clinical nutrition terms

nutrition

science that studies how nutrients & compounds in foods nourish & affect body functions & health

essential nutrients

• water

• vitamins

• minerals

• carbohydrates (4 kcal/g)

• proteins (4 kal/g)

• lipids (9 kal/g)

water

essential for all body nutrients

vitamins

support various biochemical functions

minerals

important for structural & regulatory functions

carbohydrates (4 kcal/g)

primary source of energy

proteins (4 kal/g)

build & repair tissues

lipids (9 kal/g)

provie long-term energy, protect organs

social ecological model

• policy

• community

• interpersonal

• individual

nonessential nutrients

• nutrients that the body makes

two types of truth

1. personal truth

2. evidence-based truth

the science of nutrition

• ask questions

• experiment

• review by peers

• publish in journals

• duplicate to validate

types of nutrition research

• epidemiological studies

  • observational studies where scientists observe patterns, causes, & effects

• laboratory studies

  • experiments conducted in controlled environments

• controlled trials

  • scientists make specific changes to the participants’ diets to see how those changes affect them

nutrition quackery

making exaggerated claims about the health benefits of certain foods or supplements without scientific backing

alternative medicine

• genuine

• experimental

• questionable

tactics of quackery

• recommendations that promise a quick fix

• putting down traditional medicine

• claim that sounds too good to be true

evidence-based scientific perspective on nutrition

nutrition science integrates multiple lines of evidence to understand diet–health relationships

according to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), who is responsible for the determining that a dietary supplement is safe and the claims made are not false or misleading?

supplement manufacturer & promoter

factor most commonly limits the interpretation of long-term dietary controlled trials?

difficulty controlling complex, changing diets over time

which limitation is most inherent to epidemiological studies in nutrition research?

difficulty establishing causality due to confounding variables

• epidemiological studies observe associations but cannot control all confounders or establish cause and effect.