The Role of Nutrition in Our Health

1. 1 The Role of Nutrition in Our Health

2. What Is Nutrition? • Food refers to plants and animals we eat • Nutrition is the science that studies food: • How food nourishes our bodies • How food influences our health

3. Why Is Nutrition Important? • Proper nutrition supports wellness • Wellness is more than the absence of disease • Physical, emotional, and spiritual health • Active process • Critical components of wellness • Nutrition • Physical activity

5. Why Is Nutrition Important? • Healthful diet can prevent disease • Poor nutrition causes deficiency diseases: scurvy, pellagra • Nutrition plays a role in osteoporosis and cancer • Nutrition is associated with chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, and diabetes

8. Why Is Nutrition Important? Obesity is a growing problem: • Eating more calories than expended • Risk factor for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer

10. Why Is Nutrition Important? • Nutrition is a national goal to promote optimal health and disease prevention • Goals of Healthy People 2020 • Increase quality and years of healthy life • Eliminate health disparities

12. What Are Nutrients? • Nutrients are chemicals in foods that our bodies use for growth and function • Organic nutrients contain carbon, an essential component of all living organisms • Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins • Inorganic nutrients: nutrients that do not contain carbon • Minerals and water

14. What Are Nutrients? • Macronutrients are nutrients required in relatively large amounts • Provide energy to our bodies • Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins • Alcohol is not considered a nutrient • Does not support the regulation of body functions or the building or repairing of tissues • Considered to be both a drug and a toxin

15. Carbohydrates • Primary source of fuel for the body, especially for neurologic functioning and physical exercise • Composed of chains of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen • Found in grains (wheat, rice), vegetables, fruits, legumes (lentils, beans, peas), seeds, nuts, and milk products

17. Lipids • Insoluble in water • Include triglycerides, phospholipids, and sterols • Composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen • Energy source during rest or low- to moderate-intensity exercise • Stored as adipose tissue (body fat) • Provide fat-soluble vitamins

19. Proteins • Proteins are found in many foods, primarily in meat, dairy, seeds, nuts, and legumes • Small amounts of proteins are also found in vegetables and whole grains

21. Vitamins • Vitamins are organic molecules that assist in regulating body processes • Critical in building and maintaining healthy bones and tissues • Support immune system • Ensure healthy vision • Do not supply energy to our bodies • Vitamins are micronutrients, required in smaller amounts

23. Minerals • Minerals are inorganic substances required for body processes • Regulate fluid and energy production. • Essential for bone and blood health • Remove harmful metabolic by-products • Our diets and bodies contain major minerals and trace minerals

25. Water • Water is an inorganic essential nutrient • Water is involved in many body processes: • Fluid balance and nutrient transport • Nerve impulses • Body temperature • Muscle contractions • Nutrient transport • Excretion of waste products

26. Determining Nutrient Needs • Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): updated nutritional standards • Expanded on the traditional RDA values • Set standards for nutrients that do not have RDA values • Dietary standards for healthy people only • Aim to prevent deficiency diseases and reduce chronic diseases

28. Determining Nutrient Needs Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) consist of: • Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) • Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) • Adequate Intake (AI) • Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) Determination

29. Determining Nutrient Needs • Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) • The average daily intake level of a nutrient to meet the needs of half of the healthy people in a particular life stage or gender group • Used to define the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of a nutrient

31. Determining Nutrient Needs • Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) • The average daily nutrient intake level that meets the needs of 97% to 98% of healthy people in a particular category

33. Determining Nutrient Needs • Adequate Intake (AI) • Recommended average daily nutrient intake level • Based on observed and experimentally determined estimates of nutrient intake by a group of healthypeople • Used when the RDA is not available: calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, and fluoride

34. Determining Nutrient Needs • Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) • Highest average daily nutrient intake level likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to most people • Consumption of a nutrient at levels above the UL increases the potential for toxic effects and health risks increases

