This document discusses the essential nutrients needed for good health, including carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. It explains what each nutrient is, common food sources, and what they do for the body. Carbohydrates provide the body's primary energy and are found in fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Protein aids growth, maintenance and repair and is found in both animal and plant sources. Fats supply energy and carry fat-soluble vitamins while vitamins and minerals support many bodily functions but must come from dietary intake. Finally, water is the most essential nutrient and nearly three-quarters of the body is composed of it.

1. Nutrition for Health

2. What are nutrients?
• Chemical substances in food that helps
maintain the body
• Some supply energy while others repair
and build tissue
• You need over 50 for good health
• No food provides all the nutrients needed
for the body

3. 6 Nutrients
• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Fats
• Water

4. Carbohydrates
• Comes from:
– Sugars - simple
– Starches - complex
– Fiber
• Sources
– Vegetables
– Legumes (peas, beans)
– Pasta
– Seeds
– Nuts
– Fruit

5. Carbohydrates and
What they do for us
Primary source for the body’s energy
• Helps digest fat
• Used for growth and maintenance
• Rich in fiber; helps prevent cancer and
intestinal problems

6. How much is needed daily
• 55-65% of your calories should come from
carbohydrates (mainly complex)
• Too many carbs makes one fat

7. Protein
• Animal (complete protein) = meat, fish,
poultry, milk and milk products, eggs
• Plant (incomplete protein) = dried beans,
peas, legumes (nuts)
• Incomplete proteins need to be combined to make
a complete protein (beans and rice) (peanuts and
bread)
• Proteins are made from amino acids which
are found completely in animal sources or
in combination with incomplete sources

8. Protein and
What it does for us
• Protein is found in EVERY cell
• Provides amino acids which are essential
for growth, maintenance and repair of
tissue
• Regulates body processes (fluid balance)
• Can be used for energy if carbohydrates
and fat are not available

9. Amount of Protein needed
• 10-15% of caloric intake per day
• Not enough Protein = Kwashiorkor

10. Fat (Lipids)
• Visible sources (40%)
– Butter/margarine
– Salad dressings
– Oils and shortening
• Invisible sources
– Eggs
– Cream
– Baked products
– Avocados

11. Fats and
What they do for us
• Provide energy
• Carry fat soluble vitamins
• Needed for healthy skin
• Provides protection to organs
• Helps to regulate body temperature

12. Amount of Fat needed
• No more than 30% of daily calories

13. Vitamins
• Fat-soluble sources
– Liver, eggs, dark green leafy and bright veg.,
squash, cantaloupe, sun, milk
• Water-soluble sources
– Fruits, breads, meat,

15. Fat-soluble vitamins
• A, D, E, & K stored in fat in the body
• A -- for vision
• D -- comes from sun needed for bones
• E -- found in fatty food is an antioxidant
• K -- needed for clotting blood

16. Water-soluble vitamins
• B -- found in bread and pasta vegetables
– Lots of B vitamins (riboflavin, niacin, thiamin,
B6, B12) -- needed for digestion and absorption
of all nutrients
• C -- found in citrus foods, strawberries,
peppers, etc.; helps clot blood; antioxidant!
– Excess is carried out of the body

17. Vitamins can only come from
a well rounded diet
• Too little looks like this
Beriberi lack
of vitamin B
Pellagra lack of B Rickets lack of D

18. Vitamins can only come from a
well rounded diet (cont.)
Scurvy lack of vitamin C
Night blindness lack
of vitamin A

19. Minerals
4% of our body weight
Our body can not manufacture these
• Calcium
• Iodine
• Sodium
• Chlorine
• Potassium

20. Calcium found in milk
and milk products
• Needed for bones and teeth
• Clots blood
• Too little calcium:
Normal bone----------osteoporosis

21. Iodine and sodium
found in table salt
• Needed for thyroid regulation and of
electrolytes
• Too little iodine or too much causes goiter

22. Water
• Must have water to function
• Most essential nutrient
• 75% body weight is water
We can live 1 month without food
but we can only live a few days without
water

23. Water (cont.)
• Sources = all the food groups
– Fruit, vegetables, milk = 75%
–Meat and poultry = 50%
– Grains 5-35%
– Water = 100%

24. Water and
What it does for our body
• Aids in digestion
• Chemical reactions within our
body rely on water
• Lubricates joints and cells
• Regulates body temperature

25. How much we need a day
• We use about 10 cups of water a day
• Require 8 glasses of fluid per day to
supply enough for most people. Some
need more.