NUTRITION

What is nutrition, and why does it matter?

Nutrition is the study of nutrients in food, how the body uses them, and the relationship between diet, health, and disease.Nutrients provide nourishment. Proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water are all nutrients. If people do not have the right balance of nutrients in their diet, their risk of developing certain health conditions increases.(https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160774)

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What is a calorie?Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEQaH4LruUo

A calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperatu-re of one gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Calories in food provide energy in the form of heat so that our bodies can function. Our bodies store and "burn" calories as fuel.

A calorie isn't actually a thing, it's a unit of measurement. A calorie measures the amount of energy in the food and bevera-ges that we consume. We all need this energy to live and stay healthy. Everything we do relies on the energy that comes in the form of calories.

The food we eat becomes the fuel that runs our bodies. Healthy food provides calories (energy) and important nu-trients to build strong bones and muscles. Drinks also contain calories. But not all calories are healthy. Sodas, for example, are often referred to as "empty calories." That means that they provide calories but have no other nutritional value.

Calories in food provide essential energy, but if you consume too many you will gain weight. Excess calories are stored as body fat. Your body needs some stored fat to stay healthy. But too much fat can cause health problems.

So how do you make sure that you don't eat too many calori-es? It's important that you understand your caloric needs. That is the number of calories your body needs to perform basic metabolic functions and daily physical activities. You can calculate your caloric needs using simple formulas or onli-ne calculators.

The main food groups.(https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/food-pyramids-plates-and-guides-building-a-balanced-diet)

Most dietary guidelines group foods into different categories, such as fruits and vegetables, grains and starches, protein rich foods, dairy foods, fats and oils, and foods to be limited. Each food group will provide different proportions of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. These so-called macronutrients are the main building blocks of our diet. Macronutrients provide energy and allow for normal growth and development. Different food groups contain varying amounts of macronutrients, but usually one or two dominate. For example, potatoes contain mostly carbohydra-tes, meat contains both proteins and fat, and beans contain car-bohydrates and proteins. This composition also determines which food group food will belong to. In addition to the macro-nutrients, each food group will provide different proportions of vitamins and minerals, also called micronutrients, which are re-quired in much smaller amounts and which support the proper functioning of our bodies. By consuming foods from all levels in the pyramid, we get all the important nutrients our bodies need. For example, dairy products can help provide calcium to support bone health, and consuming enough fruits and vegetables will supply vitamin C to support a healthy immune system. Excluding certain food groups from the diet increases the risk of getting too little or too much of some macronutrients, but also too little of the wide range of vitamins and minerals essential for healthy living. Additionally, it is crucial to think about portion sizes to avoid over- or undereating.

Most European countries have developed food-based dietary gui-delines (FBDGs), or, simply, healthy food recommendations, for their populations. They provide “advice on foods, food groups and dietary patterns to provide the required nutrients to the ge-neral public to promote overall health and prevent chronic disea-

ses”. 1 Some countries provide a graphic representation, such as a food pyramid or a plate, to illustrate and sum-up the advice.

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Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients in our diet (fat and protein being the others). They exist in many forms and are mainly found in starchy foods such as bread, pasta, and rice, as well as in some beverages, e.g. fruit juices and sugar-sweetened drinks.Carbohydrates represent the most important source of energy for the body, and are vital for a varied and balanced diet.

(https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/article/the-basics-carbohydrates)

Alongside fat and protein, carbohydrates are one of the three ma-cronutrients in our diet with their main function being to provi-de energy to the body. They occur in many different forms, like sugars and dietary fibre, and in many different foods, such as who-le grains, fruit and vegetables.

At their most basic, carbohydrates are made of building blocks of sugars, and can be classified according to how many sugar units are combined in their molecule. Glucose, fructose and ga-lactose are examples of single-unit sugars, also known as mono-saccharides. Double-unit sugars are called disaccharides, among which sucrose (table sugar) and lactose (milk sugar) are most wi-dely known. Monosaccharides and disaccharides are usually refer-red to as simple carbohydrates. Long-chain molecules, such as starches and dietary fibres, are known as complex carbohydrates. In reality, though, there are more distinct differences.

