Nutrient Powerhouses
These are the 6 essential nutrient categories required by your body for energy, growth, and overall development.
What are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water?
The overall process of eating food (Earth food! Whole foods!) and using it for growth, energy, and keeping your body healthy is called this.
What is nutrition?
This standardized panel on packaged food displays the key nutritional content, servings, and calories contained in the item.
What is the Nutrition Facts label?
The standardized amount of food listed on the Nutrition Facts label used to calculate all nutrient values.
What is serving size?
Maintaining an adequate balance of water in the body to support cellular operations, joint lubrication, and body temperature regulation is called this.
What is hydration?
This nutrient category serves as your body's primary quick-burning source of energy.
What are carbohydrates?
A student has low energy during gym class, gets frequent headaches, and notices their muscles take longer to recover after workouts. This happens because their body is missing carbohydrates, water, and this nutrient needed for muscle repair.
What is protein?
Found near the bottom of a food package, this section ranks every item in the food from greatest amount to least amount by weight, helping you spot hidden added sugars or potential allergens.
What is the ingredient list?
The actual amount of a food or beverage that you choose to consume in one sitting, which may be larger or smaller than the standardized serving size.
What is portion size?
A dangerous condition that occurs when fluid loss exceeds fluid intake, causing symptoms like dizziness, dark urine, dry mouth, and fatigue.
What is dehydration?
These two nutrient categories are essential for building muscles, long-term stored energy, and protecting body organs.
What are proteins and fats?
If a middle school athlete is getting plenty of carbohydrates for fuel, but their bones are weak and their injuries take a long time to heal, they are likely missing these two nutrient categories.
What are minerals and proteins?
Found near the top of the Nutrition Facts label, this big, bold number tells you how much energy your body gets from eating one serving of the food.
What are calories?
If a bag of chips lists a serving size of 10 chips (100 calories), but your portion size is 30 chips, this is the total number of calories you consumed.
What is 300 calories?
Key essential minerals found in fluid balance (such as sodium and potassium) that help your body maintain proper hydration during intense physical activity or loss of fluid due to illness.
What are electrolytes?
Unlike carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, these 2 micro-nutrient categories do not provide calories for energy, but they help regulate vital cell processes, help fight off infections, and help bone growth, and body functions.
What are vitamins and minerals?
A website written by a registered dietitian (.gov or .edu site) is considered this type of source, whereas a random social media influencer selling supplements is considered an unreliable source.
What is a reliable source of nutrition information?
The Nutrition Facts label separates total carbohydrate into dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, and these manufactured sweeteners added during processing.
What are added sugars?
A bottle of juice lists 150 calories per serving, but the bottle actually contains 3 full servings. If your portion size is drinking the entire bottle, how many total calories did you consume?
What is 450 calories?
Name 2 types of popular beverages that should be limited because they contain high amounts of added sugar or empty calories without providing nutrient-dense value.
What are soda, energy drinks, sweetened sports drinks, or sugary fruit juices/boba?
Foods belong to different food groups (like Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Dairy, and Protein). A food containing high amounts of essential nutrients relative to its total caloric intake is called this.
What is nutrient-dense?
Name 2 red flags (warning signs) that indicate a nutrition claim online might come from an unreliable source.
What are selling a quick fix, lacking scientific evidence/peer reviews, missing credentials, or promising miracle cures?
These two types of fat listed under total fat on the label should be strictly limited to protect heart health, unlike healthier unsaturated options.
What are saturated fat and trans fat?
A bag of chips lists a serving size of 15 chips, which contains 160 calories, 10g of total fat, and 170mg of sodium. If your portion size is 45 chips, how many total calories, grams of total fat, and milligrams of sodium did you consume?
What is 480 calories, 30g of total fat, and 510mg of sodium? (Since 45 chips is 3 servings, multiply each number by 3).
This stimulant substance found in energy drinks and coffees can lead to increased heart rate, sleep disruption, and increased fluid loss, making it a key component to limit for middle school students.
What is caffeine?