Running Header: NUTRITION CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES

Nutrition Concepts and Controversies

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion4

Nutrients in Food4

Nutritious Diet Constitutes6

Nutrients and the Human Genome7

Diseases Associated With Poor Nutrition9

Nutritional Challenges within Families11

Conclusion13

Nutrition Concepts and Controversies

Introduction

Nutrition can be defined as the process of absorbing nutrients from food and processing them in the body for growth, replacement of tissues, and maintenance of good health. Historically, women have been responsible for cooking and providing meals for their families. Often, that food was grown in the family garden or local community. The women may not have had much formal education, but they seemed to know, almost instinctively, what was good for their families. Life was less complex earlier in time, and fewer food choices existed.

The evolution of technology and modern farming techniques has caused a great deal of change in the quality of our food. Water, soil, and air pollution are depleting our soil of vitamins essential for good health, and an increase in the amounts of food additives, chemicals, sugar, and unhealthy fats in our foods has contributed to the increase in chronic diseases present in society. Therefore, it is critical that people learn as much as they can about their nutritional needs and the connection between their diet and their health.

This paper will review of basic nutrition. This paper discussed nutrients in foods and nutrients diet constituents. Further, it will cover Nutrients and the Human Genome along with emphasis on diseases associated with poor nutrition. In last, the paper will address Nutritional Challenges within Families. There are many good introductory nutrition texts and books, where the basics of food, nutrition, and health as can be found, however, this paper is drawn heavily from the textbook by Frances Sizer and Ellie Whitney entitled Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies 11th Edition.

Discussion

Nutrients in Food

Technically, nutrients are families of molecules in food or components of food that are indispensible for the functioning of the body. Conceptually, nutrients are just attributes or characteristics that are common to all foods and thus are useful as a classification scheme for foods that may seem very different, such as apples and oranges. Consequently a diet also could be defined as the foods and beverages or nutrients a person usually eats or drinks.

The body requires six kinds of nutrients or nutrient classes:Water

Carbohydrates

Fats

Proteins

Vitamins

Mineral

Water needs no introduction or definition. Carbohydrates are compounds that are composed of sugars. They can be classified by their number of sugar units: one unit (monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose), two units (disaccharides such as sucrose and lactose) and multiple units (polysaccachrides such as starch, glycogen, and cellulose). Fats are lipids (organic compounds soluble in organic solvents but not water) that are solid at the room temperature of 70 degree F. Fats are usually further broken down into saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. The difference has to do with how the hydrocarbon chains are connected. Proteins are organic compounds consisting of amino acids that are joined by peptide bonds. Vitamins are organic compounds that are vital ...