GST 104

Human Nutrition and Health

Lecturer: Dr. C.A. Otuechere
Department of Biochemistry

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 DEFINITIONS
• World Health Organization (WHO) defines HEALTH as
the state of complete physical, mental and social well-
being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity.
• Nutrient is a chemical substance in food that provides
nourishment essential for growth and maintenance of
life.

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 DEFINITIONS CONT’D
Malnutrition: means insufficient nutrients or the
wrong balance of nutrients needed for optimal
health.
Food: any substance consumed, digested and
absorbed by the body to maintenance of good
health.
Diet refers to the food and drink a person
consumes daily. Diet is a subset of food.
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 FUNCTIONS OF FOOD
The 3 major functions of food are:
1. Source of energy eg food rich in carbohydrates,
proteins and fat.
2.Necessary for growth, development and repair
of worn out parts eg protein containing foods.
3.To protect against diseases eg foods rich in
vitamins, minerals and proteins such as milk, egg,
fish, green leafy vegetables and fruits. 4
 CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates: These are compounds that contain the elements
Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen and also have many hydroxyl groups
ie (OH) groups.

This is the structure of glucose, an example of a

carbohydrate. It has Carbon (C), Hydrogen(H) and
Oxygen(O). It also has many hydroxyl groups (OH)

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 Types of carbohydrates
A. MONOSACCHARIDES:
 These are the simplest forms of carbohydrates.
 They cannot be broken down into any other carbohydrate unit.
 They are the last product of digestion of carbohydrate foods
Examples:
Glucose: Fruits, soft drinks, sweet corn. Basically majority of the food that we eat
are ultimately converted into glucose.
Fructose: fruits, honey, sugar cane.
Galactose: milk (dairy products), avocados, sugar beets.
Mannose: fruits such as apples, oranges, peaches, cranberries. Vegetables such as
green beans, cabbage.
 DISACCHARIDES
These are formed when two monosaccarides are
combined together.
Examples:
Sucrose (Glucose + Fructose) : sugarcane, sugar
beets, dates, honey
Maltose (Glucose + Glucose): cereals, vegetables,
fruits
Lactose (glucose + galactose):cow milk, goat milk,
yogurt, cheese, ice cream
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 POLYSACCHARIDES
These are made up of MANY monosaccharides joined
together.
Examples:
Starch: found in cereals, yam, cassava, potato
Cellulose: found in vegetables and fruits
Glycogen: This is the form in which excess carbohydrate is
stored in the liver.

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 Functions of carbohydrates
1. Sources of energy for the body eg glucose and glycogen
2. Part of the DNA (De-oxy-ribonucleic acid) eg De-oxy
ribose.
3. Component of milk eg lactose
4. Cellulose is found in plant cell walls which gives them
shape and structure
5. The skeleton of some insects is made up of special
carbohydrates known as chitin
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 Proteins
• Another major class of nutrients are the proteins.
• Proteins are macromolecules formed from simple units called
amino acids.
• What are amino acids: Amino acids are the building blocks of
proteins.
• You understand more of proteins if you can understand amino
acids.
• There are hundreds of amino acids, but interestingly only 20 of
them can be found in proteins (I hope you still remember the 20
elements!!).
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 Names of the 20 amino acids
1. Glycine 11. Tryptophan
2. Alanine 12. Proline
3. Valine 13. Phenylalanine
4. Leucine 14. Glutamine
5. Isoleucine 15. Glutamic acid
6. Serine 16. Asparagine
7. Threonine 17. Aspartic acid
8. Cysteine 18. Lysine
9. Methionine 19.Arginine
10. Tyrosine 20. Histidine 11
 Classification of amino acids
Essential Amino Acids
These are not synthesized
(produced) by the body but must
be obtained from the diet. There
are eight of them.
Eg. Threonine, valine, isoleucine,
methionine, phenylalanine,
tryptophan, lysine, leucine.
Use this learning aid: The Valley Is
Made Perfect Through Little
Lessons.
Non-essential amino acids
They are synthesized in the
body and their absence in
the diet will not affect body
adversely. There are 10 of
them eg Glycine, alanine,
proline, serine, cysteine,
tyrosine, asparagine, aspartic
acid, glutamine, and
glutamic acid 12
 Functions of Amino acids
1. Amino acids are used to produce proteins.
2. Some amino acids can be converted into sources of
carbohydrates eg serine, threonine, methionine, glycine,
alanine etc
3. They can be source of a hormone called adrenaline (fear
hormone). The new name for adrenaline is epinephrine. Ex of
the amino acid is tyrosine.
4. Niacin is a vitamin produced from an amino acid called
tryptophan.

