CHAPTER 2 ~ NUTRITION

2.1 Classes of Food and Their Functions

Carbohydrates
1. Carbohydrates include sugars, starch, glycogen and cellulose.
2. They supply the body with energy.
3. Severe lack of carbohydrates causes marasmus (patients are hydrated
and severely underweight).
Water
1. Water is required for all the chemical processes in the body such as the
digestion of food.
2. Water is required for transporting substances in the blood.
3. Water helps to control the body temperature through sweating.
Proteins
1. Food rich in proteins include mutton, beef, chicken and fish.
2. Beans and peas are rich in plant proteins.
3. Proteins provide the body with materials for building new cells and for
repairing damaged tissues.
4. Severe lack of proteins causes kwashiorkor (much swollen abdomen).
Fats
1.
2.
3.
4.

Fats include animal fats (e.g. butter) and vegetable oils (e.g. palm oil).
Fats supply the body with energy.
They supply twice as much energy per gram as carbohydrates.
Excess fats in the body are stored under the skin and around certain
organs such as the heart.

Fibre
1. Vegetables and fruit are rich in dietary fibre.
2. Dietary fibre stimulates the wave-like movements of the intestine
(peristalsis).
3. Dietary fibre prevents constipation .
Importance of Food
1.
2.
3.
4.

To
To
To
To

provide
provide
provide
provide

energy for the body to function.

materials for repairing damaged tissues.
materials for building new cells and for growth.
materials for maintaining good health.

Vitamins
Vitami
n

Sources

Importance

Green vegetables,
carrots

Beans, eggs

Citrus fruit, tomatoes

Fish, eggs

Green vegetables,
cereals

Green vegetables,
fish oil

Keep the skin healthy.

Prevents night blindness .
Increases appetite for food.
Prevents beri-beri .
Prevent anamia .
Needed for healthy gums and
teeth.
Protects against scurvy .
Needed by the body for the
absorption of calcium.
Severe lack of it causes rickets
.
Needed by the sperms to
survive.
Prevent sterility .
Needed for the clotting of
blood.
Lack of it causes severe
bleedings.

Minerals
Mineral
Sodium
Calcium

Sources
Common salt,
meat
Green
vegetables,
vegetables

Potassium
Phosphorus

Iron
Iodine

Food Test

Meat, fish
Meat, fish
Cockles, red
meat
Sea food, sea
weeds

Importance
Prevents muscle cramps.
Needed by the nerves to function well.
Helps blood to clot.
Needed for forming strong bones and teeth
(prevents rickets)
Needed for the proper functioning of the
nervous system.
Needed for maintaining heartbeat.
Needed for strong bones and teeth.
Helps to prevent tooth decay and rickets.
Needed for the making of haemoglobin in the
blood
Prevents anaemia.
Needed by the thyroid glands to function well.
Prevents goitre.

Food
Starch
Glucos
e
Protein
Fat

Test
Starch turns dark blue or black with iodine solution.
A mixture of glucose solution and Benedicts solution
produces an oranges-red precipitate when heated.
A substance containing protein and a few drops of Millons
reagent produces a brick-red precipitate when heated.
Fat leaves a greasy spot on a piece of paper.
The greasy spot does not evaporate when heated.

2.2 Balanced Diet and Calorific Values

What is a Balanced Diet?

A balanced diet consists of all the classes of food in the right

proportions in order to meet the daily energy requirements of the
body.

Carbohydrates
80%
Proteins

10%
Fats

10%
Water (glasses)
8
Vitamins
Minerals
sufficient
amounts
balanced
diet
Dietary fibre

Composition of a

Factors Which Determine a Persons Energy Requirements

AGE A young person uses up more energy than an old person.

BODY SIZE A big-sized person uses up more energy than a smallsized person.
JOB A labourer uses up more energy than a clerk
CLIMATE A person living in a cold country needs more energy to keep
warm.
SEX A man uses up more energy than a woman.
HEALTH A sick person needs more energy to recover.

