Chapter 1
The Basics of
Understanding
Nutrition
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
The Field of Nutrition
• Nutrition: the study
of foods, their
nutrients and other
chemical
components, their
actions and
interactions in the
body, and their
influence on health
and disease.
• About Nutrition:
 Newcomer on the
scientific block
 Scientific discoveries
of nutrients have
mainly occurred in
past one hundred
years
 Billions of dollars
spent each year to
investigate the many
aspects of nutrition
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
The Field of Nutrition
• Understanding the impact food has on our
bodies by examining research in chemistry,
physics, biology, biochemistry, genetics,
immunology
• Nutrition-related fields include psychology,
anthropology, epidemiology, geography,
agriculture, ethics, economics, sociology, and
philosophy
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Translating Nutrition
• Health fraud: conscious
deceit practiced for profit,
such as the promotion of a
false or an unproven
product or therapy.
• Quackery: fraud. A quack
is a person who practices
health fraud.
 quack = to boast loudly
Some stores sell pills &
potions touted as fat
melters, energy
boosters, & muscle
builders.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
The Nutrients in Foods
6 classes of nutrients:
Carbohydrate
Fat
Protein
Vitamins
Minerals
Water
• Nutrients: substances
obtained from food and used
in the body to promote
growth, maintenance, and
repair.
• Essential nutrients:
nutrients that must be
obtained from food because
the body cannot make them
for itself.
• Nonessential nutrients:
nutrients that the body
needs, but is able to make in
sufficient quantities when
needed; do not need to be
obtained from food.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
The Nutrients in Foods
• The energy-yielding nutrients:
 Carbohydrate
 Fat
 Protein
• Energy: the capacity to do work, such as moving or
heating something.
 Calorie: the unit used to measure energy.
• Alcohol is not a nutrient but it does contain calories.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Caloric values of carbohydrate, protein, fat, & alcohol
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Vitamins, Minerals, and
Water
• Vitamins: organic, or carbon-containing, essential
nutrients vital to life and needed in minute amounts.
vita = life
amine = containing nitrogen
• Minerals: inorganic compounds, some of which are
essential nutrients.
• Water: provides the medium for life processes.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Vitamins, Minerals, and
Water
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Calorie Values
Remember this
number…
Calorie value of carbohydrate, fat, and protein…
• If you know the number of grams of carbohydrate, fat, and
protein in a food, you can calculate the number of calories in
it. For example, a deluxe fast-food hamburger contains
about 45 grams of carbohydrate, 27 grams of protein, and
39 grams of fat (above).
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Percentage of Total Energy
Intake
The percentage of your total energy intake from carbohydrate,
fat, and protein can then be determined by dividing the
number of calories from each energy nutrient by the total
calories, and then multiplying your answer by 100 to get the
percentage.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Nutrition and Health Promotion
Past History:
• Malnutrition: any condition caused by
an excess, deficiency, or imbalance of
calories or nutrients.
• Diseases of Deficiency: caused by
taking in too little of one nutrient or
another.
 Diseases of deficiency have virtually been
eliminated in the U.S. due to an abundant
food supply and fortification.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Nutrition and Health Promotion
Present Problems:
• Overnutrition: calorie or nutrient over-consumption
severe enough to cause disease or increased risk of
disease; a form of malnutrition.
• Degenerative disease: chronic disease
characterized by deterioration of body organs as a
result of misuse and neglect; poor eating habits,
smoking, lack of exercise, and other lifestyle habits
often contribute to degenerative diseases, including
heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Lifestyle Elements Associated
with Longevity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Avoiding excess alcohol
Not smoking
Maintaining a healthy weight
Exercising regularly
Sleeping 7 to 8 hours a night
Eating breakfast
Eating nutritious, regular meals
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
A National Agenda for
Improving Health & Nutrition
• Health
Promotion:
helping people
achieve their
maximum potential
for good health
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Numerous factors influence
choices:
 Hunger, appetite, and food habits
 Nutrition knowledge, health
beliefs/concerns, and practices
 Availability, convenience, and
economy
 Advertising and the media
 Early experiences, social
interactions, and cultural
traditions
 Personal preference, taste, and
psychological needs
 Values, such as political views,
environmental concerns, and
religious beliefs
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Hunger: the
physiological need for
food.
