NUTRITION

DEFINITION
Nutrition is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth. It is
the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Good nutrition – an
adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good
health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease,
impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity. It also focuses on how
diseases, conditions, and problems can be prevented or reduced with a healthy diet. Similarly,
nutrition involves identifying how certain diseases and conditions may be caused by dietary
factors, such as poor diet (malnutrition), food allergies, and food intolerances.

HISTORY
History of nutrition
In 400 B.C. the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” said, “Let thy food be thy
medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates realized that food impacts a person’s
health, body and mind to help prevent illness as well as maintain wellness.
In Hippocrates’ Greece, as well as across pre-modern Europe and Asia since ancient times,
foods were used to affect health. For instance, the juice of liver was squeezed on the eye to
treat eye diseases, connected to Vitamin A deficiency.
In 1747, a British Navy physician, Dr. James Lind, saw that sailors were developing scurvy, a
deadly bleeding disorder, on long voyages. He observed that they ate only nonperishable foods
such as bread and meat.
Lind’s experiment fed one group of sailors salt water, one group vinegar, and one group limes.
Those given limes didn’t develop scurvy. And although Vitamin C wasn’t discovered until the
1930s, this experiment changed the way physicians thought about food, creating a market for
nutrition careers.
Scientific Developments in Nutrition
During the Enlightenment and into the Victorian age, scientific and medical development
increased exponentially. The concept of metabolism, the transfer of food and oxygen into heat
and water in the body, creating energy, was discovered in 1770 by Antoine Lavoisier, the
“Father of Nutrition and Chemistry.” And in the early 1800s, the elements of carbon, nitrogen,
hydrogen and oxygen, the main components of food, were isolated and soon connected to
health.
Work in the area of the chemical nature of foods—carbohydrates, fats and proteins—was done
by Justus Liebig of Germany, and led to research in the area of vitamins in the early 20th
century. In 1912, a Polish doctor, Casimir Funk, coined the term “vitamins” as essential factors
in the diet. The term vitamin—first called “vitamine”—comes from “vital” and “amine,”
because vitamins are required for life and they were originally thought to be amines—
compounds derived from ammonia.
In 1912, E.V. McCollum, a U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher at the University of
Wisconsin, began using rats instead of humans in his experiments rather than cows and sheep.
He found the first fat-soluble vitamin, Vitamin A, and discovered that rats were healthier when
they were fed butter rather than lard, as butter contains more Vitamin A. Other diseases were
linked to vitamin deficiencies, such as beri-beri, resulting from a lack of Vitamin B, and rickets,
brought on by a lack of Vitamin D.
The Growth of the Health Products Industry
Many other vitamins were discovered and isolated in the early 20th century, and the concept of
supplementing health with vitamins was born. The first vitamin pills were marketed in the
1930s, and created a new industry around science-based health products. In October of 1994,
the Dietary and Supplement Health and Education Act was approved by Congress. It sets forth
what can and cannot be said about nutritional supplements without prior Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) review, showing the impact of this industry.
Dietitians and nutritionists first worked in hospitals in the late 19th century as the role of good
nutrition in health began to be accepted. In the United States, the Public Health Service began
including dietitians in PHS Hospital staffs in 1919 after World War I, to help monitor and
improve the health of World War I veterans, and became increasingly involved in the nation’s
health care system and beyond, into the private sector.

TYPES
Two Types of Nutrients:
1. Macronutrients
-nutrients needed in large quantities
Macronutrients can be subdivided into:
-Carbohydrates, They constitute a large part of foods such as rice, noodles, bread, and other
grain-based products, also potatoes, yams, beans, fruits, fruit juices and vegetables.
-Fibers, Dietary fiber helps reduce the chance of gastrointestinal problems such as constipation
and diarrhea by increasing the weight and size of stool and softening it.
-Fats, Fats may be classified as saturated or unsaturated depending on the detailed structure of
the fatty acids involved. Saturated fats have all of the carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains
bonded to hydrogen atoms, whereas unsaturated fats have some of these carbon atoms
double-bonded, so their molecules have relatively fewer hydrogen atoms than a saturated fatty
acid of the same length. Unsaturated fats may be further classified as monounsaturated (one
double-bond) or polyunsaturated (many double-bonds).
-Protein, Proteins are structural materials in much of the animal body (e.g. muscles, skin, and
hair). They also form the enzymes that control chemical reactions throughout the body. Each
protein molecule is composed of amino acids, which are characterized by inclusion of nitrogen
and sometimes sulphur (these components are responsible for the distinctive smell of burning
protein, such as the keratin in hair)
-Water, Water is excreted from the body in multiple forms; including urine and feces, sweating,
and by water vapor in the exhaled breath. Therefore, it is necessary to adequately rehydrate to
replace lost fluids. Early recommendations for the quantity of water required for maintenance
of good health suggested that 6–8 glasses of water daily is the minimum to maintain proper
hydration.
2. Micronutrients
-nutrients needed in smaller quantities
Micronutrients can be further classified into:
-Minerals, Dietary minerals are inorganic chemical elements required by living organisms,other
than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen that are present in nearly all
organic molecules.
-Vitamins, Vitamins are essential nutrients,necessary in the diet for good health,Vitamin
deficiencies may result in disease conditions, including goitre, scurvy, osteoporosis, impaired
immune system, disorders of cell metabolism, certain forms of cancer, symptoms of premature
aging, and poor psychological health, among many others

SPORTS
Active and competitive athletes turn to sports nutrition to help them achieve their goals.
Examples of individual goals could include gaining lean mass, improving body composition, or
enhancing athletic performance. These sport-specific scenarios require differing nutritional
programs. Research findings indicate the right food type, caloric intake, nutrient timing, fluids,
and supplementation are essential and specific to each individual. The following are different
states of training and competitive sport benefiting from sports nutrition:
1. Carbohydrates are the main fuel source for an active adult or competitive athlete. General
guidelines for carbohydrate intake are based on body size and training characteristics.
Carbohydrate needs in a daily diet can range from 45 to 65 percent of total food intake
depending on physical demands.
2. Proteins are responsible for muscle growth and recovery in the active adult or athlete.
Sufficient amounts of protein per individual help maintain a positive nitrogen balance in the
body, which is vital to muscle tissue. Protein requirements can vary significantly ranging from .
8g to 2g per kilogram of body weight per day.
3. Fats help maintain energy balance, regulate hormones, and restore muscle tissue. Omega-3
and omega-6 are essential fatty acids that are especially important to a sports nutrition diet.
Research findings recommend an athlete consume approximately 30 percent of their total daily
caloric intake as a healthy fat.
GROUP
 Miguel Jose Olila
 Kiara Althea Corrainne Adovo
 Jewel Maxine Bitana
 Mary Bless Alivio
 KC Tuason
 Catherine Reyes
 Trixie Gwen Pocoy

BSN – 1A