Food plays a crucial role in supplying essential nutrients that sustain life and support human activities. These nutrients, derived from various food sources, can be categorized into four main types: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

This article aims to explore the significance of these nutrients for the human body.

What are nutrients?

Nutrients refer to substances or chemical compounds that uphold and enhance the body's life and functions through metabolic processes. Typically, these nutrients are obtained from daily dietary intake. They encompass both energy-producing and non-energy-producing elements.

    Energy-Producing Substances:

  •     Proteins: Essential for building and repairing tissues.
  •     Fats: Serve as a concentrated energy source.
  •     Carbohydrates: Provide energy for various bodily functions.

    Non-Energy-Producing Substances:

  •     Vitamins: Contribute to various biochemical processes.
  •     Minerals: Play a crucial role in maintaining bodily functions.
  •     Water: Essential for hydration and overall well-being.

By understanding the roles of these nutrients, we gain insights into their profound impact on supporting a healthy and active lifestyle.

The importance of nutrient

Nutrient has three primary purposes:

• Create favorable conditions for the body to have good health

• Prevention of food-related diseases

• Restore health after a period of illness or injury.

 

Protein

• On average, you need to consume 118g of protein per day. This consumption happens because protein plays an essential role in the body's physiological activities, such as food digestion, oxygen transport, heart activity, brain activity. People find protein in many foods from animal sources such as meat, fish, milk, eggs. And plant sources such as legumes, especially soybeans, peanuts, sesame.

• Children, pregnant and lactating women need more protein. Protein is absorbed into the body in the form of amino acids, is the main component of antibodies to help the body fight infections, is a building material and rebuilds organs in the body. At the same time, protein is also a component of enzymes and hormones that are very important in the body's metabolism.

 

Glucid (powder)

It plays an important metabolic role and is the primary energy source for the body.

Food sources containing the most carbohydrates are grains and legumes. The source of glucose often comes with a corresponding amount of B vitamins, so sweet sugars and white rice are too easy to lack vitamin B1.

 

Lipids (fats)

Fat helps the body absorb vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, K, and plays a vital role in the natural blood clotting process.

Lipids are also a source of energy for the body. Just 15-25g of lipids/day can meet the body's needs. Sources of fat for the body are animal fats and vegetable oils. Suppose there is a lot of cholesterol in animal fat (except fish), which often accumulates, causing hardening of the blood vessel walls, in vegetable oils. In that case, there are many unsaturated fatty acids, which can resist the development of arteries disease.

 

Cellulose (fibre)

Although the body cannot absorb fibre, those who eat a lot of yarn will be less obese, less prone to heart disease, and prevent constipation because the fibre helps remove waste from the digestive tract quickly. However, do not overeat fibre because it can interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients.

 

Vitamin

Vitamins are essential organic substances, and although in small quantities, they are significant and must be present in food.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A helps protect eyes and dry eye diseases. Lack of vitamin A skin will be dry, the skin surface is often prickly. Vitamin A also plays a significant role in both humoral and cellular immunity.

Vitamin D3: Helps convert glucose into energy, contributes to bone growth, helps the body usually develop, eats well and does not suffer from oedema. Mackerel oil is the best source of vitamin D, followed by animal liver, eggs, avocado.

Vitamin B: Of the vitamin B groups, the role of folate and pyridoxine is most notable. The lack of these substances will slow down the synthesis of cells involved in the immune mechanism.

Vitamin C: In the body, vitamin C participates in redox reactions, which are necessary elements for the synthesis of collagen, the intercellular substance in vessel walls, connective tissue, bones, and teeth.

Vitamin E: Protects body fat from oxidizing. It is an antioxidant that mainly fights free radicals.

Minerals and micro-minerals: If we eat a lack of minerals, it will cause many diseases such as anaemia (iron deficiency), goitre (iodine deficiency), enamel hypoplasia (fluorine deficiency), rickets in children, Osteoporosis in adults (calcium deficiency).

 

Build a healthy diet

A good meal is a meal that provides adequate quality and quantity. That is:

Enough power:

Each person's energy needs will vary depending on age, sex, basal metabolism, level of labour and working environment, body size, and medical condition.

Balanced Meal:

In 4 food groups, we eat every day, including Protein, Lipid, Glucid, vitamins and minerals. In which only protein, fat and starch provide energy for the body. A good meal must ensure a balance between 3 energy-producing substances: Parotid (12-14%), Lipid (20-30%) and Glucid (56-68%).

Food variety:

Proper nutrients should ensure a variety of foods daily. Every day we need to eat 15-20 types of food to ensure an adequate supply of nutrients for the body's daily needs. You should provide a meal with four groups of substances: starch (carbohydrate, Glucid), protein (Protein, Protid), fat (Lipid), vitamins and minerals.

Food safety and hygiene:

Proper nutrients should ensure food safety and hygiene. We need to choose fresh, delicious and has a shelf life. Food needs to be produced cleanly, exact, and properly processed and preserved.

Drink water:

Every day the body loses about 1.5 litres of water through urine, faeces, sweat, breath. When working, the body will lose more water. Therefore, to ensure the usual amount of water in the body, it is necessary to drink water to replace the lost part. Each person's water needs change depending on age, body temperature, weight, activity level, and working environment.

Conclusion 

The article also helps you know how important nutrient is and a nutritious diet are for our body. We should build a healthy diet to help our body get more robust, ensure our health. Healthy avoid cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart disease.

Hopefully, you can have more knowledge to build yourself a better, healthier diet!!!

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