Nutrients, a portion of food deals with food and how the body uses it. Food provides energy for things we do, our education and lots of other things.

Everything we eat does something to our health or makes it worse. A good diet stops certain illnesses from happening. A bad diet increases a variety of diseases. Having a good diet helps your body to receive the food substances it needs. A daily diet should include at least one thing from each food group. After we eat our meals the process of digestion breaks down the food and makes it into different substances we can use.

Kinds of Nutrients

There are many different kinds of nutrients. The foods we eat have thousands of different chemicals. Only a few chemicals keep us healthy. There are six nutrition groups. They are the following:

1. Water

2. Carbohydrates

3. Fats

4. Proteins

5. Minerals

6. Vitamins

The first four groups are called macronutrients, which means that your body needs more then them. The last two groups are called micronutrients, which means you don t need much of them. Our bodies need a lot more of Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats to provide us with energy. Minerals and Vitamins are needed for growth. Water is the most needed nutrient because we can live without any other nutrient for several days, but we can t live without water for several days. Water helps all the nutrients get to our tissue. Our bodies also need water to carry away waste products and to cool us. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates give the body energy it needs to function. Carbohydrates are found in most fruits, vegetables, peas, and beans. Milk and products with milk are the only food that has carbohydrates in it. There are two groups of carbohydrates simple and complex. Simple Carbohydrates has mostly sugar like fruit sugar, table sugar, and milk sugar. Complex Carbohydrates has fiber a piece of nerve tissue and starches. There are two more simple carbohydrates, Monosaccharides and Disaccharides. Monosaccharides are simple sugars and Disaccharides is any kind of sugar and has two Monosaccharides. Simple and Complex carbohydrates are put into glucose. Glucose is the sugar that our bodies create to use for energy. Glucose is either used to provide energy or put in the liver to use for some other time. When more calories are put in our bodies then needed, the carbohydrates may be put in the body as fat. Our bodies use carbohydrates as fuel. Only monosaccharides can go in the bloodstream to the digestive system. Disaccharides and starch has to be digested in the small intestine before the body can use them. After the carbohydrate has been broken down into simple sugars in the small intestine, the blood gets them to the liver. The cells use glucose as fuel for muscles and nerves and to build tissue and repair tissue. Our bodies cannot digest cellulose. It helps keep the health and tone of our intestines and aid digestion. That s how carbohydrates are used in our bodies.

Proteins

Proteins are essential for growth and development. It provides energy for our bodies and is needed to manufacture hormones, antibodies, enzymes and tissues. When Protein is consumed, our bodies break it down into amino acids. Amino acids helps Protein process. If there is a shortage of amino acids, all the Protein building up stops and the body suffers. Proteins have carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Complete proteins have all of the essential amino acids. Complete protein can be cheese, eggs, fish, meat, and milk. Incomplete proteins don t have enough of amino acids in them. Some incomplete proteins are cereal grains, nuts, and vegetables. Two incomplete proteins can make a complete protein mixture. To make it you must have enough amino acids in one incomplete and the other incomplete protein has to have very little of amino acid. Our bodies need 20 amino acids to make thousands of proteins.

Fats

Fats make more energy for us then carbohydrates. Fats are stored in our body until carbohydrates get low. We need fat stored in our body for the cold and dry seasons. Each gram of fat is about 9 calories. All fats are made from an alcohol called glycerol and a substance called fatty acids. There are three types of fatty acids: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. A saturated fatty acid has as many hydrogen atoms as its carbon chain can hold. A monounsaturated fatty acid is lacking a pair of hydrogen atoms. Polyunsaturated fatty acid is the carbon chain that has four less hydrogen atoms then it can hold. A certain kind of fatty acid called essential fatty acid helps you grow and maintenance of our bodies. There is another kind of fat called fat substitute. Fat substitute is used in foods to take place of fats and oils. Fat can make up to 4,000 calories of energy per pound. Carbohydrates and Proteins can make up to 1,800 calories per pound.

Games

Unscramble the words and write it on the line below.

1. Ttresnut

2. Sahdryecartob Put the letter of the description next to the word.

3. Ipotren

4. Tasf

5. Suntrienciromt

6. Oromcchsaidesar

7. Cchrasdeisiad

8. Luocegs

9. Ytatf dcia

10. Nalderoclyg

11. Untasauretdmnoos

12. Ysunturtaadeopl

13. Taauretds

14. Tfa usbtuttise

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