CHAPTER 3 NUTRITION

3.1 Classes of Food

Food is a basic necessity for all living things.

Importance
of food

Food can be divided into seven classes:

7 Class of
food

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Class of food 1. Carbohydrate 2. Protein 3. Fats
Made up of Carbon, hydrogen & Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen Carbon, hydrogen &
oxygen & nitrogen oxygen
Form from simple sugar Protein molecules are Fat molecules are formed
formed from basic units from glycerol 甘油
called amino acids 氨基酸. and fatty acids 脂肪酸.

Use To supply energy a. Use for body growth a. As a high energy source
and storage
Sugar + O2 Energy + b. Repair damaged cells (Double the energy
CO2 + H2O supplied by carbohydrate)
c. Use for synthesising
enzymes, hormones & b. Protect organs such as
antibodies heart & kidneys from
injury
d. A source of energy if
body carbohydrate and fats c. Act as transporter for
are insufficient vitamins A, D, E, K in the
body

d. Stored under the skin act

as a heat insulator to reduce
heat loss from the body

(Extra carbohydrates can (Extra protein is excreted (Extra fat is kept by the
be converted to protein and from the body as urea in the body under the skin.)
fat) urine.)

Example Starch Plant proteins can be found Plant fats:

Glycogen in beans, corn and wheat. - palm oil, margarine,
Cellulose groundnut oil and coconut
Animal proteins can be oil.
•Starch is the food stored in found in meat, fish, egg
plants. white and cheese. Animal fats:
- butter, milk, egg yolk
•Glycogen is the food and cheese.
stored in animals.

•Cellulose forms the cell

walls of the plants.

Test Iodine test for the presence Millon's test for the Alcohol-emulsion test for
Pg 51-52 of starch: presence of protein the presence of fat
The iodine solution change (albumen suspension) with (cooking oil):
from yellow to dark blue. heating in water bath: A few drops of ethanol are
White precipitate turns mixed to cooking oil and
Benedict's test for the red. shake well. Then, distilled
presence of simple sugar water is added.
with heating in water bath: The mixture turns into a
A brick-red precipitate is cloudy white emulsion.
obtained.

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4 Vitamin

Although vitamins do not supply energy, our body needs them in small quantities to maintain good health.
and protect our body from disease. Vitamins can be obtained from vegetables, fruits, milk and meat.

Write classification of vitamins by using tree map:

Vitamin

Vitamin Source Importance Effects of deficiency

A milk, egg yolk, fish oil, •Helps night vision •Night blindness
papaya, tomato, carrot •Maintain skin health •Skin diseases
B yeast, liver, egg, rice •Maintain function of nervous system •Beriberi 脚气病
•For the formation of red blood cells•Anaemia 贫血
C fruits, vegetables •Fight against diseases 疾 病 and •Scurvy 坏血病
infection 感染 (bleeding gums)
•Maintain the health of gums and
mouth
D butter, egg, fish oil •Helps in absorption of calcium 钙 •Rickets 软骨病
and produced in the •Maintain strong teeth and bones •Toothache
body through sun #Latest discovery: •Skin diseases
exposure protect body from cancer #Cancer
E grains 谷类， •Maintain the health of reproductive •Sterility 不孕症
green vegetables system •miscarriage 流产
K milk, egg yolk, fish oil •Speed up blood-clotting process •Prolonged bleeding

5 Fibre

Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that cannot be broken down by digestive system. It is made up of cellulose
纤维素 that is found in the cell wall of plants.

Sources of food that are rich in fibre are vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, high fibre bread and grains.
Fibre can stimulate peristalsis 刺激肠蠕动 to allow food materials pass through the small and large
intestines. This can prevent constipation 避免便秘.

Peristalsis is the repeated movements made by the digestive muscle walls involved constriction and
relaxation that push food and waste through the body.

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6 Mineral salts

Mineral salts are inorganic substances that are needed in small quantities to carry out body processes and
to maintain a healthy body. Mineral salts do not provide energy, but lack of them can cause various types
of disease. Excess minerals are excreted through sweat and urine.

