Nutrition is defined as the processes by which a living organism takes in and utilizes food substances as it acts as a fuel, providing energy for our bodies. Nutrients are molecules in food that all organisms need to make energy, grow, and develop. Nutrients are digested from the food that we take in and then is broken down into basic parts to be used by the organism. Essential nutrients that our body requires are protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes.
The nutrients need to be replaced with a new supply every day in our bodies. Water is an important component of nutrition. Maintaining key vitamins and minerals are also important to maintaining good health. To have good health & nutrition, it is necessary to avoid certain kinds of foods. Sodium is used heavily in processed foods which is dangerous for people with high blood pressure. Fried food, solid fats, and Trans fats are harmful to heart health. Refined grains like white flour, white rice, and refined sugar like table sugar, high fructose corn syrup are also bad for long-term health, especially in people with diabetes.
Nutrients are categorized into; macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are categorized as Carbohydrate, Protein & Fat. Carbohydrates are used for quick energy in cells. The basic unit of carbohydrates is a monosaccharide. Proteins are a macronutrient that the cells in your body use for the structure. Protein is very crucial for building tissues, such as muscle. Muscle is mainly made up of proteins. Proteins are made from monomers called amino acids. Fats are also called lipids and they store energy in our body. Fats have long chains of carbon and hydrogen that stores lots of energy in the chemical bonds. Fats protect our cells and send signals in the form of hormones around our bodies. The micronutrients are categorized into vitamins and minerals, and these are the extra molecules that cells need to make energy.
Nutrigenomics is also known as nutritional genomics is the science that studies the relationship between human genome, nutrition & health. The Nutritional Genomics focuses on the interaction between bioactive food components and the genome in humans, which includes Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics. The influence of nutrients on gene expression is called Nutrigenomics and the response of gene variants to nutrients is called Nutrigenetics. Obesity is widely studied topics in nutritional genomics s it occurs due to genetic variations among individuals, each person could respond to diet differently.
