notes/education/nutrition/Nutrients.md

Nutrients are the life sustaining substances found in food.

• Necessary for growth, maintenance, and repair.

There are 6 nutrients:

• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Carbs
• Lipids
• Proteins
• Water

A macronutrient is a nutrient the body requires in large quantities, whereas a micronutrient is a nutrient the body requires in small quantities.

Macronutrients	Micronutrients
Carbs	Vitamins
Lipids	Minerals
Proteins

Nutrients are used for:

• Growth and development
• Energy
• Regulation of processes

Essential Nutrients

A nutrient is classified as essential if:

• It must be supplied by food, because the body cannot create it in sufficient quantities
• If the nutrient is missing, it results in a deficiency disease
• When added back to the diet, the disease corrects
• Explanation exists as to why the abnormalities occurred when the substance was missing.

Phytochemicals

Phytochemicals are substances in plants that may have healthful benefits. Examples of phytochemicals include:

• Caffeine
• Beta-carotene
• Nicotine

Calories

In nutrition, the term Calorie typically refers to a kilocalorie, or 1000 calories, where a calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat up one gram of water one degree Celsius.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Nutrients	The life sustaining substances found in food. Necessary for growth, maintenance, and repair.
Nutrition	The study of how nutrients affect our body.
Diet	A person's usual pattern of food choices. Everyone has a diet, and you don't begin and end diets, you just make changes to your existing diet.
Lipid	Fat
Organic	An organic substance contains carbon, and can be degraded.
Essential nutrient	A nutrient is considered essential if it must be supplied by food, because the body cannot create it in sufficient quantities. If an essential nutrient is missing, it results in a deficiency disease.
Deficiency disease	A deficiency disease occurs when an essential nutrient is missing. Examples include anemia (iron) and scurvy (vitamin c)