Concept of Diet Nutrition According To Modern Age

Concept of Diet & Nutrition According To Modern Science

The basic need of our body is energy to move and to do work. Food is the main
source to get energy. Westerners are concerned with the nutritive value of food that
we consume and food items are analyzed on the basis of Protein, Carbohydrates,
Fat, Vitamins and Minerals etc. Balanced diet is decided on the basis of these with
food groups. Their intake is increased or decreased depending on the requirements
and needs of the individual. But unfortunately no thought has been given to the
sources of food, since no food item is prohibited to them. Prohibition is based only
on requirements or non-requirement of certain food items. Therefore it can be
safely stated that Western dieticians have focused their attention mainly on physical
health through the food. Effects of food on the mind and behavior of individuals has

1. Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrate is probably the oldest subject in Western nutrition. It is the fuel on
which body functions are based and in the 1800`s the study of nutrition was
assumed to be the study of this fuel. Nutritional value was judged largely on the
number of calories that a food could provide so that foods like tomato, which are
low in calories, were considered to be of ‘little nutritional value.’ Though other items
have been discovered, in terms of sheer quantity, carbohydrates remain the most
important. If one leaves out water and fiber content of food, it is carbohydrate
which makes up the bulk of diet. The average person eats ten ounces of
carbohydrate for every ounce of protein. This huge amount of carbohydrate is used
by the body for energy. It is on this energy that the entire metabolism depends.

Without the burning or internal combustion of carbohydrates, the body’s primary
source of energy would be missing. Just as the automobile runs on fuel, the body
runs on carbohydrates. The carbohydrate, by contrast on which body cells function,
is so called because it is a form of Carbon to which water has been added. Plants
take Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water form the soil and, using the
energy from sun light to force the two together, combine them to form the series of
complex chains called rangers and starches. The combustion of carbohydrate by the
body cell breaks the carbohydrate molecule back down to its original components,
Carbon dioxide and water. The water is exhaled in the breath and excreted in the
urine, the Carbon dioxide is exhaled and returns to atmosphere. In the animal cell
the oxygen is used to burn Carbohydrate. Thus, there is a constant recurring cycle.

2. Protein:
Protein is a structural material which provides the rigid structures which enable
plants and animals to raise themselves above the surface of earth. The word protein
is Greek word meaning first or holding first place. Protein contains Nitrogen but the
nutritive value of Protein-rich foods does not depend upon the total Nitrogen
contents but on the constituent amino-acids. Gelatin for example is rich in Nitrogen
but does not contain all the essential amino-acids and so is of little nutritive value.
Proteins constitute about 15% of body weight. The liquid part of blood contains
over hundred different proteins, each with a specific function. The other elements
always present in proteins are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, Sulphur, phosphorus, iron,
copper and zinc.

Protein known as immuno-globulin serves as the first line of defense against
bacterial and viral infections. Biochemical catalysts known as enzymes are Proteins.
Several hormones are Protein in nature. Structural proteins furnish mechanical
support and some of them like action and myosin are contractile proteins and help
in the movement of muscle fibers, microvillus etc. Some proteins preset in cell
membrane, cytoplasm and muscle of the cell as receptors. The transport Proteins
carryout the function of transporting specific substances in either the membrane or
in the body fluids. Storage Proteins bind with specific substances and store them, for
example Iron is stored as fertile under certain conditions Proteins can be
categorized as supplies energy. When Protein is mentioned in the highly
industrialized countries of the West, most of they think that protein comes from

Although meat, cheese, milk and eggs are usually considered as “the protein foods,”
There are many other important sources of Protein. Beans, peas, nuts, leaves and
legumes (especially when combined with grains) also contain a high percentage of
Protein.
How much Protein should we take?
As the result of popular books on nutrition many people have the idea that with
Protein, there is no limit `the more the better`. This is wrong. This was in fact, proved
in experiments at MIT where 100 young men were given experimental diets which
allowed regulation of Protein intake. Generally an amount less then 30g (one ounce)
was sufficient. Thus recent official figures from the National Research Council are
70g for adult men and 60g for a woman and for an average person, 50g is

