BIOLOGY 10 REACTION PAPER

Ejay Christine L. Figuracion

10 St. Thomas Aquinas
How do nutrients in food help muscles develop? What nutrients must muscles have in
order to strengthen? What are nutrients the human body can produce that are
reproduced by big companies?
Nutrients found in food are important to ensure that the body is given enough nourishment
which makes an individual function at an optimum level. There are three macronutrients which
are carbohydrates, fat, and protein. These are sources of energy for the body so that one can
do his or her daily tasks. In addition to providing energy, they also provide the raw materials for
building the bodys tissues and regulating its many activities.
In fact, proteins role as a fuel source is relatively minor compared with both the other two
nutrients and its other roles. Proteins are found in structures such as muscles and skin and help
to regulate activities such as digestion and energy metabolism (Rolfes, Pinna & Whitney, 2009).
The table below shows that a summary of functions and roles protein play.
Table 1. Summarized function of proteins (Rolfes, Pinna & Whitney, 2009)
Role
Function
Growth and maintenance
Proteins form integral parts of most body
structures such as skin, tendons, membranes,
muscles, organs, and bones. As such, they
support the growth and repair of body tissues.
Enzymes
Proteins facilitate chemical reactions.
Hormones
Proteins regulate body process (but not all
hormones are proteins).
Fluid balance
Proteins help to maintain the volume and
composition of body fluids.
Acid-base balance
Proteins help maintain the acid-base balance
of body fluids by acting as buffers.
Transportatation
Proteins transport substances such as lipid,
vitamins, minerals, and oxygen, around the
body.
Antibodies
Proteins inactivate foreign invaders, thus
protecting the body against diseases.
Energy and glucose
Proteins provide some fuel, and glucose if
needed, for the bodys energy needs.
Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of
protein containing a central carbon atom with a hydrogen atom, an amino group, and a side
chain. The side chains are responsible for making amino acids vary from one another. They are
also responsible for making proteins more complex than either carbohydrates or lipids. There
are three different kinds of amino acids and these are the nonessential amino acids, essential
amino acids, and conditionally essential amino acids. Nonessential amino acids are those that
can be synthesize by the body while essential amino acids are those that cannot be made at all
or are not made sufficiently to meet the bodys needs. Conditionally essential amino acids are
nonessential amino acids that become essential under special circumstances like a disorder or
a disease.

Essential amino acids are those that big companies reproduced in order to provide the needs of
the customers. Some big companies also reproduce them in order to trick the customers into
thinking that drinking amino acids, regardless if essential or nonessential, will help them gain
and bulk up their muscles (Whitney & Rolfes, 2012).
References
1. Rolfes, S.R., Pinna, K., Whitney, E. (2009). Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition
8th Edition. United Stated of America: Cengage Learning . 180-185
2. Whitney, E., Rolfes, S.R. (2012). Understanding Nutrition 13 th Edition. United States of
America: Cengage Learning. 195-209