Food Nutrition Terms
Nutrition studies what the body needs from food and what it does with it. These terms cover the macronutrients and micronutrients, how the energy in food is measured, digestion, and common measures such as the glycemic index and body mass index.
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- Amino acidBiochemistryAn amino acid is a small organic molecule with an amino group, a carboxyl group and a side chain; amino acids link together to form proteins.
- AntioxidantFood NutritionAn antioxidant is a substance that prevents or slows oxidation, especially damage to cells from free radicals and other reactive oxygen species.
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- Basal metabolic rateFood NutritionBasal metabolic rate is the energy the body uses per unit of time just to stay alive when awake, lying at rest, fasting and in a comfortable temperature.
- Body mass indexFood NutritionBody mass index is a screening measure that relates body weight to height, found by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.
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- CalorieFood NutritionA calorie is a unit of energy, the heat needed to warm one gram of water by one degree Celsius; food energy is given in kilocalories, often written Calories.
- CarbohydrateBiochemistryA carbohydrate is a sugar or a chain of sugars, such as starch or cellulose, built from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and used for energy and structure.
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- Dietary fiberFood NutritionDietary fiber is the part of plant foods, mostly carbohydrate, that human digestive enzymes cannot break down, so it reaches the large intestine intact.
- DigestionPhysiologyDigestion is the process by which the body breaks food down, by chewing, churning and enzymes, into molecules small enough to absorb into the blood.
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- Fatty acidBiochemistryA fatty acid is a long chain of carbon and hydrogen atoms with a carboxyl group at one end, and is the building block of fats, oils and phospholipids.
- FermentationBiochemistryFermentation is a way cells get energy from sugar without oxygen, passing electrons to an organic molecule so that glycolysis can keep going.
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- MacronutrientFood NutritionA macronutrient is a nutrient needed in large amounts, namely carbohydrate, protein or fat, which together supply energy and the raw materials for growth.
- MalnutritionFood NutritionMalnutrition is a state in which someone's intake of energy or nutrients is too low, too high or unbalanced, harming growth, health or body function.
- Metabolic syndromeMedicineMetabolic syndrome is a cluster of linked risk factors, including a large waist, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and abnormal blood fats.
- MicronutrientFood NutritionA micronutrient is a vitamin or mineral that the body needs only in tiny amounts but cannot do without, such as iron, iodine, vitamin A or folate.
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- ObesityMedicineObesity is a chronic disease in which excess body fat builds up enough to harm health, defined in adults as a body mass index of 30 or more.
- Omega-3 fatty acidFood NutritionAn omega-3 fatty acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid whose first double bond is three carbons from the methyl end of its chain, as in ALA, EPA and DHA.
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