Nutrition
Chapiter Objectives:
Explain the importance of good nutrition. List and define the six basic nutrients. Describe the FOOD GUIDE
PYRAMID.

Daniel Brito
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Nutrition
• Menu planners must have a basic understanding of nutrition. • A food service worker’s responsibility is to serve nutritional food and a well-balanced menu.

The science of how living beings use the nutrients in food for nourishment. How does your body uses the food you eat to stay alive, to grow, to support good health and to make you look and feel good.

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Nutrition
Nutrition affects your

Appearance:
Behaviour:

to be thin or fat (anorexia, bulimia...)

eat in a restaurant, in home, with friends, family, alone

Abilities: to grow, body running...

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Nutrition
Certain chemical compounds that are present in foods:

n Supply energy for body functions n Build and replace cells that makeup body tissues n Regulate body processes

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The Six Basic Nutrients

Macronutrients:
Proteins 17%
– After water, the most plentiful nutrient in the body
Carbohydrates 1.5%
– The body’s main source of fuel
Fats 13.8%
– Concentrated sources of energy
Water 65- 75% (61.6)
– Solvent, help digestion, transport waste, regulate temp.
Micronutrients:
Vitamins
– Essential nutrients for health not produced by the body
Minerals 6.1%
– Builds muscle, bones, teeth & hair
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Nutrients role in the body

Growth &
Maintenance

Proteins, minerals & water

Provide energy

Carbohydrates, fats & proteins

Regulate body processes Vitamins

Transport nutrients Water, fats

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Proteins
• Proteins are the building blocks of the body
• Proteins are necessary for manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing body tissues
• Proteins regulate the balance of water, acids, and bases and move nutrients in and out of cells.
°15% of the dairy Kcal. 1gr = 4Kcal.
- High biological value - Complete Proteins (animal origin). Contain all essential amino-acids: Egg, meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, crustaceans, shell fish, game meat and soy proteins
- Low biological value - Incomplete Proteins (plant origin). Low in some essential amino-acids: Beans (-methionine), cereals (-lysine), vegetable and fruits (- aminoacids + vitamins)

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Proteins
°Deficit: Is one of the most important cause of illness and death in the Third World.
Kwashiorkor: produce mental retardation
°Excess: The left over of the proteins are metabolized and keep like sugar or fatty acids.
If we eat too much proteins for long time: kidney disease, low calcium balance and low bone volume, Colorectal Cancer.
°Digestion: Depends of the type of protein but the digestion start in the stomach and the absorption is produced in the stomach jejunum and ileum.

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Carbohydrates
•
•
•

Consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
Supplies energy for physical activity, body process & warmth
55-65% of the dairy Kcal. 1gr = 4 Kcal.

•

Simple carbohydrates or monosaccharides (1 molecule):
– Glucose & Fructose (fruits and honey)
– Galactose (dairy products, sugar beets)

•

Double carbohydrates or disaccharides (2 molecules):
– Sucrose = Glucose + Fructose (sugar)
– Lactose = Galactose + Glucose (milk)

•

Oligosaccharides (3-10 molecules):
– Inulin & oligo- and fructooligosaccharide (onions, bananas, garlic)
° Polysaccharides (>10 molecules):
– Cellulose, starch, glycogen, pectin, mucilage… (vegetables, fruits, cereals –all kind of fiber-)

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Carbohydrates
°Deficit: Colorectal cancer ( if we don’t eat enough fiber),