Carbohydrates are an essential part of our diet. Most impor-tantly, they provide the energy for the most obvious functions of our body, such as moving or thinking, but also for the ‘background’ functions that most of the time we do not even no-tice1. During digestion, carbohydrates that consist of more than one sugar get broken down into their monosaccharides by digesti-ve enzymes, and then get directly absorbed causing a glycaemic response. The body uses glucose directly as energy source in muscle, brain and other cells.

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Proteins

Proteins are essential for life. Without them, the functioning and structure of living cells would be impossible. Proteins are responsible for functions like growth and repair, for hormonal and enzymatic activities, they make up our antibodies, and form our muscles.

(https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/category/proteins/)

Protein rich foods are an important energy source. Also, they are essential for building our own proteins, as not all amino-acids (the building blocks of proteins) can be made from scratch, they must come from our food. All foods contain some protein, but the amount and quality vary widely. 

Proteins are made up of many different amino acids linked toget-her. There are twenty different of these amino acid building blocks commonly found in plants and animals. A typical protein is made up of 300 or more amino acids and the specific number and sequence of amino acids are unique to each protein. Amino acids are classified as either essential or non-essential. As the na-me suggests, essential amino acids cannot be produced by the body and therefore must come from our diet. Whereas, non-es-sential amino acids can be produced by the body and therefore do not need to come from the diet.

Our bodies are made up of thousands of different proteins, each with a specific function. They make up the structural compo-nents of our cells and tissues as well as many enzymes, hormones and the active proteins secreted from immune cells.

Protein can be found in both plant and animal-based foods. Figu-re 2 shows the protein content found in a typical serving of com-mon animal and plant-based foods. There is a common miscon-ception that plant-based proteins completely lack certain essen-tial amino acids. In fact, most plant-based proteins will contain all 20 amino acids but tend to have a limited amount of certain essential amino acids, known as their limiting amino acid(s). This

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means, if a small number of plant foods are consumed as the only protein sources, they are unlikely to supply enough essential ami-no acids to meet our requirements.  For people who consume little to no animal-based foods, such as vegans or vegetarians, it is important that they consume protein from sources with com-plementary limiting amino acids. For example, consuming rice (limited in lysine and thiamine but high in methionine) and beans (limited in methionine, but high in lysine and thiamine) will provide complementary amino acids that can help meet es-sential amino acid requirements.

In general, Europeans eat enough protein and deficiency is rare among most developed countries.

The food choices we make not only affect our health they also affect the environment. In general, animal-based proteins such as beef, dairy, and lamb have a higher environmental impact (i.e. uses more resources and produces more greenhouse gases) com-pared to plant-based sources such as soy, peas and lentils (figure 4).9 While it is not necessary or recommended to completely avoid animal-based foods, shifting dietary patterns to include mo-re plant-based protein sources, can benefit our health and the planet.10 Sustainable eating is more than just choosing sustainab-le protein-rich foods, for more tips on how you can live a more sustainable life see tips to eat a healthy and sustainable diet and tips to reduce food waste.

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Fats

Fats are important for good health and proper functioning of the body. They are an important source of energy, they enhance the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, and build all our cell membranes. Our brains are mainly made of fats.

(https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/category/fats/)

A balanced intake of fats is important, as too little or too much, or the wrong type of fat, may negatively affect our health. Adults should get a recommended 20-35% of their energy intake from fat. Less than 10% should come from saturated fat, and trans-fats should be avoided.

Dietary fats are naturally occurring molecules that are part of our diet. They belong to a larger group of compounds named li-pids that also include waxes, sterols (e.g. cholesterol) and fat-so-luble vitamins. However, this distinction is not always clear, and

sometimes the term fats also include other lipids, such as chole-sterol.

