Nutrition Foundations
These are substances in food that the body needs for growth, maintenance, and normal functioning.
What are nutrients?
This macronutrient is the body's preferred source of energy, especially for the brain and working muscles.
What are carbohydrates?
This nutrient is essential for maintaining fluid balance and is the main component of the human body.
What is water?
This mineral is the most abundant mineral in the body and is crucial for bones and teeth.
What is calcium?
The relationship between the calories/energy consumed and the energy used by the body is called this.
What is energy balance?
When people do not consistently have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food, this condition exists.
What is food insecurity?
This term describes the condition of complete physical, mental, and social well-being rather than simply the absence of disease.
What is health?
This type of lipid is associated with increased LDL cholesterol and is generally recommended to be limited in the diet.
What is saturated fat?
Sodium and potassium are examples of these minerals that help regulate fluid and electrolyte balance.
What are electrolytes?
The ongoing process in which old bone is broken down and new bone is formed is called this.
What is bone remodeling?
This measurement compares a person's weight with their height and is one indicator used in assessing body size.
What is BMI (body mass index)?
This refers to the ability of people to maintain access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food that meets their needs.
What is food security?
The process by which the body breaks food down into smaller substances that can be absorbed is called this.
What is digestion?
These are the building blocks that make up proteins.
What are amino acids?
These compounds can help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals.
What are antioxidants?
This vitamin helps the body absorb calcium and plays an important role in bone health.
What is vitamin D?
During pregnancy, adequate intake of this nutrient is particularly important for fetal neural tube development.
What is folate/folic acid?
Washing hands, separating raw and cooked foods, cooking foods thoroughly, and refrigerating foods promptly are practices designed to prevent this.
What are foodborne illnesses?
This is the body's basic structural and functional unit.
What is the cell?
This hormone helps regulate blood glucose by allowing glucose to move from the blood into many body cells.
What is insulin?
Vitamins C and E are commonly discussed in relation to this protective function.
What is antioxidant activity?
This mineral is required to make hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells.
What is iron?
During infancy, this type of feeding provides a complete source of nutrition for many infants and offers immune-related benefits.
What is breastfeeding/human milk?
This approach to eating involves paying attention to hunger, fullness, sensory experiences, and the eating experience itself.
What is mindful eating?
This term refers to the amount of energy provided by food and is commonly expressed in kilocalories.
What is energy? / What are calories?
Unlike carbohydrates and proteins, this macronutrient provides about 9 kcal per gram.
What is fat/lipid?
A substance produced during normal metabolism or in response to environmental exposures that can damage cells when present in excess.
What is a free radical/reactive oxygen species?
A deficiency of this mineral can impair oxygen transport and lead to iron-deficiency anemia.
What is iron?
Nutritional needs can change throughout life because growth, development, activity, metabolism, and health status change. This concept is known as nutrition through what?
What is the life cycle?
Choosing foods and food-production practices that consider environmental impacts and the ability to maintain resources into the future is part of this concept.
What is sustainability/sustainable food systems?