What are the nutritional components of the foods we consume?

The foods that we consume are composed of varying quantities of the following nutritionally important components:

1) Carbohydrates 2) Proteins 3) Lipids 4) Water 5) Minerals 6) Vitamins 7) Fibre 8) Phytochemicals and anti-oxidants 9) Detoxifying agents

If these nutritional components are consumed daily in the amounts and proportion required, then the chances are that we will maintain a good health. Therefore, a good knowledge and understanding of the food sources of these various nutritional components, their metabolism, and their requirements for different age and physiological groups is an essential prerequisite for maintaining good health. This course is an attempt to provide this knowledge and skills. The last three decades has seen a tremendous progress in nutrition. Although the importance of nutrition in growth, development and the prevention of nutritional deficiency diseases was well recognized since the lgih century, it is only in the last three decades that the frontiers of nutritional science has expanded to include newer and more dimensions of health such as prevention of chronic degenerative diseases, retardation of ageing and promotion of mental well being.

Human beings require a large number of nutrients, about 40, for many of which the requirements are well established. In addition, recent advances have shown that the diet components like carotenoid pigments, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, anthocyanins, lignins and indoles are bioactive compounds with a potential role in the prevention of degenerative diseases and in detoxification. The earlier dictum that if the diet provided adequate energy to meet our requirements, then it is likely to be adequate in other respects, is no longer hue. We have to make conscious efforts to have a healthy diet. If you are a nutrition professional or a dietician, then you also 'have the responsibility of planning diets for others both for health and in diseases and in addition, you will be counseling a large number of people on appropriate diets. This unit will help you to do that by providing a basic understanding of nutritional requirements.