Food Science Ms. McGrath Nutrition Basics Food Science Ms. McGrath

The science of how the body uses food Nutrition The science of how the body uses food

Nutrient A substance usually found in food that is essential for the growth and maintenance of life

Proper nutrition Proper nutrition can provide the following: improved concentration alertness productiveness positive relationships

Poor nutrition Poor nutrition can cause the following: lack of energy not clearly thinking irritability frequent infections

Nutrition – A brief history Around 400 B.C. Hippocrates, “the father of modern medicine” discovered that food contains a life-giving substance. 2000 years later – in the mid-1700s – the scientific method would prove him correct.

Nutrition – A brief history An Early Discovery In the 1700s, British sailors often suffered from scurvy (a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency). In the 1740s. A British physican set out to find a cure for scurvy. He selected twelve British sailors who had the illness. He fed the sailor a variety of foods, including limes, lemons, cider, seawater, vinegar, to name a few. The illness disappeared only in the sailors that were given the limes and lemons. As a result, limes and lemons became required provisions for British sailors.

Nutrition – A brief history Lavoisier Lavoiser’s work gave him recognition as the first modern chemist. Through experimentation, he discovered two important processes: 1. oxidation 2. respiration

Nutrition – A brief history Oxidation Chemical reactions in which elements combine with oxygen

Nutrition – A brief history Respiration As organisms take in oxygen from the air, the carbon and hydrogen in their cells oxidize. Carbon dioxide and water vapor form during the reaction, releasing heat energy. The heat maintains body temperature and provides energy for the organism's activities.

Nutrition – A brief history Lavoisier Lavoisier concluded that what the body loses during respiration is replenished by nourishment from food He is therefore known as “the father of nutrition”

Nutrition – A brief history By the 1880’s scientists could show that cells stay alive by using oxygen to break down substances, sometimes combining them into new ones This basic concept is central to understanding nutrition