• Appetite: the
psychological desire to
eat, which is often but
not always accompanied
by hunger.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Availability: Americans enjoy an abundant food
supply
 Resources to maintain a large agricultural industry
and import a wide variety of foods
 An abundant food supply has been linked to
degenerative diseases
 Degenerative diseases are sometimes referred to as
diseases of affluence
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Income, Food Prices, and Convenience
 Low incomes make it difficult to buy enough food to
meet minimum nutritional needs
• Undernutrition: severe under-consumption of
calories or nutrients leading to disease or
increased susceptibility to disease; a form of
malnutrition.
 Many people perceive that a healthy diet costs more.
Does it cost more than convenience food?
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
Advertising and the Media
• Television and radio commercials, magazines and
newspapers rank among the most influential sources of
diet and nutrition information
• This, in turn affects our food choices
• Advertising is not always created with the consumer’s
best interest in mind
• Media information can vary in its reliability
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
Social & Cultural Factors
• Social group: a group
of people, such as a
family, who depend on
one another and share a
set of norms, beliefs,
values, and behaviors.
• Culture: knowledge,
beliefs, customs, laws,
morals, art, and
literature acquired by
members of a society
and passed along to
succeeding generations.
• Ethnic cuisine: the
traditional foods eaten by
the people of a particular
culture.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Personal Values or Beliefs
 Making choices based on a larger world view
• Environmentally conscious
• Boycott certain manufacturers for political reasons
• Sustainability to maintain natural resources and human
life
– Involves building locally-based resources, self-reliant food
systems
©2010
2007 Cengage-Wadsworth
Thomson - Wadsworth
Understanding Our Food Choices
• Food Preferences are Personal…
Related to positive experiences
Aversions to certain foods
Tied to psychological needs
• Yearnings, cravings, addictions and
response to stress
Reflect our own unique cultural
legacies, philosophies and beliefs
©2010
2007 Cengage-Wadsworth
Thomson - Wadsworth
Nutrition Action
690 calories, 24 g fat, 8 g
saturated fat
1,350 calories, 43 g fat, 13 g
saturated fat
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Nutrition Action
• Strategy 6: Balance fast-food
meals with other food choices
during the day.
• Strategy 7: Split your order—share
with a friend.
• Strategy 8: Bring your lunch.
• Strategy 9: Choose grab-and-go
foods.
• Strategy 10: If all else fails, go for
the obvious low-calorie choices.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Preventing Nutrition
Misinformation
• The First Amendment guarantees
freedom of the press whether
sound, unsound or even dangerous
• Publishing misinformation cannot
be punished by law unless it can
be proven in court that the
information has caused bodily
harm
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Preventing Nutrition
Misinformation
• Purveyors of products are bound by the law to
make only true statements
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can
prosecute companies displaying false claims
• Promoters of false claims (quacks) can be
adept at avoiding prosecution
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Reliable Internet Information
• Suspect
• Credible
 Respected,
credentialed author
or sponsoring
organization
 Accurate, factual and
comprehensive
information
 Reasonable, fair and
balanced
 Supported by
legitimate scientific
publications
 Too good to be true
 Medical establishment
won’t accept
 Uses testimonials and
anecdotes
 Secret formula
 Treatment only available
here
 Poor grammar and
spelling or writing
unprofessional
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
Nutrition Credentials
• Registered Dietitian
(RD)
• Nutritionist
 Fulfilled coursework by
the American Dietetic
Association (ADA)
 Completed on the job
training (internship)
 Passed national
registration exam
 Maintains Continuing
Education Credits
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth
 Claims to be
capable of
advising people
about diets
 Can be an RD
 Can be a person
with little to no
scientific
training
Charlie & Sassafras: “Nutrition
Consultants”
Charlie and Sassafras display their professional
credentials.
 2010 Cengage-Wadsworth