BIOL 380 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Calorie Restriction, Nutrigenomics, Antoine Lavoisier
26 May 2018
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BIOL 380 – Lecture 1 – 02/05/2018
The role of nutrition in our health – food groups and nutrients
- You are what you eat: every 35 days, your skin replaces itself. Your liver, about a month. Yoru
body makes these new cells from the food you eat.
Why is food important
- Food is the plants and animals we eat
- Food provides the
o Source of energy
o Source of heat (byproduct of glycolysis is heat)
o Building blocks to synthesize biomoelcules
o Minerals for proper functioning of our body
o Source of hydration (food helps you take in water)
History of nutrition
- Between the 14th and 17th century first experiments were conducted to demonstrate the
importance of certain foods in health
o Iron can improve the conditions of anemic patients (Sydenham, 1670s)
o Scurvy can be cured wth citrus fruits (Lynd, 1747)
o Fat and carbohydrate rich diet is not sufficient for health, you also need proteins
(Magendie and Liebig, 1800s)
- Measurements of calories in food
o Lavoisier (1705s) was the first to demonstrate that oxidation of food provides energy for
body: first calorimeter (heat production by direct calorimetry) was designed
o First accurate measurements done (Atwater – Benedict, 1903)
o Calorie restriction is associated with greater longevity (McKay 1937 and Atkins, 1960s)
- Discovery of vitamins and important minerals (Na+, K+ and I) and notion of deficiency
introduced (sodium channels open for neurons to fire)
- Amino acids lysine and histidine are essential (Osborne and Mendel,1910s) (there are 8 essential
amino acids you need to ingest)
- Notions of excess nutrients was only introduced in 1970s with the rise in obesity
What is nutrition?
- Nutrition is the science that studies food and how food nourishes our bodies and influences our
health
o how does food nourish our body?
o How does food influence our health?
o How do we consume, digest, metabolize, and store nutrients?
o Includes studying our eating patterns and making recommendations?
Chronic diseases – diseases that come on slowly and can persist for years, often despite treatment
Nutrigenomics seeks to uncover links between our genes, our environment and our diet
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Healthy is now considered to be a multidimensional process,
one that includes physical, emotional and spiritual
components..
Healthy diet can prevent some diseases and reduce the risk
for others
Fortification – the addition of nutrients to a food that were
either not originally present in that food or were present in
insignificant amount
Obesity is a well-established risk factor for heart disease,
stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer
Proper nutrition supports wellness which;
- Is more than the absence of disease
- Includes physical, emotional and spiritual health
- Is a multidimensional, lifelong process
Two key components of wellness that we examine (1) nutrition & (2) physical activity
- Nutrients are chemicals in foods that our bodies use for growth and function
- Organic nutrients contain carbon, an essential component of all living organisms
o Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins
- Inorganic nutrients do not contain carbon
o Minerals and water
6 essential nutrients (cannot be made by the human body in
sufficient amounts – must be supplied by the diet
- Carbohydrates
- Lipids (including fats and oil)
- Proteins
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
Macronutrients are required in relatively large amounts
- Includes: carbohydrates, lipids and proteins
- Provide energy/fuel to our body
We express energy in kilocalories (kcal) or kilojoules (KJ)
Macronutrients: Carbohydrates
- Primary fuel source for the body, especially for neurologic functioning and physical exercise
- Composed of chains of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
- Found in grains (wheat and rice), vegetable, fruit, legume (lentils, beans, peas), seeds, nuts and
milk products
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- Fiber is also classified as a type of carbohydrate
Macronutrients: Lipids
- A diverse group of substances that are largely insoluble in water
- Includes triglycerides, phospholipids and sterols
- Composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
- Main energy source during rest or low- to moderate-intensity exercise
- Stored as adipose tissue (body fat)
- Provide fat-soluble vitamins
- Lipids include triglycerides, phospholipids and sterols
Macronutrients: Proteins
- In addition to carbon and hydrogen, proteins also contain nitrogen (carbs and lipids donèt have
nitrogen)
- Not typically a primary energy source; important in building new cells/tissues, maintaining
metabolism and fluid balance
- Found in many foods particularly meat, dairy, seeds, buts, and legumes; small amounts in grains
and vegetables
- Body absorbs more calcium when the diet is adequate in protein
- Enzymes = proteins
Micronutrients: vitamins
- Organic compounds that do not contain or supply energy to our bodies but assist in regulating
body processes:
o Build and maintain healthy bones and tissues
o Support immune system (vit A and D)
o Ensure healthy vision (B-carotene – which is basically 2 vitamins A stuck together)
o Help us utilize the energy derived from
macronutrients
o Ca be destroyed by light, heat and air, etc
- Can be classified as fat-soluble and water-soluble
- Vitamins do not contain energy
Micronutrients: minerals
- Inorganic substances required for body processes
o Regulate fluid and energy production
o Support bone and blood health
o Remove harmful metabolic by-products
o Exist in the simplest possible form; cannot be broken down further or destroyed by
heat/light
- Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron
- Assist in fluid regulation and energy production, essential to the health of our bones and blood,
and help rid the body of harmful by-products of metabolism
- Two types: major and trace minerals
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Document Summary
The role of nutrition in our health food groups and nutrients. You are what you eat: every 35 days, your skin replaces itself. Yoru body makes these new cells from the food you eat. Food is the plants and animals we eat. Food provides the: source of energy, source of heat (byproduct of glycolysis is heat, building blocks to synthesize biomoelcules, minerals for proper functioning of our body, source of hydration (food helps you take in water) Between the 14th and 17th century first experiments were conducted to demonstrate the importance of certain foods in health. Iron can improve the conditions of anemic patients (sydenham, 1670s: scurvy can be cured wth citrus fruits (lynd, 1747, fat and carbohydrate rich diet is not sufficient for health, you also need proteins (magendie and liebig, 1800s) Discovery of vitamins and important minerals (na+, k+ and i) and notion of deficiency introduced (sodium channels open for neurons to fire)