Dietary fats molecules originate from plants and animals. In plants, they are found in seeds (e.g. rapeseed, cottonseed, sun-flower, peanut, corn and soybean), fruits (e.g. olive, palm fruit and avocado) and nuts (e.g. walnuts and almonds). Common ani-mal fat sources are meat, (oily) fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel), eggs and milk. Both plant, or, as often called, vegetable fats, and ani-mal fats can be consumed as they naturally occur, but also indi-rectly, for example in pastry and sauces, where they are used to improve texture and taste. Milk yields many popular animal fat

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products, such as cheese, butter, and cream. Apart from milk, ani-mal fat is extracted primarily from rendered tissue fats obtained from livestock animals.

Dietary fats, together with carbohydrates and proteins, are the main source of energy in the diet, and have a number of other im-portant biological functions. Besides being structural compo-nents of cells and membranes in our bodies (e.g. our brain con-sists mainly of fats), they are carriers of fat-soluble vitamins from our diet. Fat metabolites are involved in processes such as neural development and inflammatory reactions. When stored, body fat

provides energy when the body requires, it cushions and protects vital organs, and helps to insulate the body.

The lipid cholesterol, found in products like cheese, eggs, meat, and shell fish, is essential for the fluidity and permeability of the membranes of body cells. It is also the precursor of vitamin D, some hormones, and bile salts, which enhance the absorption of fats in the intestine.

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Dietary Fibre

Although dietary fibre is not a ‘nutrient’, it is nevertheless an important component of our diets. The fact that it passes through the body without being absorbed is the main reason why fibre is so important.

(https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/article/dietary-fibre-whats-its-role-in-a-healthy-diet)

Dietary fibre or ‘roughage’ comprises the edible parts of plant that cannot be digested or absorbed in the small intestine and passes into the large intestine intact. This includes non-starch polysaccharides (e.g. cellulose, hemicellulose, gums, pectins), oli-gosaccharides (e.g. inulin), lignin and associated plant substances (e.g. waxes, suberin). The term dietary fibre also includes a type of starch known as resistant starch (found in pulses, partly-milled seeds and grains, some breakfast cereals) because it resists dige-stion in the small intestine and reaches unchanged the large inte-stine.

Dietary fibre is found in fruits (pears, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, oranges), vegetable (brussel sprouts, articho-ke, onion, garlic, corn, peas, green beans, broccoli), pulses (len-tils, chickpeas, beans) and wholegrains (all bran and oat bran ce-reals, whole and mixed grain breads).

Dietary fibre is often categorized according to its solubility into soluble or insoluble. Both types of fibre are found in different proportions in fibre-containing foods. Good sources of soluble fibre are oats, barley, fruit, vegetable and pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas). Wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread are rich sources of insoluble fibre.

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Vitamines and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are nutrients that we only need in small amounts, yet are vital to keep our body functioning properly. We should be able to get most of our needs through a balanced diet.

(https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/vitamins-minerals.html)

Vitamins and minerals make people's bodies work properly. Alt-hough you get vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat eve-ry day, some foods have more vitamins and minerals than others.

Vitamins fall into two categories: fat soluble and water soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins — A, D, E, and K — dissolve in fat and can be stored in your body. The water-soluble vitamins — C and the B-complex vitamins (such as vitamins B6, B12, niacin, ribofla-vin, and folate) — need to dissolve in water before your body can absorb them. Because of this, your body can't store these vita-mins. Any vitamin C or B that your body doesn't use as it passes through your system is lost (mostly when you pee). So you need a fresh supply of these vitamins every day.

Whereas vitamins are organic substances (made by plants or ani-mals), minerals are inorganic elements that come from the soil and water and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. Your body needs larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium, to grow and stay healthy. Other minerals like chromium, copper, io-dine, iron, selenium, and zinc are called trace minerals because you only need very small amounts of them each day.

Vitamins and minerals boost the immune system, support nor-mal growth and development, and help cells and organs do their jobs.

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