Human Nutrition D.1 p.

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Essential Nutrients
Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized by the body, therefore they have to be included in the diet

 Nutrients: Chemical substances, found in foods, that are used in the human body

ESSENTIAL: Some nutrients are NON-ESSENTIAL: Either because

essential in the human diet 
because foods are the only
possible source of nutrient
Includes:
 Some amino acids
 Unsaturated fatty acids
 Some minerals
 Calcium
 Vitamins
 Water
NUTRIENTS
CONDITIONALLY ESSENTIAL: In
adults, vitamin K is produced by
the metabolism of symbiotic
bacteria in the intestine
Because infants do not have
colonies of such bacteria t birth,
they are often given a
supplementary injection of vitamin
K energy and lipids can be
another nutrient can be used for the
same purpose or because they can
be made in the body from another
nutrient
Includes:
 Glucose
 Starch
 And other carbohydrates
 Because they are used in
respiration to provide
used instead

Ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient in some animals

Production of ascorbic acid by some mammals, but not others which need a dietary supply

 Vitamin C: compound called ascorbic acid  Needed for the synthesis of the collagen fibers that
form part of many tissues in the body, including skin and blood vessel walls
 The majority of plants and animals (including most mammals), can synthesize vitamin C
 Mutations that led to genes that no longer produce the protein necessary to make vitamin C have
occurred several times in evolutionary history (bat, guinea pig, owl monkey, marmoset, macaque,
gibbon, orangutan, gorilla, human)
o The inability to synthesis vitamin C is due to mutations in the GLO gene which codes for the
production of the enzyme L-gulono--lactone oxidase
 Symptoms develop as a result of Vitamin C Deficiency a.k.a. SCURVY. These can be alleviated by the
intake of dietary sources of the compound

Essential Fatty Acids and Amino Acids

Some fatty acids and some amino acids are essential
 Of the 20 amino acids in proteins, about half are essential in humans, because they can’t be
synthesized in sufficient quantities, but the other half can be made from other simpler nitrogen
compounds
 Threonine and arginine are conditionally essential
 Threonine: essential amino acid that can be synthesized by the body if phenylalanine is present
  Sufficient arginine can normally be produced by a healthy individual
 The synthesis pathway of arginine is not active in prematurely born infants and so they must obtain
in through their diet
 There are some omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are essential in the diet because they can’t
be synthesized in the body (name refers to the position of a double bond in relation to the end of
the molecule)
 Alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid are used in the biosynthesis of a number of other compounds
 They are needed throughout the body, but the development of the brain and the eye involves
particularly large quantities
 However, there is little or no evidence that the supplementation of a normal balanced diet with
omega-3 fatty acids, for example fish oils, enhances brain or eye development

Essential amino acids

Histidine Phenylalanine
Isoleucine Tryptophan
Leucine Valine
Lysine Threonine (only if phenylalanine is not in the diet)
Methionine Arginine (required in the diet of infants)

Essential amino acids are needed for protein synthesis

Lack of essential amino acids affects the production of proteins
 If there is a shortage of one or more essential amino acids in the diet then the body cannot make
enough of the proteins that it needs
 This condition  known as protein deficiency malnutrition
 Essential amino acids may be lacking due to an overall insufficiency of protein in the diet or an
imbalance in the types of protein
 E.g.: protein deficiency malnutrition causes a lack of blood plasma proteins with the result that fluid
is retained in tissues. Causes
o Swelling (edema)
o Which is often very obvious in the abdomen
o Child development may be both mentally and physically retarded (w/ stunned growth and
development disabilities
o Adults may undergo serious weight loss (wasting)