2.3
the

Digestive System and Their Functions

Parts of

N
o.
1
2
3

Parts

Function

Tongue
Salivary
glands
Oesophagus

Stomach

Pancreas

6
7
8
9

Small intestine
Large intestine
Rectum
Anus
Duodenum

Gall bladder

Bile duct
Liver
Teeth

10
11
12
13
14

To taste
To secrete the enzyme amylase
To convey food to the stomach
To hold food and secrete hydrochloric acid,
rennin and protease
To secrete the enzymes, amylase, protease and
lipase
To absorb digested food
To reabsorb water from undigested food
Stores faeces
To let out faeces
Receives bile and pancreatic juice for the
digestion of food
To store bile
To convey bile from the liver
To produce bile
To cut food into pieces

Digestive system
This consists of all the parts which
take part in the digestion of food (as
shown in the above diagram).

Alimentary canal
This consists of the parts of the
digestive system through which food
passes from the mouth to the anus.

Pathway of food through the alimentary canal

Mouth oesophagus stomach duodenum small intestine
(ileum)
large intestine anus
What Happens in the Process of Food Digestive
The aim of digestion is to break down food into simple soluble substances
which can pass into the cells of the body.
Part of
the

Secretio
n

Enzyme(s
) present

Food
acted on

Chemical reaction

digestiv
e
system
Mouth
Oesopha
gus
Stomach

Duodenu
m

Small
intestine

Saliva
(alkaline)
Mucus
(alkaline)

Amylase

Starch

Starch maltose

Gastric
juice
(acidic)
Bile
(alkaline)
Pancreati
c juice
(alkaline)

(a) Rennin
(b) Proteas
e
-

(a) Milk
(b) Proteins

No chemical reaction;
peristalsis moves food to
the stomach
(a) Milk droplets
(b) Proteins peptones

Fats

Emulsifies fats

Intestinal
juice
(alkaline)

(a) Amylase
(b) Proteas
e
(c) Lipase
(a) Enzyme
s for
sugars
(b) Proteas
e

(a) Starch
(b) Proteins
(c) Fats
(a) Sugars
(b) Peptone
s

(a) Starch maltose

(b) Proteins peptones
(c) Fats fatty acids +
glycerol
(a) Sugars simple
sugars (e.g. glucose)
(b) Peptones amino
acids

Summary

Carbohydrates
maltose
simple sugar/glucose
Proteins
peptones
amino acids
Fats
fat droplets
fatty acids and
glycerol
Vitamins and minerals do not need digestion

2.4 Absorption of Digested Food, Reabsorption of Water and

Defecation
1. Digested
glucose,
fatty acids and
absorbed into
the
small

food such as
amino acids,
glycerol are
bloodstream in the
intestine.

2. Digested food is a absorbed in the small

intestine (suitable place because it is
very long).
3. The absorption of digested food is done by
small projections called villi on the wall of the small intestine. These
villi increase the absorbing surface.
4. Excess glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver.
5. Excess amino acids are decomposed by the liver into urea and excreted
in the urine.
6. Excess fats are stored under the skin or around organs such as heart
and kidneys.
Reabsorption

of Water

1. Undigested
pass from
small
the large
2. Water,
vitamins
are
the colon
intestine.
by which
body conserves these substances.
3. Solid undigested substances pass into the
rectum and are stored there temporarily.

food and water

the
intestine into
intestine.
dissolved
and minerals
reabsorbed in
of the large
This is one way
the

Defecation
1. Undigested materials in the rectum form faeces.
2. When the rectum is full, bowel movement occurs and faeces is evacuated
through the anus.
3. This process of getting rid of the faeces from the body is called
defecation.
4. Defecation is not a process of excretion because the food residue has not
passed into the cells of the body.
5. Sometimes, the faeces is retained in the large intestine, longer than usual.
This called constipation.