**Types of Nutrients**:
– Essential nutrients are required for survival, growth, and reproduction.
– Different organisms have different essential nutrients.
– Nutrients can be organic (carbon-containing) or inorganic.
– Nutrients are classified into macronutrients and micronutrients.
– Inadequate nutrient intake can lead to deficiency states.
– Macronutrients include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, calcium, sodium, potassium, and other ions.
– Micronutrients are essential for metabolic and physiological functions, including dietary minerals and vitamins.
– Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by the body.
– Humans require specific amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and choline for normal physiological function.
**Macronutrients**:
– Humans consume CHNOPS elements in large quantities.
– Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are primary sources of energy.
– Carbohydrates include sugars like glucose and starch.
– Proteins are made up of amino acids and are essential for bodily functions.
– Essential fatty acids (EFAs) like omega-3 and omega-6 are crucial for various bodily functions.
– EFAs must be obtained through diet to maintain good health.
**Micronutrients**:
– Micronutrients are essential for metabolic and physiological functions.
– Dietary minerals like copper and iron are required in small amounts.
– Vitamins are organic compounds needed in microgram or milligram quantities.
– Deficiency in vitamins can lead to specific diseases.
– Micronutrients are crucial for overall health and well-being.
**Plant Nutrition**:
– Plants absorb over a dozen minerals through roots and carbon dioxide and oxygen through leaves.
– Important nutrients for plants include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur, magnesium, and others.
– Plants require carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, and various other elements for growth.
– Nutrients for plants are sourced from inorganic and organic matter.
**Safety Considerations and Guidelines**:
– Nutrient intake guidelines include EAR, RDA, AI, PRI, and UL.
– ULs are set to prevent adverse effects, with safety margins established.
– Data for U.S. values may be outdated, and ULs can vary by country or region.
– Sources of information on choline, high-fiber diet importance, and phytochemicals are essential for understanding nutrition and dietary requirements.
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excreted by cells to create non-cellular structures, such as hair, scales, feathers, or exoskeletons. Some nutrients can be metabolically converted to smaller molecules in the process of releasing energy, such as for carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and fermentation products (ethanol or vinegar), leading to end-products of water and carbon dioxide. All organisms require water. Essential nutrients for animals are the energy sources, some of the amino acids that are combined to create proteins, a subset of fatty acids, vitamins and certain minerals. Plants require more diverse minerals absorbed through roots, plus carbon dioxide and oxygen absorbed through leaves. Fungi live on dead or living organic matter and meet nutrient needs from their host.
Different types of organisms have different essential nutrients. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is essential to humans and some animal species, but most other animals and many plants are able to synthesize it. Nutrients may be organic or inorganic: organic compounds include most compounds containing carbon, while all other chemicals are inorganic. Inorganic nutrients include nutrients such as iron, selenium, and zinc, while organic nutrients include, protein, fats, sugars, and vitamins.
A classification used primarily to describe nutrient needs of animals divides nutrients into macronutrients and micronutrients. Consumed in relatively large amounts (grams or ounces), macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water) are primarily used to generate energy or to incorporate into tissues for growth and repair. Micronutrients are needed in smaller amounts (milligrams or micrograms); they have subtle biochemical and physiological roles in cellular processes, like vascular functions or nerve conduction. Inadequate amounts of essential nutrients, or diseases that interfere with absorption, result in a deficiency state that compromises growth, survival and reproduction. Consumer advisories for dietary nutrient intakes, such as the United States Dietary Reference Intake, are based on the amount required to prevent deficiency, and provide macronutrient and micronutrient guides for both lower and upper limits of intake. In many countries, regulations require that food product labels display information about the amount of any macronutrients and micronutrients present in the food in significant quantities. Nutrients in larger quantities than the body needs may have harmful effects. Edible plants also contain thousands of compounds generally called phytochemicals which have unknown effects on disease or health, including a diverse class with non-nutrient status called polyphenols, which remain poorly understood as of 2017.
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin nūtriēns, present participle of nūtriō (“I suckle, nourish, foster”).