One should maintain Protein level in the body; otherwise he or she has to face many
problems. Whole food, beans, grain, fruits and vegetables all contain a complex of
nutrients.
1. Vitamins
Vitamins have been defined as organic compounds occurring in natural food either
as such or as utilizable ‘precursors’ which are required in minute amounts for normal
growth, maintenance and reproduction, for normal nutrition and health.
Carbohydrate, fat, and protein are the bulk of man’s diet. In 1906, Sir Fredrik
Hopkins published an article which proposed that besides these basic elements
small quantities of some unknown ‘ accessory nutrients’ must also be required for
the maintenance of good health. Six years later in, 1912, one of these, the substance

Since it was vital for the preservation life and was an amine (Amino-acid like
substance) it was called Vitamin. Vitamins are basically divided in following
categories:
1. Vitamin A:
In general, the term Vitamin A is used when reference is actually made to more than
one vitamin. Vitamin A sources are following:
1. liver oil
2. butter
3. milk
4. cheese
5. egg yolk

6. carrots
7. Green-yellow vegetables
8. Spinach
9. and fruits such as mangoes, papayas, corn, sweet, potato.
Lack of vitamin A can cause night blindness.
• Vitamin B:
The water extracted from rice polishing which had the power to reverse beriberi,
began to be called Vitamin B. Up to now twenty five B’s Vitamins have been found.
The term B /-complex continues to be used to denote a large number of heavy
Varieties. Those foods which are rich in only one member of the B vitamin are rare.

The main sources of Vitamin B are germ and bran of seeds such as cereals, nuts,
beans, peas etc. Besides these sources, meat, eggs and liver are other sources of
Vitamin B complex.
Vitamin C:
One constituent of the citrus juice, ascorbic acid, identified in 1928, was found to be
extremely powerful in preventing scurvy. It was soon called Vitamin C. It was felt
that the absence or deficient Vitamin C had impaired the formation of collagen (the
fibrous connective tissue that is so important in the repair and healing of wounds). It
is officially estimated that the minimum daily requirement of Vitamin-C is about
45mg. Besides citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, lemon, orange, amla are rich in
Vitamin-C. Milk contains a small amount of Vitamin-C. Even tomato squash and

• Vitamin-D:
Vitamin D is not obtained in significant quantities from food. For the most part, one
depends upon, manufacturing his own Vitamin D through the action of sunlight on
certain oil-like substances in the skin which are related to Cholesterol. The fact is that
the substance which we call Vitamin-D is unique and differs from other Vitamins in a
number of ways. If a large amount of Vitamin-D is taken suddenly, there will be
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and weakness. The main sources of Vitamin-D are
sunlight, milk, butter, eggs and fish oil etc.
• Vitamin-E:
Probably the most controversial Vitamin, with the possible exception of Vitamin C, is
Vitamin-E. It has not even been universally accepted that Vitamin-E is a necessary

An experiment done in America on rat’s diet. It was found that male rats became
sterile. Over the years Vitamin-E has tended to lose this image, and is now firmly
fixed in the mind of public as a valuable measure for treating heart diseases. Main
sources of Vitamin-E in diet are wheat, green vegetables, peas, corn, etc.
• Other Vitamins:
Vitamin K is normally manufactured in the intestinal tract by certain bacteria. It is
found in green plants and green leafy vegetables. A small dose of naturally accruing
Vitamin K sometimes reduces the nausea in pregnancy. Vitamin F was a term once
use for ‘essential fatty acids’. They are contained in vegetable oil, grains, seeds, nuts
and vegetables. Vitamin F supplements have apparently helped some cases of
prostate diseases.

• Minerals:
When plant or animal tissue is burnt, the Nitrogen, Sulphur, Hydrogen and Carbon
that make up the fats, carbohydrate and protein go off as gases, and the minerals
alone remain as ash. The minerals that will be found through such a process to be in
the body are primarily sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphors and magnesium. But
there are also a number of other minerals found in very tiny and trace amounts such
as Zinc, Iodine, Manganese, Copper and even Arsenic. They are often the key
ingredient in the large protein molecules we call Enzymes, on whose action most of
the metabolic process of the body depend. The list continues to grow as with
increasingly sophisticated technology we have discovered that Minerals which we
had considered only accidentally present in tissues actually play important in

Concept of Diet Nutrition According To Modern Age

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Concept of Diet Nutrition According To Modern Age