Nutrition Basics: An Active Approach

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from the lecture notes on nutrition, health, nutrients, and sustainable food systems.

Nutrition

The sum of all processes involved in how organisms obtain nutrients, metabolize them, and use them to support all of life’s processes.

Nutritional Science

The investigation of how an organism is nourished, and how nourishment affects personal health, population health, and planetary health.

Health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Disease

Any abnormal condition that affects the health of an organism and is characterized by specific signs and symptoms.

Health Promotion

Activities and habits such as physical activity, healthy sleep habits, and a healthy diet that can assist in the promotion of health.

Disease Prevention

Activities and habits such as physical activity, healthy sleep habits, and a healthy diet that can assist in the prevention of disease.

Nutrient

A substance required by the body that must be obtained from the diet.

Carbohydrates

Organic molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Two basic forms: simple sugars and complex sugars.

Lipids

A family of organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—they are insoluble in water. Three main types of lipids: triglycerides, phospholipids, and sterols.

Proteins

Macromolecules composed of chains of organic monomeric subunits, called amino acids. Amino acids are simple monomers composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Macronutrient

Nutrients required for bodily function in large amounts. They are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and water.

Micronutrient

Nutrients needed in smaller amounts, such as vitamins and minerals.

Minerals

Solid, inorganic substances that form crystals and are classified as trace or macro.

Vitamins

Either water- or fat-soluble, these non-caloric substances act as enzymes or co-enzymes.

Calorie

A unit of measurement of food energy.

Scientific Method

An organized process of inquiry that involves making an observation, coming up with a hypothesis, conducting a test of that hypothesis, evaluating results, gathering more supporting evidence, and coming up with a conclusion.

Epidemiological Studies

Scientific investigations that define frequency, distribution, and patterns of health events in a population.

Randomized Clinical Trials

Scientific investigations in which a variable is changed between groups of people.

Nutrigenomics

An emerging scientific discipline that studies how nutrients affect gene expression and how genes affect our nutritional requirements.

Epigenetics

A rapidly advancing scientific field in which researchers study how nongene factors affect gene expression.

Life Cycle

The stages of life one passes through until death.

Socioeconomic Status

A person or group’s social standing or class, often measured by a combination of three variables: income, occupation, and education.

Sustainable Food System

A system that can meet the needs of the current generation while providing food for generations to come without negatively impacting the environment. Attributes including availability, accessibility, affordability to all, humane, and just.