Mineral Source Importance Effects of deficiency

Calcium, Ca Milk, anchovies 江鱼仔， •Help blood-clotting •Rickets 软骨病
prawn, green vegetables •Strengthen bones and •Osteoporosis 骨质疏松
teeth
Sodium, Na Salt, meat, egg •Maintain function of •Muscle cramps
nervous system 肌肉痉挛
Iron, Fe liver, meat, spinach, •Needed to build •Anaemia 贫血
broccoli haemoglobin in blood
Iodine, I Seaweed 海藻, •Maintain function of •Goitre
seafood thyroid gland 甲状腺

Phosphorus, P Cheese, meat, eggs, •Strengthen bones and •Rickets 软骨病

vegetables teeth •Brittle teeth
•Form nucleic acid in •cannot build DNA and
DNA and RNA RNA
Potassium, K Fruits, vegetables, fish, •Help muscle contraction •Paralysis 麻痹
meat •Maintain function of •Muscle cramps
nervous system 肌肉痉挛

Activity：
Diagram Disease Deficiency in Food can prevent

7 Water, H2O

Water is very important to our body. A person can live without food for weeks but cannot live without
water for more than 3 days. Water composes about 70 % of our entire body weight.

•Water is a solvent for chemical reactions in our body.

•Water is also a transportation medium for substances such as digested food, oxygen, carbon dioxide,
urea and hormones.
•Water regulates body temperature 调节体温 by releasing heat through perspiration, respiration, urination
and defecation.
•Water controls the concentration of blood and body fluids.
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3.2 Importance of a Balanced Diet

What is meant by a balanced diet? pg53

—————————————————————————————————————————

—————————————————————————————————————————
State 2 reasons why a balanced diet is important to us.

(a) _______________________________________________________________________________________

(b) _______________________________________________________________________________

We can plan a balanced diet shown in the food pyramid to meet the requirements for growth and to stay
healthy.

Factors that Influence Calorific Requirement

Factors affect a balanced diet differs according to individual needs.

a Body size The bigger the size of the body, the more energy is needed.
b Age Children and teenagers need more carbohydrates for energy as they are more
active. Besides, they also need more protein for growth.
c Occupation Athletes need proteins for building muscles and plenty of glucose to get
/Physical activity instant energy.
Farmers, labourers, fishermen and construction workers need more energy as
they do heavy work. Therefore, they have to eat more carbohydrates compared
to those office workers.
d Gender/Sex Men need more energy compared to women. Therefore, they need bigger food
portions than women.
e State of health Diabetics should reduce sugar and carbohydrate intake.
A pregnant woman needs more iron and calcium for the foetus.
f Climate People live in cold countries need to take more food to maintain their body
temperature as they lose heat quickly.
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Calorific Value of Food

There are 3 basic classes of food which produce energy when burned:

(a) Carbohydrates = 17 kJ/g 1 calorie = 4.2 joule or

(b) Proteins = 17 kJ/g 1 kilocalorie = 4.2 kilojoule
(c) Fats = 37 kJ/g

What is energy value/calorific value? pg55

___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
The calorific value 卡路里值 of food is measured in units of calorie (cal) or joule (J).
Our body burns out calories when we carry out activities.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/Calories.html

What will happen if a person takes a higher calorific value than the total energy needed by his body?

___________________________________________________________________________________

What will happen if a person takes an unbalanced diet over a long period of time?

