Understanding Essential Nutrients and Healthy Diets

Understanding Nutrition

Nutrition is the set of processes that allows organisms to use and transform nutrients to stay alive. Food is the process by which these nutrients are obtained from the external environment. Food contains nutrients, which are essentially the biomolecules that make up our body.

Essential Nutrients

These include:

• Carbohydrates (Carbs): Energetic substances.
  • Simple Carbohydrates (Sugars): Sweet, crystalline, and water-soluble.
  • Complex Carbohydrates: Not crystalline, do not dissolve, and are formed by the bonding of many simple carbohydrate molecules.
• Lipids: A very diverse set of substances characterized by being insoluble in water and having an oily appearance.
  • Fats: Highly energetic molecules. Depending on their chemical composition, they are classified as saturated fats (animal products) and unsaturated fats (vegetable origin).
  • Lipids as Cell Membrane Components: They form the structure of cellular and organelle membranes.
  • Lipids with Regulatory Functions: These include some vitamins and hormones.
• Proteins: Primary structural molecules.
• Vitamins: Substances of diverse chemical composition.
  • Lipid-Soluble Vitamins: Soluble in lipids but not water-soluble.
  • Water-Soluble Vitamins: Water-soluble but insoluble in lipids.
• Mineral Salts: Inorganic substances that play diverse roles in the body.
• Water: The most abundant molecule in our body.

Nutrient Energy Values

• One gram of fat produces 9 kcal.
• One gram of carbohydrate produces 3.75 kcal.
• One gram of protein produces 4 kcal.

Types of Diets

• Hypocaloric Diets: Include a percentage of energy foods (carbohydrates and fats) lower than recommended.
• Hypercaloric Diets: Characterized by high-energy food intake, often for individuals who are very thin.
• Low-Cholesterol Diets: Recommended for people with high cholesterol levels. This diet reduces the intake of eggs, red meats, seafood, animal fats, and certain vegetable oils.
• High-Fiber Diets: Feature plenty of foods rich in fiber, often recommended for chronic constipation.
• Soft Diets: Contain little fiber and are recommended for problems like intestinal obstruction or slow bowel movements.

Nutritional Disorders

• Malnutrition: Occurs when the amount of food consumed is inadequate to meet nutritional needs.
  • Marasmus: Total lack of food.
  • Kwashiorkor: Severe protein deficiency.
• Nutritional Imbalances (Inadequate Food Ingestion):
  • Obesity: Excessive accumulation of body fat. Requires avoiding consumption of sugars and fats.
  • Anemia: A deficiency in hemoglobin in the blood, often due to iron deficiency.
  • Goiter: Enlarged thyroid gland, typically caused by iodine deficiency (iodine is found in seafood).