Chapter 4 (Nutrition)

Kefir

a fermented milk created by adding Lactobacillus acidophilus and other bacteria that break down lactose to glucose and galactose, producing a sweet, lactose-free product.

Viscous

a gel-like consistency.

Dental plaque

a gummy mass of bacteria that grows on teeth and can lead to dental caries and gum disease.

Epinephrine

a hormone of the adrenal gland that modulates the stress response; formerly called adrenaline. When administered by injection, epinephrine counteracts anaphylactic shock by opening the airways and maintaining heartbeat and blood pressure.

Insulin

a hormone secreted by special cells in the pancreas in response to (among other things) elevated blood glucose concentration. Insulin controls the transport of glucose from the bloodstream into the muscle and fat cells.

Glucagon

a hormone secreted by special cells in the pancreas in response to low blood glucose concentration. Glucagon elicits release of glucose from liver glycogen stores.

Lactase deficiency

a lack of the enzyme required to digest the disaccharide lactose into its component monosaccharides (glucose and galactose).

Glycemic index

a method of classifying foods according to their potential for raising blood glucose.

Galactose

a monosaccharide; part of the disaccharide lactose.

Fructose

a monosaccharide; sometime known as fruit sugar or levulose. Fructose is found abundantly in fruits, honey and saps.

Glucose

a monosaccharide; sometimes known as blood sugar in the body or dextrose in foods.

Phytic acid

a nonnutrient component of plant seeds; also called phytate. Phytic acid occurs in the husks of grains, legumes and seeds and is capable of binding minerals such as zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium and copper in insoluble complexes in the intestine, which the body excretes unused.

Fasting plasma glucose

a test that measures plasma glucose after a person has fasted (no food or kcaloric beverages) for at least 8 hours

A1C

a test that measures the percentage of hemoglobin that has glucose attached, which helps to diagnose diabetes and evaluate long-term glycemic control

Ketone bodies

acidic compounds produced by the liver during the breakdown of fat when carbohydrate is not available.

Hypoglycemia

an abnormally low blood glucose concentration.

Glycogen

an animal polysaccharide composed of glucose; a storage form of glucose manufactured and stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is not a significant food source of carbohydrate and is not counted as a dietary carbohydrate in foods.

Amylase

an enzyme that hydrolyzes amylose (a form of starch). Amylase is a carbohydrase, an enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates.

Lactase

an enzyme that hydrolyzes lactose

Maltase

an enzyme that hydrolyzes maltose.

Sucrase

an enzyme that hydrolyzes sucrose.

Ketosis

an undesirably high concentration ketone bodies in the blood and urine.

Monosaccharides

carbohydrates of the general formula CnH2nOn that typically form a single ring. The monosaccharides important in nutrition are hexoses, sugars with six atoms of carbon and the formula C6H12O6.

Carbohydrates

compounds composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen arranged as monosaccharides or multiples of monosaccharides. Most, but not all, carbohydrates have a ration of one carbon molecule to one water molecule: (CH2O)n.

Polysaccharides

compounds composed of many monosaccharides linked together. An intermediate string of 3 to 10 monosaccharides is an oligosaccharide.

Prediabetes

condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but below the diagnosis of diabetes, formerly called impaired glucose tolerance.

Dental caries

decay of teeth.

Microaniopathies

disorders of the small blood vessels

Hyperglycemia

elevated blood glucose concentrations

Dietary fibers

in plant foods, the nonstarch polysaccharides that are not digested by human digestive enzymes, although some are digested by GI tract bacteria.

Diabetes

metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose resulting from insufficient insulin, ineffective insulin, or both; complete term is diabetes mellitus. When blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but below the diagnosis of diabetes, the condition is called prediabetes.

Soluble fibers

nonstarch polysaccharides that dissolve in water to form a gel. An example is pectin from fruit, which is used to thicken jellies.

Insoluble fibers

nonstarch polysaccharides that do not dissolve in water. Examples include the tough, fibrous structures found in the strings of celery and the skins of corn kernels.

Disaccharides

pairs of monosaccharides linked together.

Starches

plant polysaccharides composed of many glucose molecules.

Sugars

simple carbohydrates composed of monosaccharides, disaccharides, or both.

Resistant starches

starches that escape digestion and absorption in the small intestine of healthy people.

Artificial sweeteners

sugar substitutes that provide negligible, if any, energy; sometimes called nonnutritive sweeteners.

Sugar alcohols

sugarlike compounds that can be derived from fruits or commercially produced from dextrose; also called polyols. Examples include erythirotl, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol.

Nutritive sweeteners

sweeteners that yield energy, including both sugars and sugar alcohols.

Nonnutritive sweeteners

sweeteners that yield no energy (or insignificant energy in the case of aspartame).

Protein-sparing action

the action of carbohydrate (and fat) in providing energy that allows protein to be used for other purposes.

Acid-base balance

the equilibrium in the body between acid and base concentrations.

Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)

the estimated amount of a sweetener that individuals can safely consume each day over the course of a lifetime without adverse effect.

Glycemic response

the extent to which a food raises the blood glucose concentration and elicits an insulin response.

Fermentable

the extent to which bacteria in the GI tract can break down fibers to fragments that the body can use.

Satiety

the feeling of fullness and satisfaction that occurs after a meal and inhibits eating until the next meal. Satiety determines how much time passes between meals.

Type 1 Diabetes

the less common type of diabetes in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. It usually results from autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells.

Gluconeogenesis

the making of glucose from a non-carbohydrate source such as amino acids or glycerol.

Type 2 Diabetes

the more common type of diabetes in which the cells fail to respond to insulin. It usually accompanies obesity and results from insulin resistance coupled with insufficient insulin secretion.

Hydrolysis

a chemical reaction in which one molecule is split into two molecules, with hydrogen (H) added to one and a hydroxyl group (OH) to the other (From water, H20).

Condensation

a chemical reaction in which water is released as two molecules combine to form one larger product.

Autoimmune disorder

a condition in which the body develops antibodies to its own proteins and then proceeds to destroy cells containing these proteins. In type 1 diabetes, the body develops antibodies to its insulin and destroys the pancreatic cells that produce the insulin, creating an insulin deficiency.

Lactose intolerance

a condition that results from the inability to digest the milk sugar lactose characterized by bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. Lactose intolerance differs from milk allergy, which is caused by an immune reaction to the protein in milk.

Sucrose

a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose; commonly known as table sugar, beet sugar or cane sugar. Sucrose also occurs in many fruits and some vegetables and grains.

Lactose

a disaccharide composed of glucose and glactose; commonly known as milk sugar.

Maltose

a disaccharide composed of two glucose units, sometimes known as malt sugar.