushions organs
– Carries vitamins (A,D,E,K)
- Insulator
- Provides taste
• What happens if I get too much fat?
- Weight gain
- Increased risk of heart disease
 Cholesterol
• A lipid (fat) found in all animal tissues
• Cholesterol makes vitamin D, cell
membranes, and hormones
• Types of cholesterol:
– LDL = “bad” cholesterol
– HDL = “good” cholesterol
 Types of Fats
• Saturated • Unsaturated
– Fats coming from – Fats coming from
animal products plant products
– Solid at room – Liquid at room
temperature temperature (oils)
– Increase risk of – Better for your heart
heart disease than saturated fats

Trans Fat = unsaturated fatty acids produced

when vegetable oil is processed in to margarine
and shortening … increase risk of heart disease.
**Often in restaurant foods!
 Fats in your diet …

• Fats should account for 25-35% of your

daily diet.
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories of energy.
 Vitamins
• What are they?
– Compounds needed in small amounts to regulate
body processes and allow growth

• What is their function?

– Help with digestion, absorption, & metabolism

• Each vitamin is needed and provides a

specific function
 Types of Vitamins
• Water Soluble • Fat Soluble
– Dissolve in water – Dissolve in fat
– Needed for energy – Remain in the body
release for long periods of
– Too many water time
soluble vitamins are – 4 fat-soluble
excreted in urine vitamins: A,D,E,K
– Too many can lead to
a toxic build up –
stored in fatty
Vitamins do tissues, liver, &
NOT provide kidneys
energy!!!
 Minerals
• What are they?
– Inorganic compounds (things that come from the
earth) that are needed in small amounts
• What is their function?
– Regulate body processes
• Ex) bone formation
• Each mineral is needed!
• Minerals do NOT provide energy!!!
 Water
• What are the main functions of water?
– Transports nutrients
– Carries away wastes
– Moistens eyes, mouth, nose; hydrates skin
– Forms main component of body fluids
– Acts as an insulator
– Protects against heat exhaustion
– Lubricates joints
– Helps with digestion
 Dehydration
• Individuals should drink 8+ glasses of
water/day to prevent dehydration
• Signs of dehydration:
– Thirst, dry mouth, flushed skin, fatigue,
headache, impaired physical performance,
increased body temp, dizziness, weakness,
muscle spasms, delirium, poor blood
circulation, failing kidney function, and
possibly death
 Water
• 60% of your body is water!!!
• Your daily water intake must balance
your body’s use
• Caffeine actually dehydrates you – it
increases the amount of water excreted
in urine
• Water does NOT provide energy!
Are You Eating A Balanced Diet?
Nutrients that have
Calories:
 Proteins
 Carbohydrates
 Fats
Definition of a
Calorie:
o A unit of measure for energy
in food
 Calories per gram:

Protein 1 Gram = 4 calories

Carbohydrates 1 Gram = 4 calories
Fat 1 Gram = 9
calories
Variables which affect nutrient
needs:
1. Age
2. Gender
3. Activity Level
4. Climate
5. Health
6. State of nutrition
Aim for Fitness

1. Aim for a healthy

weight
2. Be physically active each day
Build a Healthy Base
3. Let the pyramid guide your
choices
4. Choose a variety of grains
daily, especially whole grains
5. Choose a variety of fruits
and vegetables daily.
6. Keep food safe to eat.
Choose Sensibly
7. Choose a diet that is low in
saturated fat and cholesterol and
moderate in total fat
8. Choose beverages and foods
to moderate your intake of
sugars
9. Choose and prepare food with less
salt
10. Individuals over 21 who
drink alcoholic beverages
should do so in moderation
1. Food Allergy - a condition in which the body’ s immune system
reacts to substances in some foods.
•Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, and
shellfish.
•A simple blood test can can indicate whether a person is
allergic to a specific food.
•These reactions may include rash, hives, or itchiness of the
skin; vomiting, diarrhea or abdominal pain; or itchy eyes and
sneezing.
2. Food Intolerance - a negative reaction to a food or part of a food
caused by a metabolic problem.
•The inability to digest parts of certain foods or food
components.
•May be associated with certain foods such as milk or wheat,
or even with some food additives.
•Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and
fever.
3. Foodborne Illness – A term that means a person has food poisoning.
•To prevent foodborne illness you should clean, separate, cook and
chill food when handling it.
•A foodborne illness can result from eating foods contaminated with
pathogens or poisonous chemicals.
•The symptoms from the most common types of food poisoning
generally start within 2 to 6 hours of eating the food responsible.
•That time may be longer (even a number of days) or shorter,
depending on the toxin or organism responsible for the food
poisoning. The possible symptoms include:
nausea/vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, weakness, fever
and headache.
•Even though food poisoning is relatively rare in the United States, it
affects between 60 and 80 million people worldwide each year and
results in approximately 6 to 8 million deaths.
6 Classes of Nutrients
 Review
• What is nutrition?
• What is a nutrient?
• What are the 6 nutrients?
– Give an example of each nutrient (food source)
– Why are they important to have in your diet
• Can you name 5 of the 10 dietary guidelines?