Nutrition is the essential materials in the form of food to sustain or support life. There are six major classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, minerals, protein, vitamin, and water. These nutrients can be categorized as either macronutrient that is needed in relatively large amounts, while micronutrients are those nutrients needed in smaller quantities. The macronutrients include carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, and water. The micronutrients are those which include minerals and vitamins. Nourishment or aliment is the provision to cells and organisms to maintain healthy body. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a nutritional and healthy diet. The diet of a living being is what it feeds on, and is largely determined by the perceived palatability of foods. Thus we depend on the advice of Dietitians are health professionals who specialize in human nutrition for meal planning, economics, and preparation of diet charts for intake of balanced food. They are trained to provide safe, evidence-based dietary advice and management to individuals in health and disease. A poor diet can have an injurious impact on health, causing deficiency diseases such as scurvy, beriberi, health-threatening conditions like obesity and metabolic syndrome, and such common chronic systemic diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes. Nutritional science investigates the metabolic and physiological responses of the body to diet. The study of nutrition is increasingly concerned with metabolism. Water is one of the most important nutrients in the in one’s diet especially sports diet. It helps eliminate food waste products in the body, regulates body temperature during activity and helps with digestion. Most foods contain a mix of some or all of the nutrient classes, with other substances such as toxins or various others. Some nutrients can be stored internally, e.g., the fat soluble vitamins, while others are required more or less continuously. Poor health can be caused by a lack of required nutrients or, in extreme cases, too much of a required nutrient. For example, both salt and water, both are absolutely required even in illness or even death in too large amounts. Malnutrition is a condition of insufficient, excessive, or imbalanced consumption of nutrients by an organism. In many developed countries, the diseases of malnutrition are most often associated with nutritional imbalances or excessive consumption. |