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 FUNCTIONS OF PROTEINS
 Necessary for growth.
 Necessary to replace worn out body parts
 Alternative sources of energy.
 Some proteins are enzymes
 Some proteins are hormones eg insulin
 Some proteins are transport are transporters eg
Albumin
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 Classes of dietary proteins
There are 3 classes of dietary proteins:
1. Complete proteins: These foods contain all the
essential amino acids eg casein found in milk.
2. Incomplete proteins: These foods lack one essential
amino acid eg peas, beans, and grains.
3. Poor proteins: These lack in many essential amino
acids. Eg Zein, the protein found in corn.

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 Protein deficiency
• This occurs when dietary protein is in short supply and the body then
obtains protein from skeletal muscles to carry out some functions.
• Some major consequences of protein deficiency are:
• MARASMUS : this occurs in infants and young children .
– causes weight loss and dehydration.
• KWASHIORKOR: this occurs in older children . It is a severe deficiency
of protein when diet is mainly carbohydrates such as yams, rice, garri
etc
– Children with kwashiorkor have extended abdomen, stunted growth and
impairment of brain function.
• .
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 Fats and Oils
• The building blocks of fats and oils (or Lipids) are the Fatty acids.
– fats are solid at room temperature eg butter and cheese,
– oils are liquid at room temperature eg vegetable oil and palm
oil.
• There are two sources of fats and oils:
• a. Animal sources eg cod-liver oil, butter, fat from animal meats.
• b. Plant sources eg palm oil, groundnut oil, olive oil, coconut oil.

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 Functions of Fats and oils
1. They provide 25% of the energy needs of the
body.
2. They are the sources of the fat soluble vitamins
such as vitamin A, D, E and K.
3. They form part of the nervous system.
4. They serve as shock absorber to delicate organs
such as heart, liver, kidney.
5. They are sources of heat to the body. 18
 Other nutrients found in food
The following nutrients we are going to be
discussing are called the micronutrients. The most
important are the VITAMINS.
Vitamins are food nutrients required for normal
functioning of the body, but are not produced in the
body but they are obtained from the diet.

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 Classification of Vitamins
Fat Soluble Vitamins
They are soluble in fat but
insoluble in water eg
Vitamin A, D, E and K
Learning aid (ADEK)
Water-Soluble Vitamins
They are soluble in water but
insoluble in fat solvents. They are
made of Vitamin B complex and
Vitamin C. Another name for Vit C is
Ascorbic acid.
Vitamin B complex is made up of the
following vitamins:
Thiamine Folic acid
Riboflavin Methyl cobalamine
Niacin Pyridoxine
Biotin Panthothenic acid
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 Sources, Functions, and Deficiencies of Vitamins
1. Vitamin A can be found in carrots, tomatoes, liver. It is important for healthy
sight. Deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness.
2. Vitamin D can be obtained when the sun shines on our skin. Other sources are
milk, liver and egg yolk. Vit D is important for healthy bone formation. Deficiency
causes rickets (bow legs or K-legs in children) and osteomalacia (fragile bones) in
adults.
3. Vitamin E sources include coconut oil, nuts, vegetable oils and green leafy
vegetables. Vit E is important for reproduction and also acts as protection against
infections and diseases.
4. Vitamin K sources include Fish, liver, meat, eggs, cereals, and green leafy
vegetables. Vitamin K helps in blood clotting ie when there is injury to the skin, a
protective clot forms to prevent us from loosing too much blood.
 Sources, Functions and Deficiencies of Vitamins Cont’d

5. Thiamine is also called Vitamin B1 is important to prevent Beri-Beri. This

disease has symptoms such as mental confusion, poor gait (not able to
coordinate your walking poise) etc Sources include whole grains, meat, and fish.
6. Niacin is also called Vitamin B3. The sources are fish, chicken, turkey, pork,
beef, mushrooms, brown rice, peanuts, avocados, green peas. The deficiency
causes PELLAGRA. Symptoms of pellagra is what I call the 3 Ds ie Dermatitis (Skin
problem); Dementia (Mental problem) and Diarrhoea (Stomach problem).
7. Vitamin C is also called Ascorbic acid is found mainly in citrus fruits. This
vitamin helps wounds to heal fast, prevents infection, and is necessary for proper
bone formation. A major deficiency of vitamin C is called scurvy. Scurvy is a
condition characterized by general weakness, anaemia, gum disease.

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