A balanced diet

✬ The total of the molecules or

nutrients that we need is called
the diet.
✬ A balanced diet provides all the
nutrients, in the correct amounts,
needed to carry out the life
processes.
✬ If the diet does not provide all the
nutrients in the correct
proportions, a person may suffer
from malnutrition.
A balanced diet should contain the correct proportions of carbohydrates,
lipids, proteins, vitamins and minerals, water and dietary fiber.
✭ An adequate diet provides sufficient energy for the performance of
metabolic work, although the ‘energy’ could be in any form.
✭ A balanced diet provides all dietary requirements in the correct
proportions.
✭ In conditions of undernutrition the first concern is usually provision
of an adequate diet, but to avoid symptoms of malnutrition a
balanced diet must be provided.
✬To regulate the body's metabolism — Vitamins and minerals
are needed in very small quantities in the diet to help regulate our
metabolism.
✬ Even if you are lying in bed and completely inactive you are still using
energy to keep your heart beating, your lungs working and your body
temperature constant.
✬ The chemical reactions in your body, such as those involved in growth
and repair, are occurring and require energy.
✬ The energy required for these body functions is the
basal metabolic rate (BMR).
✬ The BMR varies from person to person, but an adult requires about 7000
kJ per day.
✬ So even if you lie down and do very little you still need this energy.
Dietary Importance Of Various Foods
Functions in humans
Source Comments
A source of energy. Carbohydrates are digested
Carbohydrates: Glucose is oxidized in in the mouth and small
Rice, potatoes, wheat respiration to release intestine and absorbed as
(e.g. pasta) and other energy for active transport, glucose.
cereals provide starch. cell division, muscle Refined sugars are
Food sweetenings, such contraction and the absorbed very rapidly,
as those in desserts, manufacture of large giving a sudden boost of
sweets and soft drinks, biological molecules. ‘energy source’. Starch is
and preservatives provide Excess carbohydrate can be digested and absorbed
refined sugars, such as stored as glycogen and as more slowly, giving a
sucrose (cane sugar) and fat. steady supply of energy
glucose. source: starches are called
slow release carbohydrates
 Function in humans
Source Comments
Fats and oils are an important Fats and oils are digested in the
Lipids source of energy. small intestine and absorbed as
Meat and animal foods They are especially valuable as an fatty acids and glycerol.
(eggs, milk, cheese) are energy store because they are Some lipids contain saturated
insoluble in water. fatty acids and others contain
rich in saturated fats and They also provide insulation – unsaturated fatty acids (with at
cholesterol. electrical insulation around nerve least one carbon–carbon double
Plant sources such as cells and thermal insulation bond).
beneath the skin and form part of The body can store unlimited
sunflower seeds and cell membranes. Steroid amounts of fat, contributing to
peanuts are rich in hormones, including sex obesity.
unsaturated fats. hormones, are made from The incorrect balance of saturated
cholesterol. and unsaturated fatty acids, or an
excess of cholesterol, can cause
diseases of the circulation .
 Fat layer under skin of a mammal

Myelin sheath around a nerve cell is

made up of fat
 Source Functions in human
Comments
Protein Many functions, including Digested in the stomach and
Meat, fish, eggs from Catalysts (enzymes) small intestine, and
animals, and legumes (peas Transport molecules, e.g. absorbed as amino acids. 20
and beans) and pulses from hemoglobin different amino acids are
plants. needed to make up all of the
Structural materials, as in
One of the best sources of different proteins in the
muscles human body. Some of these
protein is the soya bean.
Hormones, such as must be supplied in the diet
This contains very little fat
insulin as the body cannot make
(unlike most animal sources)
and so is suitable for people In defense against them – these are the
with health problems caused disease, as antibodies. essential amino acids.
by fat. Proteins from animal
Soya beans can be sources usually contain all
flavoured and textured to 20 amino acids, but plant
make them taste and feel like proteins often lack one or
meat – this textured two of the essential amino
vegetable protein is used as acids. Deficiency of protein
‘artificial’ meat. causes poor growth – in
Mycoprotein is also a extreme cases may cause
marasmus or kwashiorkor.
Protein Foods
✤ Malnutrition is the result of not eating a balanced diet.
There may be:
wrong amount of food: too little or too much
✤ Incorrect proportion of main nutrients.
✤ Lacking in one or more key nutrients.
✤ Too little food may cause starvation. Extreme slimming
diets, such as those that avoid carbohydrate foods, can
result in the disease anorexia nervosa.
✤ Too much food, particularly fatty food, may cause
obesity and coronary heart disease.
✾ One common form of malnutrition is
kwashiorkor.
✾ This is caused by a lack of protein in the diet.
✾ It is most common in children between the
ages of nine months and two years, after they
have stopped feeding on breast milk.
✾ Kwashiorkor is often caused by poverty,
because their family do not have any
high-protein food to give to the child.
✾ Children suffering from kwashiorkor are
always underweight for their age.
✾ But they may often look quite fat, because
their diet may contain a lot of carbohydrate.
✾ If they are put onto a high-protein diet, they
usually begin to grow normally again.
The most severe forms of malnutrition result
from the lack of both protein and
Carbohydrate (energy) in the diet.
Severe shortage of energy in the diet causes
marasmus, in which a child has body
weight much lower than normal, and looks
emaciated. In marasmus, the child has
symptoms of general starvation – there is not
enough ‘energy’ food nor enough protein. All
the body tissues waste away, and the child
becomes very thin with a wrinkled skin.
Obesity - Too much food (carbohydrate, fat or protein)
Vitamins and Minerals
✭ Vitamins and minerals are essential for the body to be able to use the other
nutrients efficiently.
✭ They are needed in only very small amounts, but absolutely crucial for the
healthy functioning of the body.
✭ There are many different vitamins and minerals, and they are usually provided in
the foods of a balanced diet.
✭ The diseases associated with a lack of a particular vitamin in the diet are called
deficiency diseases.

