○ interaction

A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used
in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment.[1] Nutrients ○ balance in relation to health & disease
are the substances that enrich the body. They build and repair tissues, give heat and
energy, and regulate body processes. Methods for nutrient intake vary, with animals ○ process of
and protists consuming foods that are digested by an internal digestive system, but  ingestion
most plants ingest nutrients directly from the soil through their roots or from the
atmosphere. Some plants, like carnivorous plants, externally digest nutrients from  digestion
animals, before ingesting them. The effects of nutrients are dose-dependent.
 absorption
Organic nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins (or their building blocks, amino
 transport
acids), and vitamins. Inorganic chemical compounds such as dietary minerals, water,
and oxygen may also be considered nutrients.[citation needed] A nutrient is essential to an  utilization
organism if it cannot be synthesized by the organism in sufficient quantities and must
be obtained from an external source. Nutrients needed in large quantities are called  excretion
macronutrients; micronutrients are required in only small quantities. Macronutrients
• "Macro" means big, so the macronutrients are the big nutrients, better
known as protein, fats and carbohydrates. Except for zero-calorie foods,
Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water everything you eat contains varying amounts of these nutrients. Despite the
popularity of some fad diets that require you to drastically reduce any of
Nutrient Balance these macronutrients, all of them are important for your health and you need
them everyday.
Carefully planned nutrition must provide an energy balance and a nutrient balance.
• Micronutrients
The nutrients are: • "Micro" means small so the micronutrients are the nutrients that we need in
small amounts. These include the 12 vitamins and 13 minerals that we need
• Proteins - essential to growth and repair of muscle and other body tissues
every day. Vitamins are grouped as water-soluble or fat-soluble depending
• Fats - one source of energy and important in relation to fat soluble vitamins on whether they can dissolve in fat or water. Minerals are divided into two
groups, the major minerals and the trace minerals.
• Carbohydrates - our main source of energy

• Minerals - those inorganic elements occurring in the body and which are
critical to its normal functions
• Vitamins - water and fat soluble vitamins play important roles in many
chemical processes in the body
• Water - essential to normal body function - as a vehicle for carrying other
nutrients and because 60% of the human body is water
• Roughage - the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet essential to health of
the digestive system
•

Definition of Nutrition:
• science of food
• substances found in food
○ action