Foundations of Nutrition - Final Exam

What are macronutrients and what nutrients are listed under this category?

* energy-yielding nutrients
* carbohydrates, proteins, and fats

What are micronutrients and what nutrients are listed under this category?

- non-energy-yielding nutrients
- vitamins, minerals, and water

What are organic nutrients and what nutrients are listed under this category?

* contain carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen bonds (living)
* carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins

What are inorganic nutrients and what nutrients are listed under this category?

* do not contain carbon or pertain to living things
* minerals and water

How many kcalories are there in 1 gram of protein? Carbohydrates? Fat?

* 4, 4, 9

What is included under DRIs (dietary reference intakes)?

* Estimated Average Requirements
* Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
* Adequate Intake (AI)
* Tolerable Upper Intake Levels

What is the “Estimated Average Requirements” DRI?

* the amount that appears sufficient to maintain a specific body function in HALF of the population

What is the “Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)” DRI?

* average daily amount of nutrients considered adequate to meet the nutrient needs of nearly ALL healthy people

What is the “Adequate Intake (AI)” DRI?

* reflects the average amount of nutrients that a group of healthy people consume

What is the “Tolerable Upper Intake Levels” DRI?

* the maximum amount of a nutrient that appears SAFE for most healthy people

What percent of kcalories in our diets is supposed to come from protein?

* 10-35%

What percent of kcalories in our diets is supposed to come from fat?

* 20-35%

What percent of kcalories in our diets is supposed to come from carbohyrates?

* 45-65%

What are essential nutrients?

* nutrients a person must obtain from food because the body cannot make them for itself in sufficient quantity to meet physiological needs
* 40 known

What is nutrient density?

* a measure of the nutrients a food provides relative to the energy it provides

What is digestion?

* the process by which food is broken down into absorbable units

What is a bolus?

* the amount of food swallowed at one time

What is chyme?

* a semiliquid mass that the stomachs secretions forms, which then is released through the pyloric sphincter into the small intestine

What is the general order that food follows through the digestive system?

* mouth, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, colon, anus

What substance protects the walls of the stomach from the acidity of gastric juices (pepsin, gastric juice, and hydrochloric acid)?

* goblet cells that secrete mucus and coats/protects the stomach cells

What does bicarbonate do in the small intestine?

* neutralizes the acidic chyme that arrives from the stomach

Where does the absorption of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, and vitamins occur in the digestive system?

* small intestine

What is hydrolysis?

* a chemical reaction in which a major reactant is split into two products
* process by which disaccharides are split into two units, each yielding one monosaccharide

What are monosaccharides?

* simple sugars
* glucose, fructose, galactose

What are the characteristics of glucose?

* mildly sweet
* “blood sugar”
* serves as an essential energy source for ALL of the body’s activities
* one of the two sugars in every disaccharide
* unit from which polysaccharides are made exclusively

What are the characteristics of fructose?

* intensely sweet
* “fruit sugar”
* occurs naturally in fruits and honey, but is also present in products such as soft drinks, ready-to-eat cereals, and desserts that have been sweetened with HFCS

What are the characteristics of galactose?

* barely sweet
* precipitant to “milk sugar” → binds with glucose to form lactose, which is the sugar in milk

What are disaccharides?

* sugars composed of pairs of monosaccharides

What are the characteristics of maltose?

* glucose + glucose
* produced whenever the polysaccharide, starch, breaks down

What are the characteristics of sucrose?

* glucose + fructose
* table sugar; brown, white, and powdered sugar available at the grocery store

What are the characteristics of lactose?

* glucose + galactose
* milk sugar

What is condensation?

* the process by which two monosaccharides are linked together forming one disaccharide

What is fiber?

* structural part of plants
* found in plant-derived foods: vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes
* not digested by human digestive enzymes, although some are digested by GI bacteria

What are triglycerides?

* lipids composed of three fatty acids attached to one glycerol
* chief form of fat in the diet and storage form of fat in the body
* usually consist of more than one type of fatty acids

Where is cholesterol found?

* only in animal sources: meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and dairy products

What does hydrogenation do?

* produce trans-fatty acids

What are some characteristics of trans-fatty acids?

* similar to saturated fats
* may be linked to heart disease

What is the protein RDA?

* 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day
* increases in children, pregnant women, and those with illness or injury

What is nitrogen balance?

* protein synthesis should balance with degradation, and protein intake from food should balance with nitrogen excretion in the urine, feces, and sweat

What is nitrogen balance (as in equilibrium)?

* nitrogen intake equals nitrogen output

What is a positive nitrogen balance?

