Nutrition Concepts

JOHN KENNETH T DELAPA, RND

Clinical Dietitian
Nutrition Concept #1
Food is a basic need of humans
- humans need enough to live, and they need the right
assortment of foods for optimal health.

In the best of all worlds, the need for food is combined with the
conditions:
1. Food security
2. Food insecurity
Food Security:
has a sufficient supply of the
safe, nutritious foods that are
needed for an active and healthy
life
Are able to acquire acceptable
foods in socially acceptable ways
They don’t have to scavenge or
steal food in order to survive or
to feed their families.
Food Insecurity:

 exists whenever the availability of safe,

nutritious foods – or the ability to
acquire them in socially acceptable
ways is limited or uncertain.

Adults who live in food-insecure

households are more likely to have poor
quality diets, to be overweight, and to
have heart disease or diabetes
Nutrition Concept #2
Foods provide energy (calories),
nutrients, and other substances
needed for growth and health.

-people eat food for many reasons.

The most compelling reason is that
we need the calories, nutrients,
and other substances supplied by
food for growth and health.
Calorie

• is a unit of measure of the amount of

energy in a food – and of how much
energy will be transferred to the person
who eats it.
• Do not qualify as nutrient.
• Also known as kilocalorie, or the “large
Calorie” with a capital C.
Nutrients
Chemical substance in food that are used by the body to sustain
growth and health
The six categories of nutrients are carbohydrates, protein, fats,
minerals, vitamins and water.
Nutrition Concept #3
Health problems related to nutrition originates within cells.
- cells are the main employers of nutrients.
- all body processes required for growth and health take place
within cells and the fluid that surrounds them.
- functions of each cells are maintained by the nutrients it
receives.
Here are two examples of how cells functions can be disrupted by the
Presence of low or high concentrations of nutrients:

 Folate, a B Vitamin, is required for protein synthesis within the cells. When
too little folate is available, cells produce proteins with abnormal shapes and
functions. Abnormalities in the shape of red blood cell proteins, for example,
lead to functional changes that produce loss of appetite, weakness, and
irritability.

When too much iron is present in cells, the excess reacts with the damages
cell components. If cellular levels of iron remain high, the damage spreads,
impairing the functions of organs such as the liver, pancreas, and heart.
Nutrition Concept #4
Poor nutrition can result from both inadequate and excessive levels of
nutrient intake.
- for each nutrient, every individual has a range of optimal intake that
produces the best level of cell and body functions.
- optimal range are levels of intake associated with impaired body
functions.
- inadequate essential nutrient intake, if prolonged, results in obvious
deficiency diseases.
- marginally deficient nutrient intake generally produce subtle change
in mental and physical function, depending on the amount of the excess.
 Increase concentration or intake of nutrient
100
90
NUTRIENT FUNCTION

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Deficiency Marginal Optimal Marginal Toxicity Death
For every nutrient, there is a range of optimal intake that corresponds to the optimal
functioning of that nutrient in the body.
Example:

Overt vitamin C deficiency, for example, produces bleeding gums,

pain on being touched, and a failure of bone to grow. A marginal
deficiency may cause delayed wound healing. On the excessive side,
high intakes of vitamin C cause diarrhea.
 Inadequate Depletion of tissue Decreased blood levels Decreased nutrient
dietary intake stores of the nutrient of the nutrient available to cells
EXAMPLE: EXAMPLE: EXAMPLE: EXAMPLE:
Deficient vitamin Reduced liver Reduced blood Decreased vitamin
A intake stores of vitamin A levels of vitamin A A available to cells
within eye

Long-term Physical signs and

Impaired cellular
impairment of symptoms of
functions
health deficiency
EXAMPLE: Outer EXAMPLE: Outer covering of EXAMPLE:
covering of the eyes the eyes dries out, thickens, Impaired ability to
dries out and and becomes susceptible to see in dim light
infection.
thickens; vision is lost.
Nutrition Concept #5
Human have adaptive mechanisms for managing fluctuations in
nutrient intake
- humans are equipped with a number of adaptive mechanisms
that partially protect the body from poor health due to fluctuations in
dietary intake.
- adaptive mechanisms act to conserve nutrient when dietary
supply is low and to eliminate them when they are present in
excessively high amounts.
Nutrition Concept #6
Malnutrition can result from poor diets and from disease states,
genetic factors, or combinations of these factors
- Malnutrition means “poor” nutrition and results from both
inadequate and excessive availability of calories and nutrients in the
body.
ex. Vitamin A toxicity, obesity, vitamin C deficiency (scurvy), and
underweight are examples of malnutrition.
- Diarrhea, alcoholism, cancer, bleeding ulcers, and HIV/AIDS, for
example, may be primarily responsible for the development of
malnutrition in people with these disorders.
Disease risk due to genetic factors

ex. People born with a genetic tendency to produce excessive

amounts of cholesterol, absorbs high levels of iron, or use folate poorly.

Some cases of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer are related
to a combination of genetic predisposition and dietary factors.
Nutrition Concept #7
Some groups of people are at higher risk of becoming inadequately
nourished than others
- Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, infants, growing
children, the frail elderly, the ill, and those recovering from illness
have a greater need for nutrients than other people. As a result, they
are at higher risk of becoming inadequately nourished than other
people.
Nutrition Concept #8
Poor nutrition can influence the development of certain chronic
disease.
- faulty diets play important roles in the development of heart
disease, hypertension, cancer, osteoporosis, and other chronic
diseases.
Nutrition Concept #9
Adequacy, variety, and balance are key characteristics of a healthful
diet.
- Diet that promote growth, development, and the maintenance
of health provide:
1. RENI (Required Energy and Nutrient Intake)
2. Food Variety
3. Balance of selection of food types and amounts (Pinggang
Pinoy)
RENI VARIETY
The Pinggang Pinoy
 Nutrition Concept #10
There are no “good”
or “bad” foods.
All foods can fit into a healthful diet as long
as nutrients needs are met at calorie intake
levels that maintain a healthy body weight.
If nutrient needs are not being met and
calorie intake levels are too high, then the
diet likely includes too many energy-dense
or empty-calorie foods. A greater intake of
nutrient-dense foods would be the healthy
solution.
Thank you!