FTNS-3101 Nutritional Biochemistry-1: Rahanur Alam

Dept.
of Food Technology and Nutrition Science

Noakhali Science and Technology University
FTNS-3101
Nutritional Biochemistry-1
Rahanur
Md. RahanurAlam
Alam
M.Sc.(Technical
M.Sc. (TUM, Germany), B.Sc.
University of(Hons) (DU)
Munich, Germany)
B.Sc. (Hons)
Assistant (University of Dhaka)
Professor
Dept. of Food Technology and Nutrition Science
Energy requirement is the amount of food energy needed to balance energy

expenditure in order to maintain body size, body composition and a level of
necessary and desirable physical activity consistent with long-term good health.
This includes the energy needed for the optimal growth and
development of children, for the deposition of tissues during pregnancy, and for
the secretion of milk during lactation consistent with the good health of mother
and child.
The recommended level of dietary energy intake for a population group is the
mean energy requirement of the healthy, well-nourished individuals who
constitute that group.
Energy requirements and recommended levels of intake are often referred to as
daily requirements or recommended daily intakes.
Average requirement and inter-individual variation

Estimates of energy requirements are derived from measurements of
individuals. Measurements of a collection of individuals of the same gender
and similar age, body size and physical activity are grouped together to give
the average energy requirement – or recommended level of dietary intake –
for a class of people or a population group. These requirements are then used to
predict the requirements and recommended levels of energy intake for other
individuals with similar characteristics, but on whom measurements have not
been made. Although individuals in a given class have been matched for
characteristics that may affect requirements, such as gender, age, body
size, body composition and lifestyle, there remain unknown factors that
produce variations among individuals. Consequently, there is a distribution of
requirements within the class or population group.
COMPONENTS OF ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

Human beings need energy for the following:
Basal metabolism:
This comprises a series of functions that are essential for life, such as cell function
and replacement; the synthesis, secretion and metabolism of enzymes and
hormones to transport proteins and other substances and molecules; the
maintenance of body temperature; uninterrupted work of cardiac and respiratory
muscles; and brain function. The amount of energy used for basal metabolism in a
period of time is called the basal metabolic rate (BMR), and is measured under
standard conditions that include being awake in the supine position after ten to
12 hours of fasting and eight hours of physical rest, and being in a state of mental
relaxation in an ambient environmental temperature that does not elicit heat-
generating or heat-dissipating processes. Depending on age and lifestyle, BMR
represents 45 to 70 percent of daily total energy expenditure, and it is determined
mainly by the individual’s age, gender, body size and body composition.
Metabolic response to food.

Eating requires energy for the ingestion and digestion of food,
and for the absorption, transport, interconversion, oxidation and deposition of
nutrients. These metabolic processes increase heat production and oxygen
consumption, and are known by terms such as dietary-induced thermogenesis,
specific dynamic action of food and thermic effect of feeding. The metabolic
response to food increases total energy expenditure by about 10 percent of
the BMR over a 24-hour period in individuals eating a mixed diet.
Physical activity.
This is the most variable and, after BMR, the second largest component of daily
energy expenditure. Humans perform obligatory and discretionary physical
activities. Obligatory activities can seldom be avoided within a given setting, and
they are imposed on the individual by economic, cultural or societal demands.
The term “obligatory” is more comprehensive than the term “occupational” that was used
in the 1985 report (WHO, 1985) because, in addition to occupational work, obligatory
activities include daily activities such as going to school, tending to the home and family
and other demands made on children and adults by their economic, social and cultural
environment. Discretionary activities, although not socially or economically essential, are
important for health, well-being and a good quality of life in general. They include the
regular practice of physical activity for fitness and health; the performance of optional
household tasks that may contribute to family comfort and well-being; and the
engagement in individually and socially desirable activities for personal enjoyment, social
interaction and community development.
Growth:
The energy cost of growth has two components: 1) the energy needed to synthesize
growing tissues; and 2) the energy deposited in those tissues. The energy cost of growth is
about 35 percent of total energy requirement during the first three months of age, falls
rapidly to about 5 percent at 12 months and about 3 percent in the second year, remains at
1 to 2 percent until mid-adolescence, and is negligible in the late teens.
Pregnancy.
During pregnancy, extra energy is needed for the growth of the foetus, placenta and
various maternal tissues, such as in the uterus, breasts and fat stores, as well as for
changes in maternal metabolism and the increase in maternal effort at rest and
during physical activity.
Lactation.
The energy cost of lactation has two components: 1) the energy content of the milk
secreted; and 2) the energy required to produce that milk. Well-nourished lactating
women can derive part of this additional requirement from body fat stores
accumulated during pregnancy.
Cold-induced thermogenesis
any extra energy for maintaining body temperature in extreme environmental
conditions.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR):