* nitrogen intake is greater than nitrogen output
* growing infants, children, pregnant women, and people recovering from protein deficiency or illness (since they need more protein everyday)

What is a negative nitrogen balance?

* nitrogen intake is less than nitrogen output
* malnourishment, burns, injuries, infections, fever
* the body loses nitrogen stores as it breaks down muscle and other body proteins for energy

What are the characteristics of Marasmus?

* chronic PEM (protein-energy malnutrition)
* inadequate energy and protein
* muscles, including the heart, weaken
* impairs brain development
* reduced synthesis of key hormones slows metabolism and lowers body temperature
* growth ceases
* enzymes are in short supply and the GI tract lining deteriorates; the child can no longer digest or absorb the little amounts of food that are eaten

What are the characteristics of Kwashiorkor?

* acute PEM (protein-energy malnutrition)
* typically occurs when breastfeeding ends, and children are switched to diluted cereal drinks
* usually a result of protein deficiency, or may be precipitated by an illness
* proteins and hormones that regulate fluid balance diminish, and edema results
* lack of protein carriers that transport fat out of the liver causes the belly to bulge with fatty liver
* child’s hair loses color
* inadequate protein synthesis leaves the skin patchy and scaly, often with sores that fail to heal
* lack of proteins to carry iron results in unbound iron, which contributes to illnesses and deaths by promoting bacterial growth and free-radical damage

What are the functions of protein?

* growth and maintenance: form integral parts of most body structures, such as skin, tendons, membranes, muscle, organs, and bones; support the growth and repair of body tissues
* enzymes: facilitate chemical reactions
* hormones: some are proteins that regulate body processes (chemical messengers)
* fluid balance: helps to maintain the volume and composition of body fluids; inadequate amounts causes edema (swelling)
* acid-base balance: act as buffers in order to maintain acid-base balance
* transportation: transports substances, such as lipids, vitamins, minerals, and oxygen around the body
* antibodies: inactivate foreign invaders, thus protecting the body against disease
* energy: provide some fuel for the body’s energy needs

What is metabolism?

* the sum total of all chemical reactions that go on in living cells

What does aerobic mean?

* with oxygen

What does anaerobic mean?

* without oxygen

What are the characteristics of the anaerobic pathway of metabolism?

* only glucose can be used this way
* provides a rapid, yet limited, form of energy

What is thermogenesis?

* the body’s generation of heat
* can be measured to determine the amount of energy (kcals) expended

What percent of energy is expended on BMR?

* 50-65%

What percent is expended on the thermic effect of food?

* 10%

What is a safe rate for weight loss?

* 1/2 to 2 pounds per week

What is satiety?

* the feeling of fullness that occurs after a meal and inhibits eating until the next meal

What are the parameters of risk for the waist-to-hip ratio for both men and women?

* Men: greater than 0.9
* Women: greater than 0.8

What are the parameters of risk for the waist circumference for both men and women?

* Men: greater than 40 inches
* Women: greater than 35 inches

What are some characteristics of fat cells?

* increases most rapidly during the growing years of life (gestational, childhood, and puberty)
* expand as they fill with fat droplets
* may divide

What is the minimum number of kcalories needed for nutritional adequacy?

1200

What is anencephaly?

* a neural tube defect that means the absence of a brain

What is Spina Bifida?

* incomplete closure of the spinal cord

What factors increase the risk of Spina Bifida?

* previous pregnancy affected by neural tube defect
* maternal diabetes
* maternal use of antiseizure medications
* maternal obesity
* exposure to high temperatures during early stages of pregnancy (prolonged fever or hot tube use)
* race/ethnicity (more common among whites and hispanics)
* low socioeconomic status

What are the folate recommendations for women of childbearing age (before pregnancy)?

* 400 micrograms/d

What are the folate recommendations for women who are currently pregnant?

* 600 micrograms/d

What is the average amount of weight a woman should gain during her pregnancy?

* 3.5 pounds during first trimester and then 1 pound per week thereafter

What are a woman’s energy needs during her first trimester?

* 0 kcals/day extra

What are a woman’s energy needs during her second trimester?

* 340 kcals/day extra

What are a woman’s energy needs during her third trimester?

* 450 kcals/day extra

What contributes to nursing bottle tooth decay?

* putting your child to bed with a bottle

At what age should solid foods first be introduced?

* 4-6 months

What solid foods should be introduced first?

* iron-fortified cereal with breast milk, formula, or water
* pureed vegetables and fruits

Why are new foods introduced one at a time?

* to make sure the child tolerates it