Nutrition

Calcium

- Needed for development and maintenance of bones and teeth, transmission of nerve impulses, muscle contraction, and blood clotting.

Carbohydrates

4 calories per gram; a class of energy-giving nutrients that includes starches, sugars, and fiber. Two different types: simple and complex.

Fats

9 calories per gram; a class of energy-giving nutrients and are the main form in which energy is stored in the body.

Proteins

A class of energy-giving nutrients made up of amino acids, which are needed to build and repair body structures and to regulate processes in the body.

Minerals

A class of nutrients that are chemical elements needed for certain processes such as enzyme activity and bone formation (more than 20 minerals are essential in small amount to maintain good health).

Vitamins

A class of nutrients that contain carbon and are needed in small amount to maintain health and allow growth; sometimes added to foods that are low in certain vitamins; classified by whether they dissolve in fat or water, this effects hoe they're taken into the body, used, stored, and eliminated.

Vitamin

A class of nutrients that contain carbon and are needed in small amounts to maintain health and allow growth.

Vegetarian

A dietary pattern that includes few or no animal products.

MyPyramid

A food guidance system that encourages healthy food choices and daily activity.

Nutrient Density

A measure of the nutrients in a food compared with the energy that the food provides for the body.

Omega 3

A polyunsaturated fat found in sea food and some vegetable oils; may provide extra protection against heart disease.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

A set of diet and lifestyle recommendation developed to improve health and reduce nutrition-related disease risk in the U.S. population.

Glucose

A single cellular unit that provides energy for you cells.

Nutrient

A substance in food that provides energy or helps from body tissues and that is necessary for life and growth.

Fiber

A type of complex carbohydrate that provides little energy and cannot be digested by humans; important to health, keeps intestines healthy, prevents constipation, may help prevent colon cancer and heart disease.

Starches

A type of complex carbohydrate; starch eaten in food is broken down by the body into sugars that can be used by the body.

Additives

Also called food additive; a substance added directly to food during processing, as for preservation, coloring, or stabilization.

Limit Certain Types of Nutrients

Although you need fat and carbs, some types are healthier than others. The guidelines recommend low intakes of saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans also indicate that adults who drink alcohol should do so in moderation. The guidelines also provide recommendations on how to prepare, handle, and store food safely.

Cholesterol

Another type of lipid found in all human and animal tissues; needed to make vitamin D, cells membranes, certain hormones and bile. Your body makes cholesterol but you can also consume it.

Fats

Belong to a class of chemical compounds called lipids (fatty or oily substances; do not dissolve in water) Benefits: Essential nutrient; need fat in your diet for body to function properly; fats add texture, flavor, and aroma of our food. Too much fat can increase risk of weight gain, heart disease, and cancer.

Amino Acids

Chains of molecules that are made up of proteins (20 kinds that make up body proteins).

Athletes

Competitive athletes may find that eating specific foods before, during, and after competing can affect their performance. Whatever your sport, exercising is never wise when you have not eaten for a long time. About 2 hours before exercising, you should eat a high-carbohydrate snack, such as half a bagel, a handful of low salt pretzels, or yogurt and fruit. However, eating too much just before exercising may cause nausea and cramping. For an activity lasting longer than one hour, drinking a sports drink containing 6 to 8 percent sugar or 100-300 calories snack during the event will help maintain blood glucose levels.

Fatty Acids and Glycerol

Components that make up large molecules of fat.

Monounsaturated Fats

Fats found in olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil; they are unsaturated fats that contain fatty acids that have only one set of double bonded carbons. Benefits: Diets with lots of this is supposed to lower the risk of heart disease.

Saturated Fats

Fats that are made up of saturated fatty acids; each carbon atom is said to be saturated because it is bonded to as many hydrogen atoms as it is chemically possible.

Unsaturated fats

Fats that are made up of unsaturated fatty acids; the fatty acids are unsaturated because the carbon atoms do not hold the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that is chemically possible.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Fats that contain fatty acids with more than one double bond. (Ex: corn oil, sunflower oil, soy bean oil)

Water

Is necessary for almost every function that keeps you alive. transports nutrients and oxygen through the body & helps to get rid of wastes provides proper environment for the body's chemical reactions to occur, helps regulate the body temperature.

Complex Carbohydrates

Made up of many sugar molecules that are linked together.

Simple Carbohydrates

Made up of single of double sugar molecules.

Sodium

Needed for the regulation of water balance in cells and tissues and for transmission of nerve impulses.

Iron Deficiency

One of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the world.

Nonessential Amino Acids

Other 11 can be made by the body.

Complete proteins

Proteins that contain all of the essential amino acids.

Incomplete proteins

Proteins that have smaller amounts of the essential amino acids.

Balancing Food and Physical Activity

Regular exercise can help you maintain healthy weight by balancing the energy that you take in from food with the energy that your body uses each day. The guidelines recommend that teens get one house of exercise daily.

Metabolism

Requires energy and nutrients; the sum of the chemical processes that take place in your body to keep you alive and active.

Refined Foods

Sugar added to foods such as candy, soda, and cakes.

Double Sugars

Sugars made of two single sugar molecules. (ex: sucrose)

Nutrition

The science or study of food and the ways in which the body uses food

Sugar

The simplest form of a carb.

Six

There are this many classes of nutrients.

Trans fats

Unsaturated fatty acids that are formed when vegetable oils are processed into margarine or shortening; may increase risk of heart disease.

Fat Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin A, D, E, and K

Water Soluble Vitamins

VitaminB1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, Folate, and Biotin.

Glycogen

Your body's quick energy reserve; made of highly branched chains of glucose, which can quickly be broken down into individual glucose units to be used by body cells. If glycogen storage becomes full, body is able to convent carbs from diet into fat.

Mineral

class if nutrients that are chemical elements that are needed for certain body processes, such as enzyme activity and bone formation.

Proteins

help build and repair cells, forms hormones, enzymes, antibodies, and other important molecules; too much consumes protein is stored as fat.

Nutrient Deficiency

is the state of not having enough of a nutrient to maintain good health.

Calories

of food capable of producing such an amount of energy.

Essential Amino Acids

the amino acids must be eaten in your diet since the body cannot make them (9 kinds of amino acids).

DV's (Daily Values)

the recommended daily amount of a nutrient; used on food labels to help people see how a food fits into their diet.

RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances)

the recommended nutrient intakes that will meet the needs of almost all healthy people.

Vegans

vegetarian who leaves out all animal products from the diet.