NTRN Exam 1: Nutritional Foundations

What is good nutrition? What does it mean when concerning children?

• Nutritional needs change dramatically with age 

  • Good nutrition is defined and looks different at all life stages (young vs old) 

    • Definition varies 

    • But generally speaking good nutrition is obtaining adequate nutrition and energy intakes to meet an individuals daily requirements 

      • Key to healthy growth and development at every age 

Diverse diet, appropriate caloric intake, well-rounded (not focusing on one food group), focusing on what may be important for your stage of life, catering to lifestyle

• When concerning children → very parent focused (their responsibility) 

  • Infants should not have diversity in their diet

  • Motor and physical development plays a huge role in an infant's diet 

    • Ability to chew and eat different foods 

What do nutrient dense foods help an individual grow and develop?

• Nutrient dense foods help an individual grow and develop 

  • Physically 

  • socially/emotionally 

  • Cognitively 

What does it mean to be nutrient dense?

• Nutrient Dense: ratio of how many healthy nutrients to calories/energy in a food or beverage 

  • Ex: 370 calorie Frappuccino vs 370 calories in a banana, pb, and yogurt snack  

What are the 10 principles of human nutrition?

1. Food is a basic need of humans 

2. Foods provide calories (energy), nutrients, and other substances needed for growth and health

3. Health problems related to nutrition originate within cells

4. poor nutrition can result from both inadequate and excessive levels of nutrient intake

5. Humans have adoptive mechanisms for managing fluctuations in food intake

6. Malnutrition can result from poor diets, disease states, genetic factors or combinations of these causes

7. Some groups of people are at higher risk of becoming inadequately nourished than others

8. Poor Nutrition can influence the development of multiple chronic diseases

9. Adequacy, variety and balance are key characteristics of a healthy diet

10. There are no good or bad foods

Explain Nutrition Principle 1

• Nutrition Principle 1

  • Food is a basic need of humans 

    • Maslow's hierarchy of needs 

      • Needed for sustaining life → access of food is very important 

What is food security?

Food security: having access at all times to a sufficient supply of safe, nutritious food

What is food insecurity?

• Food insecurity: limited or uncertain availability of safe, nutritious foods

  • >40 million americans are food insecure 

  • College students → high prevalence of food insecurity

Explain Nutrition Principle #2

Foods provide calories (energy), nutrients, and other substances needed for growth and health

What are calories?

• Food contains nutrients that are broken down during digestion to provide energy

  • Calories are not nutrients

• What is a calorie?

  • A unit of measure describing the amount of energy transferred from food to the body 

    • How much energy is being produced when those nutrients are being broken down → describes that transfer

What is a nutrient?

a nutrient is a chemical substance present in a food or beverage that is used by the body for growth, development, reproduction and maintenance of health

What is the classification of nutrients based on?

• Quantity required by the human body

• Ability of the human body to prudence sufficient quantities to meet daily requirements

What are the two classifications of nutrients?

1. Macronutrients (need large amounts) 

   • Carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids/fats

2. Micronutrients (need small amounts to optimize human growth and development)

   • Vitamins and Minerals

   • There are periods of time during the life span where we have to optimize heavily on some of these vitamins and minerals 

     • Folate during pregnancy 

What are essential and non-essential nutrients?

• Non-essential (don't need to consume it bc our body can produce enough of that nutrient)

• Essential (our body can produce some but not enough to optimize health and wellbeing so it is essential in the diet)

  • Ex: Vitamin D and B-12

What are the three macronutrients?

1. carbohydrates

2. protein

3. fats/lipids

Describe Carbohydrates.

• Carbohydrates 

  • Body's primary and preferred energy source

  • If not available, resort to fat and/or protein 

How are carbs classified?

