Nutrition, Enzymes, Metabolism

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to nutrition, enzymes, and metabolism, based on lecture notes from Chapter 4.

Nutrients

Chemical building blocks our bodies need to live, grow, and repair themselves, also providing energy.

Energy

The ability to do work, powering activities and helping build complex muscles.

Macronutrients

Chemical building blocks provided by food in large quantities, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Carbohydrates

Macronutrients broken down into simple sugars, used to build cell-surface markers and energy-storage molecules.

Proteins

Macronutrients broken down into amino acids, used to assemble new proteins with many different functions in the body.

Fats

Macronutrients broken down into fatty acids and glycerol, used to build molecules that form cell membranes.

Nucleic Acids

Components provided in smaller amounts (not macronutrients), broken down into individual nucleotides, used to build DNA and RNA.

Essential Nutrients

Nutrients that cells cannot synthesize and must be obtained through diet.

Essential Amino Acids

Nine specific amino acids out of 20 that cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained through diet.

Digestion

The process of breaking down huge food molecules into smaller pieces through a series of chemical reactions, starting in the mouth.

Enzyme

A protein that catalyzes (speeds up) a chemical reaction.

Substrate

A molecule to which an enzyme binds and on which it acts.

Active Site

The specific part of an enzyme that binds to the substrate.

Catabolic Reactions

Metabolic reactions that break down larger structures into smaller ones (bond breaking).

Anabolic Reactions

Metabolic reactions that build new structures from smaller subunits (bond building).

Activation Energy

The energy required for a chemical reaction to proceed.

Catalysis

The process of facilitating a chemical reaction without the catalyst itself being used up in the reaction.

Denatured Protein

A protein whose shape and function have been disrupted, often by extreme environmental conditions like heat or pH.

Micronutrients

Nutrients required by organisms in smaller amounts than macronutrients, including vitamins and minerals, important for maintaining health and playing structural and functional roles.

Minerals

Inorganic elements required by organisms for normal growth, reproduction, and tissue maintenance (e.g., calcium, iron, potassium, zinc).

Vitamins

Organic molecules required in small amounts for normal growth, reproduction, and tissue maintenance.

Coenzymes

Small organic molecules (often vitamins) required to activate enzymes.

Cofactors

Inorganic micronutrients (often minerals like zinc, copper, iron) required to activate an enzyme.