Essential Minerals
Dietary minerals are essential chemical elements
 Minerals  needed in the diet in relatively small quantities – milligrams or micrograms per day
rather than grams. They can be distinguished from vitamins by their chemical nature
 Minerals  chemical elements, usually in ionic form
o Eg.: Calcium is required in the diet in the form of Ca+ ions
 If any mineral is lacking from the diet = deficiency disease
 These can be serious, even though the quantities of the mineral needed in the diet are small
  Mineral iodine: needed by the thyroid gland for synthesis of the hormone thyroxin. It stimulates
the metabolic rate and ensures that enough energy is released in the body. A lack of it causes
iodine deficiency disorder (IDD)
o If a pregnant woman had IDD, her baby may be born with permanent brain damage, and if
children suffer IDD after birth, their mental development and intelligence are impaired
o Tens of millions of people worldwide have been affected in this way by IDD
o Iodine supplementation can be done easily by adding the mineral to salt sold for human
consumption
o Costs about 5 cents per person to iodize salt and prevent IDD in population

Vitamins
Vitamins are chemically diverse carbon compounds that cannot be synthesized by the body
 Vitamins: organic compounds that are needed in very small amounts because they cannot be
synthesized by the body but must be obtained from the diet
 They serve a variety of roles such as co-factors for enzymes, anti-oxidants and hormones
 Word ‘vitamin’  derived from ‘vital amine’ as the first vitamins to be discovered contained an
amino group
 Other vitamins discovered, since don’t necessarily contain an amino group such as vitamin A, C, D
and E
 Vitamins are often broadly categorized as fat soluble and water soluble
 The water-soluble vitamins have to be constantly consumed and any excess is lost in urine
 The fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body

Types of Malnutrition
Malnutrition may be caused by a deficiency, imbalance or excess of nutrients in the diet
 Malnutrition = of a poor diet
 Diets can be low in overall quantity with low protein and calorie content
 They can be unbalanced and fail to provide essential nutrients, or they can contain excess fats and
refined carbohydrates
 Malnutrition  often associated with poverty
 Starvation = consequence of a diet lacking in adequate protein and carbohydrates
  Increasingly, obesity is observed in developing countries as well as in the lower socio-economic
classes of developed nations as a consequence of unhealthy diets with excess fat and refined
carbohydrates

The Appetite Control Centre

Appetite is controlled by a centre in the hypothalamus
 In the hypothalamus of the brain there is a centre that is responsible for making us feel satisfied
when we have eaten enough food
 Called = Appetite control centre
 The small intestine secretes the hormone PYY3-36 when it contains food
 The pancreas secretes insulin when the blood glucose is high
 Adipose tissue secretes the hormone leptin when amounts of stored fat increase
 If the appetite control centre receives these hormones, it reduces the desire to eat  helps us
avoid health problems due to overeating, including excessive blood glucose levels and obesity

Consequences of being Overweight

Overweight individuals are more likely to suffer hypertension and type II diabetes
 Unhealthy diets with excess fat and refined carbohydrates have health consequences
 Nutrition related diseases diabetes and hypertension
 There are several diseases involving excessive excretion of urine, all of which are forms of diabetes
 In the commonest form, sugar is present in the urine. This is diabetes mellitus, and it affects
hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Two ways in which this sort of diabetes can develop:
o Auto-immune destruction of insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas – TYPE I DIABETES
o Decreased responsiveness of body cells to insulin due to “burn-out” - TYPE II DIABETES

 Prevalence rates of type II diabetes are rising rapidly in many countries

 The study of rates and distribution of a disease, to try to find its causes is known as epidemiology
 Epidemiological studies of type II diabetes have implicated increased blood concentrations of fatty
acids, linked to the following risk factors;
o Diets rich in fat and low fibre
o Obesity due to overeating and lack of exercise
o Genetic factors which affect fat metabolism

 There is huge variation between ethnic groups in rates of type II diabetes, from less than 2% in
China to 50% among the Pima Indians. The symptoms are not always recognized, so not all the
people with diabetes are diagnosed.
 Main symptoms are:
o Elevated levels of glucose
o Glucose in the urine – this can be detected by a simple test
o Dehydration and thirst resulting from excretion of large volumes of urine

 Unless carefully managed, diabetes can cause other health problems to develop, several of which
relate to the cardiovascular system: