BASIC NUTRITION

by Alma M. Jose, RND

Optimal health and well-being require that the body be supplied with food in adequate and balanced amounts to
provide the nutrients vital for normal organ development and functioning; for cell reproduction, growth, and maintenance;
for high energy and working efficiency; for resistance to infection and disease; and for the ability to repair tissue damage
or injury. No one nutrient works alone; each nutrient is dependent on the presence of others to bring desired results.
Although everyone needs the same nutrients, each individual requires different amount of each nutrient depending on
the age, gender, physiological make-up and physical activity. Knowledge about good nutrition is important because the
quality of people's lives and health depend on it.

1. Nutrition
- is the process by which food is converted by the body into simple substances needed to build and repair
tissues, supply energy for physical activity and to support various body functions such as respiration,
digestion and elimination. Adequate nutrition is essential for good health.

2. Health
- is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and
infirmity" according to the World Health organization (1947). A more recent definition states that health is the
dynamic, ever-changing process of achieving potential in the physical, social, emotional, mental, spiritual, and
environmental dimensions.

3 Wellness
- involves the satisfaction of a wide array of factors that lead to positive health. It is defined as "the achievement of
the highest level of health possible in each of several dimensions. To achieve high-level wellness, a person
needs to move progressively on a continuum of positive health indicators.

4. Food
- refers to any edible material which when taken into the body can provide nutrients needed to support the
various body functions.

5. Nutrients
- are chemical substances derived from food which the body uses to build and repair tissues, generate energy
and regulate body processes.

Food provides two different and distinct groups of nutrients:

Macronutrients (macro = big)
- are nutrients which the body needs in amounts of one gram or more per day and include protein, fat,
carbohydrate and water.
Micronutrients (micro = small)
6. are nutrients which the body needs in smaller amounts(less than 1 gram) and include vitamins and Calorie
- is the amount of heat produced or released when food is burned by the body cells. Calorie also refers to the
amount of energy required to "do work" or to perform certain physical activities.

7. Fuel or energy values of foods

- Energy is the ability to do work and is measured in terms of calories. Foods containing carbohydrate, protein
and fat provide the body with energy. A gram of either carbohydrate or protein
gives approximately four calories, whereas a gram of fat yields nine calories. Fat is a concentrated source of energy.
- minerals.
 Basic Guidelines in Promoting Good Nutrition

How does one know what and how much food to eat? A helpful tool in choosing the foods and the amounts needed for
healthy diet is the FGP.

Food Guide Pyramid

The Food Guide Pyramid (FGP) is a simple graphic presentation of foods grouped according to nutrient
contribution. The FGP was developed to help individuals select a well-balanced diet to promote good health. It shows the
five food groups arranged in a pyramid. The pyramidal shape indicates the relative amounts or proportions of each food
group that should be eaten every day. Foods at the base should be eaten most of, and those at the tip should be eaten
the least. Foods at the middle levels should be eaten in moderation. At the base of the pyramid are carbohydrate-rich
foods such as rice and other cereals, bread and root crops. These foods provide the bulk of the Filipino diet. Vegetables
and fruits provide not only vitamins and minerals but also fiber and should be eaten more of. Meat, fish, poultry and dairy
products provide good quality protein but are also sources of fat and therefore should be eaten in moderation. Sugar and
fat which provide calories mainly are recommended to be eaten the least.
The Pyramid also points to exercise, personal and environmental hygiene as essential for the child's health and suggests
for physical activity to substitute television watching or playing computer games. The Food Guide Pyramid shows how
the principles of variety, moderation and balance can be applied in the selection and consumption of foods. A picture of
the Food Guide Pyramid and there commended number of servings for healthy adults is shown in Figure 1.

The Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos (NGF)

-is a set often messages of simple recommendations that give advice about proper diet and wholesome practices to
promote good health for each individual and family member. The NGF was developed in 2000 by the Technical Working
Group on the Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos led by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of
Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST). The NGF messages were based on the nutritional status data of Filipinos and
the current dietary habits and food patterns, taking into consideration the country's food availability and supply, as well as
socioeconomic condition and cultural practices of the population.

The following are the 10 recommended messages in the NGF:

1. Eat a variety of foods everyday.
2.Breastfeed infants exclusively from birth up to 6 months, and then, give appropriate foods while continuing breastfeeding.
3. Maintain childrens normal growth through proper diet and monitor their growth regularly.
 4. Consume fish, lean meat, poultry and dried beans
5. Eat more vegetables, fruits and rootcrops.
6. Eat foods cooked in edible/cooking oil daily.
7. Consume milk, milk products, and other calcium-rich foods such as small fish and dark
green leafy vegetables everyday.
8. Use iodized salt, but avoid excessive intake of salty foods.
9. Eat clean and safe foods.
10. For a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition, exercise regularly, do not smoke and avoid
drinking
alcoholic beverages.

Tobetter understand these messages, the aims and rationale for each message are described as follows:
Guideline No. 1 - intends to emphasize the message that no single food provides all the nutrients the body needs.
Choosing different kinds of foods from all food groups is the first step to obtain a well-balanced diet. This will help
correct the common practice of confining food choice to a few kinds of foods, resulting in an unbalanced diet.
Guideline No. 2 - intends to promote exclusive breastfeeding from birth up to 6 months and to encourage the
continuation of breastfeeding for as long as two years or longer. This is to ensure a complete and safe food for the
newborn and the growing infant besides imparting the other benefits of breastfeeding. The Guideline also strongly
advocates the giving of appropriate complementary food in addition to breast milk once the infant is ready for solid
foods about 6 months to 2 years. Feeding the child properly during this critical period should be given close attention.

Guideline No. 3 - gives advice on proper feeding of children. The Guideline also promotes regular monthly weighing
to monitor the growth of children, as it is a simple way to assess nutritional status.
Guidelines Nos. 4.5,6. & 7 - intends to correct the deficiencies in the current dietary pattern of Filipinos. Including fish, lean
meat, poultry or dried beans will provide good quality protein and energy, as well as iron and zinc, key nutrients lacking in
the diet of Filipinos as a whole. Eating more vegetables, fruits and root crops will supply the much-needed vitamins,
minerals and dietary fiber that are deficient in the diet. In addition, it provides defense against chronic degenerative
diseases. Including foods cooked in edible oils will provide dietary energy as a partial remedy to energy deficiency of the
average Filipino especially children, and better utilization of fat- soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Including milk and other
calcium-rich foods in the diet will serve not only to supply calcium for healthy bones but also provide high quality protein
and other nutrients for growth.

Guideline No. 8 - promotes the use of iodized salt to prevent iodine deficiency, which is a major cause of mental and
physical underdevelopment in the country. At the same time, the Guideline warns excessive intake of salty foods as a
hedge against hypertension, particularly among high-risk individuals.

Guideline No. 9 - intends to prevent food borne-diseases. It explains the various sources of contamination of food and
simple ways to prevent from occurring.

Guideline No. 10 - aims to promote a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise, abstinence from smoking, and avoiding
alcohol consumption. If alcohol is consumed, it must be done in moderation. All these lifestyle practices are directly or
indirectly related to nutrition.

What Happens to the Food We Eat (The Digestive Process)

The food eaten undergo digestion, absorption and utilization. Metabolism refers to the chemical processes that
occur inside the cells as they transform nutrients into energy and body tissues. The transformation of foods into various
nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and protein and other physiological processes are parts of the metabolic processes.

The digestive system has the ability to turn complex food into basic nutrients. This requires a group of digestive
organs, each designed specifically to perform one role in the process. The digestive system is a long tube that starts at
the mouth, continuous down through the throat, to the stomach, and then to the small and large intestine and past the
rectum to end at the anus. In between, with the help of the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder, the digestible parts of
everything eaten are converted to simple substances that the body can easily absorb to burn for energy or build new
tissue form. The indigestible residue is bundled off and eliminated as waste.
Digestion is a two-part process - half mechanical, half chemical.
1. Mechanical digestion takes place in the mouth and the stomach. The teeth break food into small pieces that can
be swallowed without choking. In the stomach, a churning action continues to breakdown food into smaller
particles.
2. Chemical digestion occurs at every point in the digestive tract where enzymes and other substances such as
hydrochloric acid (from stomach glands) and bile (from the gallbladder) dissolve food, releasing the nutrients
contained.

How the Body Digests Food

Each organ in the digestive system plays a specific role in the digestive process. The first act occurs in
two places that are never listed as part of the digestive tract: the eyes and nose.

The Mouth
Food is lifted and put into the mouth and the teeth and salivary glands swing into action. The teeth chew, grinding the
food, breaking it into small, manageable pieces. As a result:
The food can be swallowed without choking.
The indigestible sheath of fiber surrounding the edible parts of some foods is broken down so that the digestive
enzymes can get to the nutrients inside. At the same time the salivary glands under the tongue and in the back
of the tongue secrete the watery liquid called saliva, which performs two important functions:
Moistens and compacts food so that the tongue can push it to the back of the mouth sending the food down into
the esophagus and into the stomach.
Provides amylases, enzymes that start the digestion of complex carbohydrates, breaking the starch molecules
into simple sugars. No protein or fat digestion occurs in the mouth.

The Stomach
The stomach is pouchy part just below the esophagus that holds the chewed food. Like most of the digestive tube, the
stomach is circled with strong muscles whose rhythmic contractions - called peristalsis - move food along and turn the
stomach into a sort of food processor that mechanically breaks pieces of food into even smaller particles. While this is
going on, glands in the stomach wall are secreting stomach juices - a potent blend of enzymes, hydrochloric acid and
mucus. Other enzymes, plus stomach juices, begin the digestion of protein and fats, separating these into its basic
components -amino acids and fatty acids.

The Smal Intestine

Open the hand and put it flat against the belly button, with the thumb pointing up to the waist and the pinkie pointing
down. The hand is now covering most of the relatively small space into which the 20-foot long small intestine is neatly
coiled. When chyme spills from the stomach into this part of the digestive tube, a whole new set of gastric juices are
released. These include:
Pancreatic and intestinal enzymes that finish the digestion of protein into amino acids
Bile, a greenish liquid (made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder) that enables fats to mix with water;

Alkaline pancreatic juices that make the chyme less acidic so that amylases (the enzymes that break down
carbohydrates) can go back to work separating complex carbohydrates into simple sugars
ple sugars. No protein or fat digestion occurs in the mouth.
Intestinal alcohol dehydrogenase that digests alcohol not previously absorbed into the blood stream Inside
the cells, nutrients are metabolized: burned for heat and energy or used to build new tissues

The Large Intestine

After every useful, digestible ingredient other than water has been wrung out of the food, the rest -indigestible waste such
as fiber - moves to the top of the large intestine, the area known as the colon. The colon's primary job is to absorb water
from this mixture and then to squeeze the remaining matter into the compact bundle known as feces. Feces (whose
brown color comes from leftover bile pigments) are made up of indigestible material from food, plus cells that have
sloughed off the intestinal lining and bacteria. In fact, about 30 percent of the entire weight of the feces is bacteria.