In our lesson we learn only about Vitamins C and D

❃ Cherries, citrus fruits e.g. limes, lemons,
oranges, and fresh green leafy vegetables are
the sources of vitamin C.
❃ It is destroyed by oxygen, heat (above 70
degrees) and it leaks out into the cooking
water because it is a water soluble vitamin.
❃ It is needed for tissue repair, to make the
stretchy protein collagen found in skin and
other tissues.
❃ Vitamin C also seems to protect cells from
ageing.
❃ A lack of vitamin C causes the deficiency
disease scurvy.
Effects of Vitamin C Deficiency
❃ Painful joints and muscles swollen, spongy and purplish gums that are prone to
bleeding, loose teeth, bulging eyes, bleeding into the skin are the symptoms of scurvy.
❃ Feeling very tired and weak all the time.
❃ Pain in your limbs – particularly your legs.
❃ The appearance of small red-blue spots on your skin.
❃ Swollen gums – Which become soft and vulnerable to bleeding (your teeth may feel
loose or fall out) .
❃ Severe joint pain, caused by bleeding inside the joints.
❃ Shortness of breath - Particularly after periods of physical activity.
❃ Redness and swelling in recently healed wounds (new wounds may also fail to heal).
❃ Easily bruised skin.
Symptoms of
Scurvy
❊ D is an unusual vitamin since it can be
made in the skin using UV light.
❊ Vitamin D is needed in the small intestine
to absorb mineral ions such as calcium,
magnesium, etc. into the blood.
❊ A lack of vitamin D often results in a
deficiency disease called rickets in which
the bones malform.
❊ Sunlight Promotes vitamin D synthesis from
cholesterol in the skin.
❊ Vitamin D is oil soluble, which means you
need to eat fat to absorb it.
❊ Foods high in vitamin D include fish Cod
liver oil, Sardines, Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna,
Raw Milk, Eggs and Mushrooms.
 Vitamin D is needed to maintain
healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D
deficiency leads to rickets and bone
pain.

Vitamin D deficiency symptoms

✬ A shortage of vitamin D can lead to a deficiency disease called rickets.
✬ The symptoms are soft bones that become deformed.
✬ Sufferers may become bow legged.
✬ Exposure to moderate sunlight helps the body make vitamin D.
✬ Thus, a lack of exposure (because of climate or season or wearing
clothing that acts as a barrier to sunlight) can result in the development
of a deficiency.
 Minerals
✾ Like vitamins, minerals are substances found in food that your body needs
for growth and health.
✾ Minerals do not give you energy or calories, but can help with other
functions in your body.
✾ Your body does not make minerals.
✾ To meet your daily needs, minerals must be obtained through your diet.

In our lesson we learn only about minerals Calcium and Iron

✭ A deficiency of iron in the diet can lead to anemia.
✭ The symptoms are constant tiredness and a lack of energy.
✭ Normally, as red blood cells in the body are broken down, the iron
in the hemoglobin is recycled to make new red blood cells.
✭ However, if a woman has a heavy period there is a lot of blood (and
therefore iron) loss, which can result in anemia.
 Fiber or Roughage
❊ Dietary fiber is the indigestible
part of food, largely cellulose
from plant cell walls, which
provides bulk for the faeces.
❊ Plenty of fiber in the diet
stretches the muscles of the gut
wall and helps push the food
along by peristalsis.
❊ A shortage of fiber can cause
constipation, and may be a
factor in the development of
bowel cancer.
★ Fiber helps to keep the alimentary canal working properly.
★ Food moves through the alimentary canal because the muscles
contract and relax to squeeze it along.
★This is called peristalsis.
★ The muscles are stimulated to do this when there is food in the
alimentary canal.
★ Soft foods do not stimulate the muscles very much.
★ The muscles work more strongly when there is harder, less digestible
food, like fiber, in the alimentary canal.
★ Fiber keeps the digestive system in good working order, and helps to
prevent constipation.
Constipation is generally described
as having fewer than three bowel
movements a week.
Not eating enough fiber, such
as fruit, vegetables and
cereals can cause
constipation.
Fruits are a good source of fiber
❃ Water forms about 70% of the human body.
❃ Two-thirds of this water is in the cytoplasm of cells, and the other third is in
tissue fluid and blood plasma.
❃ Humans lose about 1.5 liters of water each day, in urine, faeces, exhaled air
and sweat – this must be replaced by water in the diet.
❃ It is obtained in three main ways:
❃ As a drink, In food, especially salad foods such as tomatoes and lettuce and
from metabolic processes (think back to the equation for aerobic respiration –
water is one of the products).
❃ A loss of only 5% of the body’s water can lead to unconsciousness, and a
loss of 10% would be fatal.