Nutrition is an essential part of life, and understanding the basics of it can help us make better food choices. Nutrition is the study of nutrients in food, how the body uses them, and the relationship between diet, health and disease. Nutrients are food molecules that all organisms need to produce energy, grow, develop and reproduce. Typically, nutrients include fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, dietary fiber, minerals, and water.
These elements provide nutrition to the body and protect it from major diseases. Understanding these nutritional terms can make it easier for you to make better food choices. There are two main types of nutrients: macronutrients and micronutrients. The three main categories of macronutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The two types of micronutrients are vitamins and minerals, which are additional molecules that cells need to produce energy. The type of organism determines what nutrients it needs and how it gets them.
Organisms obtain nutrients by consuming organic matter, consuming inorganic matter, absorbing light, or some combination of these. Some can produce nutrients internally by consuming basic elements, while others must consume other organisms to obtain pre-existing nutrients. All life forms require carbon, energy and water, as well as several other molecules. Animals require complex nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and they obtain them by consuming other organisms. Humans have developed agriculture and cooking to replace forage and promote human nutrition.
Plants acquire nutrients through soil and atmosphere. Fungi absorb the nutrients that surround them, breaking them down and absorbing them through the mycelium.
Macronutrients
are nutrients that the body needs in larger amounts. Carbohydrates provide energy for the body in the form of glucose. Proteins are made up of amino acids which are essential for growth and repair of tissues in the body.Fats provide energy as well as essential fatty acids which are important for healthy skin and hair.
Micronutrients
are nutrients that the body needs in smaller amounts but they are still essential for carrying out bodily functions. Micronutrients include all essential minerals and vitamins. Unlike carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, micronutrients are not a source of energy but they help in the process of energy metabolism as cofactors or components of enzymes (known as coenzymes). Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (or accelerate) chemical reactions in the body; they are involved in all aspects of body functions including energy production, nutrient digestion, and macromolecule formation. Good nutrition (a proper, well-balanced diet combined with regular physical activity) is the cornerstone of good health.Therefore it is imperative to know the essential types of nutrition and their role for a healthy lifestyle. Because humans follow a heterotrophic mode of nutrition they rely on fruits, vegetables and meat for essential nutrients. Nutrition is defined as the process by which living organisms obtain and use these acquired nutrients to maintain biological life. It is also defined as the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to sustain its life. Autotrophic nutrition combines two terms “self” meaning self and “trophic” meaning nutrition. Chemists in the 18th and 19th centuries experimented with different elements and food sources to develop theories about nutrition.
For humans the value of good nutrition is extremely important for cell function, tissue repair, metabolism, immune competence cognitive function physical activity maintenance of internal homeostasis and overall health. Most cultures add herbs and spices to foods before eating them to add flavor although most don't significantly affect nutrition. Parasitic mode of nutrition occurs when an organism obtains its nutrition from other living organisms. Nutritious foods are foods that are especially dense in one or more necessary nutrients such as eggs fish liver avocado green vegetables beans and legumes. When an organism can prepare its own food such as plants they are known as autotrophs and that type of nutrition is known as autotrophic nutrition. It is imperative to know that some types of nutrition in humans are produced independently by breaking down food. In domestic animals such as pets livestock and working animals as well as in other animals in captivity humans manage nutrition through animal feed.