35. Determining Nutrient Needs • Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) • Average dietary energy intake to maintain energy balance in a healthyadult • Defined by age, gender, weight, height, and level of physical activity

36. Determining Nutrient Needs • Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR) • Ranges of energy intakes from macronutrients that are associated with reduced risk of chronic disease while providing adequate intakes of essential nutrients • If nutrient intake falls outside this range, there is a potential for increasing our risk for poor health

38. Assessing Nutritional Status • Nutrition professional must have a thorough understanding of the client’s current nutritional status • Weight • Ratio of lean body tissue to body fat • Intake of energy and nutrients • Foundation of recommended dietary and lifestyle changes • Baseline for evaluation

39. Malnutrition • Nutritional status is out of balance:too much or too little of a particular nutrient or energy over a significant period of time • Undernutrition: too little energy or too few nutrients over time, causing weight loss or a nutrient-deficiency disease • Overnutrition: too much energy or too much of a given nutrient over time, causing obesity, heart disease, or nutrient toxicity

40. Physical Examinations • Physical exams are conducted by trained healthcare providers • Tests depend upon client’s medical history, disease symptoms, and risk factors • Typical tests include vital signs, lab tests, heart and lung sounds • Nutritional imbalances may be detected by examining hair, skin, tongue, eyes, and fingernails

41. Health History Questionnaire • Tool to assist in cataloging history of health, illness, drug use, exercise, and diet • Socioeconomic factors (education, access to shopping/cooking facilities, marital status, ethnic/racial background) • Energy and nutrient intake questionnaires

42. Dietary Intake Tools • Techniques to assess nutrient and energy intakes: • Diet history • Twenty-four-hour dietary recall • Food frequency questionnaire • Diet records • Strengths and limitations

43. Diet History • Information from interview or questionnaire: • Weight (current and usual weight, goals) • Factors affecting appetite and food intake • Typical eating pattern • Disordered eating behaviors (if any) • Education and economic status • Living, cooking/food purchasing arrangements • Medication and dietary supplements • Physical activity

44. Twenty-Four-Hour Dietary Recalls • Recalls all food and beverages consumed in the previous 24-hour period • Accurate recall includes serving sizes, food preparation methods, and brand names of convenience foods or fast foods • Limitations: • May not be typical intake • Relies on memory • Relies on ability to estimate portion sizes

45. Food Frequency Questionnaires • Determine typical dietary pattern over a predefined period of time • Include lists of foods with the number of times these foods are eaten • Some assess only qualitative information (typical foods without amounts) • Semiquantitative questionnaires assess specific foods and quantity consumed

46. Diet Records • List of all foods and beverages consumed over a specific time period (3−7 days) • Improved accuracy when: • Foods are weighed or measured • Labels of convenience foods and supplements are saved • Challenges to accuracy and sufficient detail

47. Anthropometric Assessment • Common measurements include height, body weight, head circumference in infants, and limb circumference • Require trained personnel and correct tools • Compare standards specific for age/gender • Assess trends in nutritional status/growth

48. Nutrition Deficiencies • Primary deficiencyoccurs when a person does not consume enough of a nutrient, a direct consequence of inadequate intake • Secondary deficiencyoccurs when: • A person cannot absorb enough of a nutrient in his or her body • Too much of a nutrient is excreted from the body • A nutrient is not utilized efficiently by the body

49. Deficiency Symptoms • Subclinical deficiency occurs in the early stages; few or no symptoms are observed • Covert symptoms are hidden and require laboratory tests or other invasive procedures to detect • Symptoms of nutrition deficiency that become obvious are overt

50. Scientific Method To ensure that certain standards and processes are used in evaluating claims, the researcher: • Makes an observation and describes a phenomenon • Proposes a hypothesis (educated guess) to explain the phenomenon • Develops an experimental design to test the hypothesis 4. Collects and analyzes data to support or reject the hypothesis