• Classified based on structure

  • Simple carbs (sugars) → carbs that contain one or two sugar units 

    • Digested quickly and easily because they have a simple structure

    • Ex: pasta, donuts

  • Complex carbs (polysaccharides) 

    • Contain more than two sugar units that are bound together → large structures → take longer to digest 

    • Digested slowly by the body and will raise slowly and drop slowly 

      • Better than the fast rise and crash of simple sugars 

    • Ex: fruits (apples and bananas), whole grain starches

How many calories/gram do carbohydrates provide?

Regardless of the structure they provide the same amount of calories per gram → 4 kcal/g → but the way it affects your body is different depending on whether it is a simple or complex carb

What are amino acids? How many are there?

• Amino Acids: building blocks of protein

  • We have 20 of them → some are essential (needed in the diet) and some are non essential (body makes enough)

  • There are 9 essential amino acids and 11 non essential amino acids

What does high protein quality provide?

• Protein quality

  • High quality protein provide all 9 essentials amino acids 

    • Quinoa, buckwheat, some forms of soy (not many of them)

How many calories/gram does protein provide?

Provides 4 kcal/g

Will the body use protein for energy?

No. The body will try not to use protein for energy because it is such an integral structure in the body.

What are the functions of fats/lipids?

Functions: structure of cell membranes, insulator, vitamin absorption, energy supply, and storage

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides: fat molecule composed of glycerol backbone with 3 fatty acids attached

How many calories/gram do fats/lipids provide?

Provide 9 kcal/gram → dense form of energy for the human body

What is a fatty acid?

• Fatty acid: hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group (COOH)

  • Every carbon molecule needs 4

What does hydrocarbon chain bonding determine?

1. the structure of the fatty acid

2. its function in the human body

3. its impact on health

Discuss Saturated Fatty Acids

• Saturated Fatty Acid: contains 0 double binds in the hydrocarbon chain 

  • We want to limit our intake of saturated fats because they increase our bad LDL cholesterol

    • There are a few specific saturated fats that have positive health altitudes but for the most parts they are unhealthy 

    • If we are eating a lot of saturated fat the bad cholesterol tends to stick and creates plaque in the heart and leads to blocked arteries which can lead to heart attack and stroke 

Discuss monounsaturated fats

• Monounsaturated fat: contain 1 double bond in the hydrocarbon chain 

  • They help decrease the bad cholesterol LDL and help prevent plaque buildup in our arteries 

  • Food Sources: oils (olive, canola, safflower, sunflower), avocados, nuts, etc

Discuss polyunsaturated fats

• Polyunsaturated fats: 2+ double bond in the hydrocarbon chain 

  • They also help decrease that bad LDL cholesterol → prevents buildup of plaque in our arteries

  • Food Source: 

    • Not that common in western diet

Is the human body able to synthesize all of the fats it needs?

• Human body can synthesize most of the fats it needs 

  • Exception: 2 fatty acids → essential fatty acids (our body produces very minimal amounts of them but are key for optimizing growth in development especially in children)

    • Alpha-linolenic Acid (omega 3 fatty acid)

    • Linoleic Acid (Omega 6 fatty acid)

      • These are polyunsaturated fatty acids 

    • Most adults do not consume adequate levels of omega 3 fatty acids 

Why is omega 3 so important to incorporate into the diet?

• Why is it so important (omega 3)

  • Omega 3 is important for brain development → critical for fetal brain development especially because the fetal brain grows so incredibly fast

What are the two types of micronutrients?

1. vitamins

2. minerals

What are vitamins?

Vitamins: organic compounds needed in small quantities by the body for growth, development, and health maintenance

How are vitamins classified?

• Classified by solubility 

  • Water soluble vitamins 

  • Fat soluble vitamins (need fats and lipids to be absorbed)

What are minerals? How many of them are there?

• Minerals: chemical elements required in small quantities by the body to develop and perform functions necessary for life 

  • There are 15: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, fluoride, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, sodium, potassium, chloride

What factors impact nutrient needs?

• Growth, age, environment, underlying health conditions (burns, food allergies, heart disease, celiac disease, kidney disease → limits what you can eat), lifestyle (type of occupation, physical activity), genetics (activity of enzymes and functional proteins; food likes, dislikes, preferences, chromosomal differences like down syndrome), medications (laxatives → does not allow absorption of nutrients, antibiotics → wipes out healthy bacteria in the gut that are needed to absorb nutrients and can lead to malabsorption), pregnancy, body size, lactation

What is homeostasis?

Homeostasis: constancy of internal environment → adequate nutrition needed to maintain cell health both within cells and in the environment surrounding cells

What is nutritional principle 3?

Health problems related to nutrition originate within cells

What is nutrition principle 4?

Malnutrition → poor nutrition can result from both inadequate and excessive levels of nutrient intake

• Prolonged inadequate intake → deficiency diseases 

• Overdoses of nutrients → mild to severe alterations in functioning; many chronic diseases (obesity, heart disease)

What is nutritional principle 5?

humans have adoptive mechanisms for managing fluctuations in food intake

• When possible the human body will always try to store nutrients for reserves 

  • Nutrient storage 

  • The body is not that good at storing some nutrients like: water soluble vitamins → can only store small quantities in the human body but not sufficient to carry us for an extended period of time 

• Regulation of absorption

• Regulation of appetite

Discuss the appetite of an infant and toddler.

• From 2-5 infant and toddler appetite ebbs and flows 

  • Appetite increases prior to a growth spurt and then it decreases

  • This is the body's natural mechanism of helping the child have an appropriate food intake

What is nutrition principle 6?

• Malnutrition can result from poor diets, disease states, genetic factors or combinations of these causes 

  • Primary malnutrition → dietary in origin 

  • Secondary malnutrition → precipitated by a disease state, surgical procedure, medication or other non dietary cause

What is nutrition principle 7?

• Some groups of people are at higher risk of becoming inadequately nourished than others 

  • Ex: elderly, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, infants (especially with health conditions), children, people who are ill

What is nutrition principle 8?

• Poor Nutrition can influence the development of multiple chronic diseases

  • Many chronic diseases share similar nutrition related risk factors (eg, inadequate FV intake, excessive intakes of energy, added sugars, sodium

    • Ex: Heart disease, hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes

What is nutrition principle 9?

• Adequacy, variety and balance are key characteristics of a healthy diet

  • Healthy dietary patterns 

  • Nutrient dense foods 

  • Avoid empty calorie foods (soda, donuts etc)

What is nutrition principle 10?

• There are no good or bad foods 

  • All foods can fit into a healthful diet 

    • If calorie intake maintains healthy body weight

What do dietary guidelines for Americans do?

• Dietary guidelines for americans: provide evidence based food and beverage recommendations for americans ages 2 and older 

• Recommendations aim to promote health and prevent chronic disease

• Significant impact on nutrition in the US 

  • Forms basis for federal nutrition policies and programs 

  • Helps guide local, state, and national health initiatives 

• Updated every 5 years to reflect latest nutrition research

What are dietary reference intakes (DRIs)?

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): general term for a set of reference values used to plan assess nutrient intakes of healthy people

What is the recommended dietary allowance (RDA)?

Recommended dietary allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (98%) healthy individuals in a particular life stage and gender group

What is adequate intake (AI)?

• Adequate intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA; set at a level assumed to enure nutritional adequacy 

  • Dietary fiber, sodium, potassium, biotin etc

What is estimated average requirement (EAR)?

Estimated average requirement (EAR): average daily nutrient intake level estimated to meet the requirements of half of the health individuals in a group

Do all nutrients have and RDA?

• Some nutrients don't have enough research to know the RDA 

• RDA is highest quality recommendation, then EAR, and lastly AI

What is tolerable upper intake level (UL)?

• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): Maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects 

  • The max we can eat before we start to see adverse effects or toxicity