Nutrition and Gastrointestinal System Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the nutrition and GI tract lecture notes.

Phytochemicals

Chemical compounds in plants that are not classified as nutrients, but play an important role in health and have various effects on body functions.

Malnutrition

Poor nutrition status, which includes both undernutrition and overnutrition.

Undernutrition

A major type of malnutrition resulting from inadequate amounts of specific nutrients.

Overnutrition

A major type of malnutrition resulting from consuming too much of a specific nutrient.

Short chain fatty acids

Fatty acids that are generally less than $5$ carbons in length.

Nutrigenetics and Nutragenomics

The study of how dietary compounds alter the expression or structure of an individual's genetic makeup, thereby affecting their health and risk of disease.

Variety

A core principle of a healthy diet that involves eating different types of food within each food group.

Balance

A dietary principle that involves incorporating food from all food groups into a daily plan and balancing calories consumed with calories expended during physical activity.

Moderation

A dietary principle focused on avoiding overconsumption of any food or food group by managing portion sizes.

Nutrient Density

The nutrient content of a food relative to its total calorie content.

Empty Calories

Calories supplied by foods that have little or no nutrient content.

Fortified foods

Foods that have nutrients added to them that were not originally present, such as calcium-fortified orange juice.

Enriched foods

Foods in which nutrients removed during processing are added back, such as adding B-vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate) and iron back to white rice.

Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)

A DRI standard value assigned to nutrients that would meet the daily needs of $50\%$ of people.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

The recommended intake level required to meet daily nutrient needs for $97-98\%$ of healthy people.

Adequate Intake (AI)

A value assigned to a nutrient when some scientific evidence is available, but not enough to establish an RDA with certainty.

Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)

The highest level of daily nutrient intake that poses little risk of adverse health effects to healthy individuals.

Estimated Energy Requirements (EER)

A general recommendation for daily calorie intake based on age, gender, height, weight, and level of physical activity.

Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR)

Recommendations for calorie intake proportions: $10-35\%$ from protein, $20-35\%$ from fat, and $45-65\%$ from carbohydrates.

Daily Values

Nutrient standards used on food labels based on a $2000$ calorie diet; $5\%$ or less is considered low and $20\%$ or more is high.

Sphincter

A circular arrangement of smooth muscles separating organs of the GI tract that acts as a one-way valve to prevent food from flowing backwards.

Transit time

The period of time it takes food to travel the length of the digestive tract.

Peristalsis

Wavelike muscular movements that move food through the GI tract and mix food with gastric secretions.

Chyme

Liquified material formed when swallowed food is mixed with gastric acid in the stomach.

Enteroendocrine cells

Intestinal cells that produce hormones.

G cells

Stomach cells that produce gastrin, a hormone that acts on parietal cells and chief cells.

Parietal cells

Stomach cells that produce hydrochloric acid (HCL) and intrinsic factor (IF).

Chief cells

Stomach cells that produce pepsin and gastric lipase.

Goblet cells

Cells that produce mucus to protect the lining of the stomach from damage by acid and pepsin.

Rugae

The wrinkles or textured structure in the lining of the stomach, bladder, palate, and vaginal canal.