The minimal rate of energy expenditure compatible with life. It is measured in the
supine position under standard conditions of rest, fasting, immobility,
thermoneutrality and mental relaxation. Depending on its use, the rate is usually
expressed per minute, per hour or per 24 hours.
Body mass index (BMI): The indicator of weight adequacy in relation to height
of older children, adolescents and adults. It is calculated as weight (in kilograms)
divided by height (in meters), squared.
The acceptable range for adults is 18.5 to 24.9, and for children it varies with age.
Doubly labelled water (DLW) technique:

A method used to measure the average total energy expenditure of free-living
individuals over several days (usually 10 to 14), based on the disappearance of a
dose of water enriched with the stable isotopes 2H and 18O.
Energy requirement (ER):

The amount of food energy needed to balance energy expenditure in order to
maintain body size, body composition and a level of necessary and desirable
physical activity, and to allow optimal growth and development of children,
deposition of tissues during pregnancy, and secretion of milk during lactation,
consistent with long-term good health. For healthy, well-nourished adults, it is
equivalent to total energy expenditure. There are additional energy needs to
support growth in children and in women during pregnancy, and for milk
production during lactation.
Heart rate monitoring (HRM):

A method to measure the daily energy expenditure of free-living individuals,
based on the relationship of heart rate and oxygen consumption and on minute-
by-minute monitoring of heart rate.
Total energy expenditure (TEE):

The energy spent, on average, in a 24-hour period by an individual or a group of
individuals. By definition, it reflects the average amount of energy spent in a
typical day, but it is not the exact amount of energy spent each and every day.
Physical activity level (PAL):

TEE for 24 hours expressed as a multiple of BMR, and calculated as TEE/BMR for
24 hours. In adult men and non-pregnant, non-lactating women, BMR times PAL
is equal to TEE or the daily energy requirement.
Factors that influence basal metabolic rate are:
•Body size: Metabolic rate increases as weight, height, and surface area increase.
•Body composition: Fat tissue has a lower metabolic activity than muscle tissue.
As lean muscle mass increases, metabolic rate increases.
•Gender: The basal metabolic rate (BMR) averages 5 to 10 percent lower in

women than in men. This is largely because women generally possess more body
fat and less muscle mass than men of similar size.
•Age: A decrease in lean muscle mass during adulthood results in a slow, steady
decline of roughly 0 3 percent per year in BMR after the age of about 30. This can
be largely avoided by strength training throughout adulthood.
•Climate and body temperature: The BMR of people in tropical climates is

generally 5 to 20 percent higher than their counterparts living in more
temperate areas because it takes energy to keep the body cool. Exercise
performed in hot weather also imposes an additional metabolic load. Body fat
content and effectiveness of clothing determine the magnitude of increase in
energy metabolism in cold environments; it takes energy to keep the body warm
if you work or exercise in very cold weather.
•Hormonal levels: Thyroxine (T4), the key hormone released by the thyroid
glands has a significant effect upon metabolic rate. Hypothyroidism is relatively
common, especially in women near or after menopause. Everyone with a weight
problem should have their thyroid function checked by their doctor and treated
appropriately if it turns out to be low.
•Health: Fever, illness, or injury may increase resting metabolic rate two-fold.
Energy Balance:
Energy balance can be described by the energy balance equation:
Energy intake - Energy expenditure = change in energy stores
As energy intake is discontinuous but energy expenditure is continuous, man

is constantly alternating between positive and negative energy balance. Thus,
energy balance must be expressed over some time period, usually one day.
Short-term daily energy balance can be described by energy intake and energy
expenditure alone, as fluctuations in energy stores are likely to be small in everyday
life. Over longer period of time measurements of energy intake and energy
expenditure become problematic and energy balance may be approximated by
measures of changing energy stores. However, there is much to recommend
simultaneous measurements of the three components of energy balance, as none of
them can be assessed with any degree of accuracy and pitfalls exist in attempting to
describe energy balance from one or two of its components.
Approaches to energy expenditure assessment
The methods can be grouped into three major classes:

direct measurement of the heat released by the body (direct calorimetry), indirect
measure of heat by monitoring the oxygen used to oxidize the nutrients (indirect
calorimetry), and non-calorimetric methods.
The first two approaches rely on the first law of thermodynamics, which states that
when the chemical energy content of a system changes, the sum of all the forms of
energy given off or absorbed by the system will be equal to the magnitude of the
change.
Direct calorimetry is based on the principle that all energy used by the body for
both external or internal work is ultimately liberated as heat. The measurement
of the sum of radiant heat losses and of convective, conductive, and evaporative
heat transfer is thus the fundamental measure of energy expenditure. It can safely be
assumed that all the oxygen consumed by the body is used to oxidize degradable fuels
and produces carbon dioxide. The total amount of energy 'produced' is assessed from
the total oxygen consumption and/or the carbon dioxide production. The body has
only a very small oxygen storage capacity, so oxygen consumption rises immediately in
response to the demand for extra internal or external work.
This third approach relies on predicting the relationship between various
physiological phenomena, e.g. heart rate or pulmonary ventilation, and the
oxygen consumed by the body
Principles of indirect calorimetry are of limited practical interest in the present

context, which is the assessment of total energy output in free-living populations.
The two approaches include the traditional measurement of oxygen uptake, and
the new 'doubly labelled water method' (DLW), based on estimating carbon
dioxide production.
The DLW method is based upon the instantaneous equilibrium reached between
oxygen in the body's bicarbonate pool and body water. This means that by labelling
body water with both deuterium and oxygen 18 it is possible to estimate the total
carbon dioxide produced in the body. The turnover in the body of oxygen 18 exceeds
that of deuterium, since the labelled oxygen in body water will be diluted by unlabelled
CO2 production and water intake, whereas the deuterium label will be diluted only by
the inflow of unlabelled water. Thus the difference between the two turnovers reflects
CO2 production.
The advantages of the 0218 method are significant:

it allows an unrestricted pattern of behaviour of subjects and it is totally non-invasive,
since the stable isotopes are given orally and small urine samples are used to monitor
body water labelling.
Increasing evidence suggests that the technique – using standardized protocols,
measurement techniques, and specific assumptions on isotopic fractionation - can be
applied validly to infants, sick patients, and other groups who are difficult to study by
other methods.
The principal drawbacks of the 0218 method are the high costs of the labelled oxygen
(isotope 18) and of the analytical equipment (mass spectrometer).
Furthermore, highly skilled personnel are needed to perform the analyses.

Other problems relating to the assumptions about isotopic loss from the body
continue to be investigated.
Factorial estimates of total energy expenditure

When experimental data on total energy expenditure are not available, it can be
estimated by factorial calculations based on the time allocated to activities that are
performed habitually and the energy cost of those activities. Factorial calculations
combine two or more components or “factors”, such as the sum of the energy spent
while sleeping, resting, working, doing social or discretionary household
activities, and in leisure. Energy spent in each of these components may in turn be
calculated by knowing the time allocated to each activity, and its corresponding
energy cost.
The experimental measurement of total energy expenditure and the assessment of
growth and tissue composition allow sound predictions to be made regarding
energy requirements and dietary recommendations for infants and older children
around the world. Special considerations and additional calculations assist the
formulation of recommendations for children and adolescents with diverse
lifestyles.
Total energy expenditure has also been measured in groups of adults, but this has been
primarily in industrialized countries. Variations in body size, body composition and
habitual physical activity among populations of different geographical, cultural and
economic backgrounds make it difficult to apply the published results on a worldwide
basis.
Thus, in order to account for differences in body size and composition, energy
requirements were initially calculated as multiples of BMR. They were
then converted into energy units using a known BMR value for the population, or the mean
BMR calculated from the population’s mean body weight. To account for differences in the
characteristic physical activity of the associated lifestyles, energy requirements of adults
were estimated by factorial calculations that took into account the times allocated to
activities demanding different levels of physical effort.
The extra needs for pregnancy and lactation were also calculated using factorial estimates
for the growth of maternal and foetal tissues, the metabolic changes associated with
pregnancy and the synthesis and secretion of milk during lactation.

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Dept.

of Food Technology and Nutrition Science

Energy requirement is the amount of food energy needed to balance energy

Average requirement and inter-individual variation

COMPONENTS OF ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

Metabolic response to food.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR):

Doubly labelled water (DLW) technique:

Energy requirement (ER):

Heart rate monitoring (HRM):

Total energy expenditure (TEE):

Physical activity level (PAL):

Factors that influence basal metabolic rate are:

•Gender: The basal metabolic rate (BMR) averages 5 to 10 percent lower in

•Climate and body temperature: The BMR of people in tropical climates is

As energy intake is discontinuous but energy expenditure is continuous, man

Approaches to energy expenditure assessment

The methods can be grouped into three major classes:

Principles of indirect calorimetry are of limited practical interest in the present

The advantages of the 0218 method are significant:

Furthermore, highly skilled personnel are needed to perform the analyses.

Factorial estimates of total energy expenditure

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