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1: Basic Concepts in Nutrition

  • Page ID
    40535
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    • 1.1: Introduction
    • 1.2: What Are Nutrients?
      Foods contain nutrients that are essential for our bodies to function.  Four of the classes of nutrients required for bodily function are needed in large amounts. They are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and water, and are referred to as macronutrients.  Two of the classes of nutrients are needed in lesser amounts, but are still essential for bodily function. They are vitamins and minerals.  One measurement of food quality is the ratio of essential nutrients to the amount of energy in a food.
    • 1.3: Food Quality
    • 1.4: Units of Measure
    • 1.5: The Broad Role of Nutritional Science
      The scientific method is an organized process of inquiry used in nutritional science to determine if the food suspect fits the claim. The scientific method is part of the overall evidence-based approach to designing nutritional guidelines that are based on facts. There are different types of scientific studies—epidemiological studies, randomized clinical interventional trial studies, and laboratory animal and cell studies—which all provide different, complementary lines of evidence.
    • 1.6: Research and the Scientific Method


    This page titled 1: Basic Concepts in Nutrition is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Draper, Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla, & Alan Titchenal via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.