Micronutrients: Vitamins, Minerals, Fluid Balance, and Bone Health

Comprehensive practice flashcards defining core terms across Chapters 12 through 15, covering vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements, fluid balance, and bone health.

Vitamins

Essential, organic dietary components needed in small amounts that do not yield energy directly, but participate in energy-yielding reactions.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

A group of vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, and K) that require dietary fat for absorption, are transported in chylomicrons, and are stored in the liver and adipose tissue.

Water-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamins (Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin C, and Choline) absorbed directly into the bloodstream and readily excreted in urine, with limited body storage (except B-6 and B-12).

Grain Enrichment

The mandatory restoration of specific nutrients—thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and iron—to refined grains that have lost their husk, germ, and bran.

Major Minerals

Essential inorganic dietary elements required by the body in amounts greater than $100\,\text{mg/day}$.

Trace Minerals

Essential inorganic dietary elements required by the body in amounts less than $100\,\text{mg/day}$.

Ultratrace Minerals

Essential inorganic dietary elements required by the body in amounts less than $1\,\text{mg/day}$.

Phytic Acid (Phytate)

A mineral-binding compound found in dietary fiber of whole grains and legumes that reduces the bioavailability of minerals such as iron and zinc.

Oxalic Acid (Oxalate)

A plant component found in leafy green vegetables that binds to minerals like calcium and iron, reducing their absorption.

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA)

Legislation that classified dietary supplements as "foods," shifting responsibility to the manufacturer to ensure safety and truthful labeling without mandatory premarket FDA safety or efficacy approvals.

75-Day Rule

A DSHEA requirement stipulating that supplement manufacturers must notify the FDA at least $75$ days before introducing a new dietary ingredient that was not sold in the United States prior to October 15, 1994.

Structure/Function Claims

Dietary supplement claims that describe how a product affects the body's structure or function; they do not require pre-approval by the FDA but must carry a mandatory disclaimer.

Functional Foods

Whole, processed, or engineered foods containing components like phytochemicals or prebiotics that provide health and disease-prevention benefits beyond basic nutrition.

Coenzymes

Small organic molecules that serve as cofactors, combining with inactive enzymes to form active enzymes that function in energy metabolism.

Beriberi

The deficiency disease of thiamin (vitamin B-1) characterized by peripheral neuropathy, muscle pain and tenderness, heart enlargement, edema, anorexia, and confusion.

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

A severe thiamin deficiency seen mainly in heavy alcohol abusers, causing visual disturbances, ataxia, confabulation, and apathy.

Ariboflavinosis

Riboflavin (vitamin B-2) deficiency characterized by inflammation of the throat, mouth (stomatitis), tongue (glossitis), cracking around mouth corners (angular cheilitis), and moist, red scaly skin (seborrheic dermatitis).

Pellagra

The deficiency disease of niacin (vitamin B-3) characterized by the 3 Ds: dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia, and potentially a fourth D: death.

Avidin

A protein present in raw egg whites that binds biotin and limits its absorption, potentially leading to biotin deficiency if consumed raw in large quantities.

Dietary Folate Equivalents (DFE)

A unit of measure reflecting the difference in absorption and bioavailability between natural food folate and synthetic folic acid.

Megaloblastic (Macrocytic) Anemia

Anemia resulting from impaired DNA synthesis where red blood cells fail to divide normally and remain large and immature; caused by a deficiency of folate or vitamin B-12.

Spina Bifida

A common neural tube defect resulting in developmental failure of the spinal column, associated with maternal folate deficiency and leading to paralysis, hydrocephalus, or learning disabilities.

Pernicious Anemia

Anemia caused by impaired vitamin B-12 absorption due to defects in the stomach or small intestine, such as a lack of intrinsic factor.

Goitrogens

Compounds present in raw vegetables that decrease the bioavailability of dietary iodine.

Electrolytes

Electrically charged mineral ions (such as $\text{Na}^+$, $\text{K}^+$, and $\text{Cl}^-$) dissolved in body fluids that balance fluid compartments, transmit nerve impulses, and facilitate muscle contractions.

Hyponatremia

A condition in which excess water dilutes sodium levels in the serum, pulling water into cells and causing cellular swelling, headache, seizures, or coma.

Hypokalemia

A severe depletion of blood potassium, often caused by fluid losses from vomiting, diarrhea, or diuretics, that can lead to abnormal heart rhythms.

DASH Diet

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, poultry, fish, and nuts, which helps lower blood pressure by reducing sodium while increasing potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Heme Iron

The iron form bound to hemoglobin and myoglobin found exclusively in animal flesh, which possesses a higher absorption rate than nonheme iron.

Meat Protein Factor (MPF)

A dietary factor found in animal tissue that enhances the intestinal absorption of dietary iron.

Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia

Anemia resulting from iron deficiency characterized by red blood cells that are smaller and paler than normal RBCs.

Phylloquinones

The plant-derived form of vitamin K (vitamin K1) essential for blood coagulation and bone metabolism.

Menaquinones

The form of vitamin K (vitamin K2) obtained from fish oils, meats, and bacterial synthesis in the human colon.

Compact Bone (Cortical Bone)

The outer, dense shell of bone that makes up approximately $75\%$ of total skeletal mass.

Spongy Bone (Trabecular Bone)

The inner, hard spongy network of bone where active remodeling occurs and minerals move in and out.

Osteopenia

A bone condition characterized by low bone mineral density and reduced bone mass that is less severe than osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis

A bone disease characterized by significantly decreased bone density and total mass, leading to porous, fragile bones that are susceptible to fractures.

Calcitriol

The biologically active hormonal form of vitamin D synthesized by the kidneys that increases intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus.

Free Radicals

Unstable compounds containing one or more unpaired electrons that seek electrons from other molecules, inducing cellular damage and oxidative stress.

Alpha-Tocopherol

The most biologically active chemical form of vitamin E that functions as a fat-soluble antioxidant donating electrons to stop free radical chain reactions.

Scurvy

The deficiency disease of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) characterized by anemia, bleeding gums, joint pain, weak bones, poor wound healing, and impaired collagen synthesis.

Retinoids

Preformed, active chemical forms of vitamin A (retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid) found predominantly in liver, fish, fortified milk, and eggs.

Carotenoids

Yellow-orange pigments found in plants (such as beta-carotene) that function as provitamins, which the body converts into active vitamin A.