Nutrition is the study of food and its relationship to health and disease. It focuses in all the manners in which the body ingests, absorbs, transports and excretes food.

The purpose of this section is to present the main groups of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, needed by the body to survive.

Advice and tools will be offered so you can plan and have a healthy diet.

Food gives us energy (calories) in order to mantain the cells in our bodies alive.

Essential nutrients are described below.

Nutrition

Carbohydrates are a major source of calories, 4kcal/g. They exist in different ways, simple and complex.

They contain a very essential molecule used by cells, glucose.

Fiber is also a carbohydrate, but the body doesn't have the necessary enzymes to digest and absorb it. It is fully excreted by the body.

Lipids, fats, and oils provide the body with the greatest source of calories, 9kcal/g.

Triglycerides are the most common structure of lipids used by the body. It is how the body mainly stores energy.

Fats can be found in two ways: unsaturated and saturated.

Proteins form part of almost every structure in the body. They are in the bones, muscles, blood, cells, enzymes and the immune system. The energy provided by proteins is equal to that of carbohydrates, 4kcal/g.

There are many vitamins which are discussed in a specific section, but their main function is to help chemical reactions that take place in the body.

Vitamins are divided into two groups: liposoluble and hydrosoluble.

These properties will be important when cooking foods, because hydrosoluble vitamins can be destroyed with heat.

Proteins

Minerals have simple structures and are known as inorganic matter.

Minerals are not destroyed while cooking, but they are very soluble in water. Therefore, if liquids obtained from cooking are discarded, minerals will be lost.

They are divided into two essential groups: macrominerals and trace minerals. The difference arises because the first group is needed in a larger quantity.

Water is also an essential nutrient.

First, water is a solvent, a lubricant and it allows nutrients to be transported.

Second, it mantains our body temperature and participates in chemical processes.

Our body is composed of 60% water. Fruits and vegetables are also a source of water.

Calorie: is a unit used to measure of energy. It consists of the energy necessary to raise the temperature of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Basically it is the energy food contains.

Important Glossary Terms:

Essential nutrients: include foods that must be obligatory consumed because they serve a specific biological function. If they are not ingested chemical processes in the body cease.

Diet: is any food a person eats on a daily basis.

Bibliography:

"ChooseMyPlate.gov." ChooseMyPlate.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/>.
Champe, Pamela C., Richard A. Harvey, and Denise R. Ferrier. Biochemistry. Philadelphia: Lippincott/Williams & Wilkins, 2005.
"Fruits & Veggies More Matters." Fruits Veggies More Matters. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2014. <http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/>.
Guyton, Arthur C., and John E. Hall. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders, 2006.
Rinzler, Carol Ann. Nutrition for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2006.
Wardlaw, Gordon M., and Anne M. Smith. Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional Approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009.