A Nutrient Is A Chemical That An Organism Needs To

A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment.[1] Nutrients are the substances that enrich the body. They build and repair tissues, give heat and energy, and regulate body processes. Methods for nutrient intake vary, with animals and protists consuming foods that are digested by an internal digestive system, but most plants ingest nutrients directly from the soil through their roots or from the atmosphere. Some plants, like carnivorous plants, externally digest nutrients from animals, before ingesting them. The effects of nutrients are dose-dependent. Organic nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins (or their building blocks, amino acids), and vitamins. Inorganic chemical compounds such as dietary minerals, water, and oxygen may also be considered nutrients.[citation needed] A nutrient is essential to an organism if it cannot be synthesized by the organism in sufficient quantities and must be obtained from an external source. Nutrients needed in large quantities are called macronutrients; micronutrients are required in only small quantities.

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Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water Nutrient Balance Carefully planned nutrition must provide an energy balance and a nutrient balance. The nutrients are:

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Proteins - essential to growth and repair of muscle and other body tissues

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Vitamins - water and fat soluble vitamins play important roles in many chemical processes in the body

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Water - essential to normal body function - as a vehicle for carrying other nutrients and because 60% of the human body is water

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Roughage - the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet essential to health of the digestive system

Fats - one source of energy and important in relation to fat soluble vitamins Carbohydrates - our main source of energy Minerals - those inorganic elements occurring in the body and which are critical to its normal functions

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Definition of Nutrition: •

science of food

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substances found in food ○

action

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interaction

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balance in relation to health & disease

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process of 

ingestion

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digestion

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absorption

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transport

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utilization

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excretion

Macronutrients "Macro" means big, so the macronutrients are the big nutrients, better known as protein, fats and carbohydrates. Except for zero-calorie foods, everything you eat contains varying amounts of these nutrients. Despite the popularity of some fad diets that require you to drastically reduce any of these macronutrients, all of them are important for your health and you need them everyday. Micronutrients "Micro" means small so the micronutrients are the nutrients that we need in small amounts. These include the 12 vitamins and 13 minerals that we need every day. Vitamins are grouped as water-soluble or fat-soluble depending on whether they can dissolve in fat or water. Minerals are divided into two groups, the major minerals and the trace minerals.