What are Nutrients?
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Food contains nourishing substances called nutrients. Definition Nutrients are chemicals found in food that help the body to work properly
Many nutrients have been identified and each has a specific job to do. Nutrients are divided into three classes. These are energy giving nutrients, protective nutrients and body building nutrients. The foods, which provide the energy nutrients called energy giving foods. The foods which provide protection nutrients are called protective foods and the foods which provide body building nutrients are called body building foods.
In this unit we would be learning mainly about energy giving nutrients and the foods which provide them.
Fibre in the diet
The plant fibre eaten in food is called cellulose. Humans cannot digest fibre because they do not have the right enzymes to break the bonds in the fibre. Fibre however serves important functions in the body. For example it prevents constipation and lowers the energy value of food.
Carbohydrates
They are one of the nutrients that provide our bodies with energy. They are the bodies most efficient fuel.Sugars and starches are the two main types of carbohydrates, starches are complex carbohydrates. They are complex because they are made of many glucose units. They are found in foods like rice, pasta, cassava, yam etc. when starchy foods are eaten and digested, simple sugars like glucose are obtained. It is this glucose that the body uses for energy.
Simple sugars
They can also be found in fruits, milk and grain products.They are also found in many For good health one should eat a lot of complex carbohydrates.Food source for complex carbohydrates include, beans, cereals and starchy vegetables.These foods would also supply other nutrients like vitamins and minerals. This makes them more useful than the simple sugars.
For the human brain to think and function it needs a steady, adequate supply of the simple sugar glucose. The blood contains some amount of glucose and the rest is stored in the liver as glycogen. Glycogen is the bodies instance source of energy. Glycogen is quickly converted into glucose to produce energy when it is needed. For example during fright. When the blood sugar level rises as a result of eating the body has a way of removing the excess glucose to bring the level to normal values. If for some reason the body is unable to remove the excess sugar from the blood it accumulates and we say that the person had diabetes