NUTR 3210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Nutrigenomics, Nutrient, Micronutrient
19 May 2018
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Learning Outcomes:
• Describe the course outcomes, organization and methods of assessments
• Identify the major nutrient classes
• Describe the concept of dietary essentiality
• Describe the process and rationale of using case studies in education
Introduction:
• There is a long and interesting history of nutritional enquiry across civilizations which reflects a consistent and
widespread interest in the links between food and human/ animal health
• Much of our nutritional knowledge began developing in ancient times from direct observations and early logical
reasoning, this was long before the appearance of sophisticated scientific instruments and methods
The Goals of Modern Nutrition:
• Three main ideas guide research in our time:
1. Research has moved from understanding how to prevent nutrient deficiencies to understanding the effects
of over-nutrition
i. Effects of excess calorie intake over time
ii. Effects of widespread micronutrient supplementation
2. One of the future goals is to understand the optimal intakes of multiple interacting nutrients
i. Finding new health end points - like colon cancer, responding to sun exposure and then vitamin D
supplements
3. Nutrigenomics is a new branch of nutrition that considers people as individuals who will respond uniquely to
nutrient status based on their genetic make up
• Excess of calories is a huge epidemic we are facing in developed countries
o Calories come from any of the macronutrients: carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins
o Excess of calories over an extended period of time cause a gain in body mass - the body is a positive energy
balance and this will cause many metabolic consequences
o Similar thing is also seen with micronutrients - widespread and potential adverse effects just due to
supplementing behaviour
Definition of Nutrition:
• Nutrition can be defined as the science of food and food systems, their nutrients and other constituents, and
their interactions within and between all relevant biological, social, and environmental systems.
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•
• The expanded definition involves food and the health of people around the world, first from a biological
perspective, but also considering social and environmental changes related to food quality and availability, and
how these changes related to biological processes
o Challenges in the 21st century involve research that considers overpopulation, obesity, and effects of
climate change on food security and quality, as well as advances in nutrigenomics and related disciplines
• Nutritional science needs to encompass nutrient action, interaction and balance in relation to health and disease,
but the more immediate goals are to understand the processes by which the organisms ingests, absorbs,
transports, utilizes and excretes food substances
What is an Essential Nutrient?
• An essential nutrient is a chemical that is required for optimal metabolism, but cannot be synthesized rapidly or at
all to meet the needs of an animal or human for one or more physiological functions
• To test whether a nutrient is essential or not requires the use of research and its traditionally done by using
purified diets. These diets will be devoid of the hypothesized nutrient
o Research will be done with at least two groups of subjects that are observed/ intervened for a defined
period of time
o The subjects in both groups share similar characteristics (same age, same gender, same species)
o One group will be subjected to an intervention (experimental) and the other will not (control)
o
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Document Summary
Identify the major nutrient classes: describe the course outcomes, organization and methods of assessments, describe the concept of dietary essentiality, describe the process and rationale of using case studies in education. The goals of modern nutrition: three main ideas guide research in our time, research has moved from understanding how to prevent nutrient deficiencies to understanding the effects of over-nutrition. Effects of widespread micronutrient supplementation: one of the future goals is to understand the optimal intakes of multiple interacting nutrients. Nutrient essentiality and health: nutritional status can have various impacts of health. A person can have optimal nutritional status and health. A person can experience a nutrient deficiency and have suboptimal health. A person can experience a nutrient deficiency that could ultimately be lethal: many nutritional deficiency diseases recognized through history are caused by diets low in an essential nutrient. If the deficiency last for long periods of time, they will cause a suboptimal or lethal health outcome.
