Nutritional Requirements, Diet, and Weight Management

Practice vocabulary flashcards defining key nutritional components, dietary reference standards, metabolic concepts, and eating disorders based on lecture notes.

Essential Nutrients

Substances the body must obtain from food because it cannot manufacture them at all or in the quantities needed for proper body function.

Macronutrient

An essential nutrient that the body requires in relatively large amounts, including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and water.

Micronutrients

Essential nutrients required by the body in smaller amounts, specifically vitamins and minerals.

Amino Acids

The building blocks of proteins, consisting of $9$ essential amino acids that must come from the diet and $11$ non-essential amino acids produced by the body.

Complete Protein Sources

Foods that supply all $9$ essential amino acids in adequate amounts, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, and cheese.

Incomplete Protein Sources

Foods that do not supply adequate amounts of all $9$ essential amino acids, commonly found in plant sources such as nuts and beans.

Triglycerides

The primary chemical form of fat in the diet and body, composed of $3$ chains of fatty acids connected to a central glycerol head.

Saturated Fat

A type of fat that is solid at room temperature and generally found in animal products.

Unsaturated Fat

A type of fat derived mostly from plant sources that remains liquid at room temperature; divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Hydrogenation

A chemical process used to turn unsaturated vegetable oil into a more solid form to improve texture, increase stability, and extend shelf life.

Trans Fat

An unsaturated fatty acid with an atypical shape produced via hydrogenation, known to produce a double negative effect by increasing LDL and decreasing HDL.

Glycogen

The storage form of glucose found in muscle tissue and the liver.

Whole Grains

Unprocessed grains that consist of an inner germ layer, a middle endosperm layer, and an outer bran layer.

Refined Carbohydrates

Grains that have had their germ and bran removed during processing, retaining the calorie-rich portion but losing fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Glycemic Index

A measure of how food options affect blood sugar; high glycemic index foods trigger rapid and significant surges in blood glucose and insulin levels.

Soluble Fiber

A type of non-digestible carbohydrate that delays stomach emptying, slows the absorption of glucose into the blood, and reduces cholesterol absorption.

Insoluble Fiber

A type of non-digestible carbohydrate that increases fecal bulk and helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, and other digestive disorders.

Vitamins

Carbon-containing organic micronutrients needed in small amounts to regulate various cellular processes, comprising $4$ fat-soluble and $9$ water-soluble forms.

Minerals

Inorganic micronutrients required in relatively small amounts for regulation of physiological functions, body tissue maintenance, and growth.

Kilocalorie

A unit of energy in food representing the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of $1\,\text{liter}$ of water by $1^\circ\text{C}$.

Free Radicals

Chemically unstable compounds that react with fats, proteins, and DNA, damaging cell membranes, mutating genes, and contributing to aging, cancer, and CVD.

Antioxidants

Compounds present in foods that block the formation and action of free radicals, including vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids.

Phytochemicals

Naturally occurring substances found in plant foods that can aid in preventing and treating chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Daily Values

A simplified quantitative version of Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) created by the FDA for food labels, based on a $2{,}000\text{-calorie}$ daily diet.

Functional Fortified Foods

Foods to which health-promoting or disease-preventing components have been deliberately added, such as iodized salt or calcium-fortified orange juice.

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

The energy required by the body while at rest to sustain vital functions such as respiration, blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, accounting for $65\text{--}70\%$ of daily expenditure.

Leptin

A hormone produced by fat cells that informs the brain about the body's fat reserves, thereby modulating appetite regulation and metabolic rate.

Energy Density

The number of calories contained per ounce or gram of weight in a given food.

Body Image

The mental representation an individual holds regarding their body, incorporating personal attitudes, perceptions, emotions, and physical self-assessments.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

An extreme form of negative body image characterized by excessive concern with appearance and an inability to stop thinking about perceived physical flaws or defects.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by self-starvation, an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, and a refusal to maintain minimal healthy body weight.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder marked by recurring cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as purging to prevent weight gain.

Purging

Compensatory methods utilized to prevent weight gain after eating, including self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or diet pills.

Binge Eating Disorder

An eating disorder characterized by repeated episodes of uncontrollable rapid eating, eating when not hungry, or eating alone, without regular purging.