___________________________________________________________________________________

Activity: http://health.family.my/health-facts/calorie-guide-of-all-malaysian-food
Tables below contain the calorific values for several food. Find the calorific value for each meal.
Food Calorific value /100g Food Calorific value
Tose 150 1 hard-boiled egg 76
Nasi lemak 425 1 fried egg 128
Nasi goreng 190 A plate of salad 100
Milk 61 1 piece roti canai + dhal 359
Meat dumpling 235 1 bowl plain white rice 200
Tea 1 1 piece chicken curry (medium) 195
Juice 54 1 piece of bread 70
1 cup milo sweetened 133
Stir fried vegetables 40
1 glass ice lemon tea + 1ts sugar 26
Meal A Meal B Meal C Meal D
200g meat dumpling 180g nasi lemak A plate of salad 1 bowl plain white rice
100g tea 1 cup milo sweetened 1 piece of bread 1 fried egg
1 hard-boiled egg 1 piece chicken curry
100g juice Stir fried vegetables
1 glass ice lemon tea

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The Importance of Maintaining Health

What can be caused from improper diet? pg58

Improper
diet can
cause

How to practise a healthy life style? pg58

Practise
healthy life
style

3.3 THE HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

•Food digestion is the process of breaking down complex and large food substances into smaller and
simple molecules that can be easily absorbed by the cells of the body.
•Digestion involved two processes: Physical process and chemical process. pg60

Digestion

Big pieces of food are broken down The food is broken down by the
into smaller pieces by teeth. action of enzymes.

Involved peristalsis.

•The human digestive system consists of a 8 meter long tube called digestive tract 消化道.
It consists of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus. Several other
organs involved in the digestion are liver, gall bladder and pancreas.
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Structure of The Human Digestive System

Write the flow of food in the alimentary canal:

The Flow of Food in the Digestive Tract

Mouth -Teeth chew, grind the food.

-Particles of food are softened by saliva 唾液.
-Saliva contains enzyme called amylase which breaks
down starch into maltose.
Oesophagus Food that enters the oesophagus is called bolus.
The bolus is pushed along the oesophagus wall through
contractions and relaxations to the stomach by peristalsis.

Stomach Food mixed with gastric juices in the stomach which contain hydrochloric acid, HCl
and protease.

HCl - kills bacteria in the food that enter the stomach and activates the protease.
Protease - breaks down proteins into polypeptides.

Food that semi-liquid is called chyme 食糜.

Duodenum Duodenum is the first part of small intestine that food enters.
Duodenum is joined to both liver and pancreas.
Bile and pancreatic juice flow to the duodenum:-
Bile 胆汁(a greenish liquid) produced by liver and stored in the gall bladder.
The bile emulsifies fats/oil into small globules and neutralises the acids in the chyme.
The pancreatic juice produced by pancreas contains 3 enzymes:

Pancreatic amylase breaks down starch into maltose.

Protease breaks down polypeptides into dipeptides.
Lipase breaks down fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
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 Small The small intestine secretes maltase and protease.
intestine Maltase breaks down maltose into glucose.
Protease breaks down dipeptides into amino acids.
Large Undigested food such as cellulose enter here.
intestine Water reabsorption happens here.
Rectum Faeces 粪 stored here.
Anus Faeces excreted here.

Action of digestive enzymes:

Starch Maltose Glucose

Protein polypeptide dipeptide amino acid

Fat fatty acids and glycerol

3.4 PROCESS OF ABSORPTION AND TRANSPORTATION OF DIGESTED FOOD AND

DEFECATION

The digested food which is made up of tiny molecules are absorbed into the blood stream through the
villi. The blood then takes them to all parts of our body.

The features that help the absorption of food in small intestine:

a. The surface of the small intestine has many folds to increase the surface area of the absorption.
b. Villi have thin walls to increase the rate of absorption.
c. Villi have many blood capillaries that helps to transport nutrients quickly to all parts of the body.
d. Small intestine is very long.

Simple sugar like glucose, together with amino acids, mineral salts and water-soluble vitamins are
absorbed into the blood capillaries.

Glycerol, fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) are absorbed into the
lacteal.

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 Process of Transporting the Products of Digestion

Food that is digested and absorbed into the villi needs to reach the cells of the body. The molecules that
are absorbed into the villi will undergo assimilation.

Assimilation is a process of distributing the end products of digestion for the use of the cells in the
body.

 Glucose is used in respiration to produce energy

 Amino acids are used to build component of cells.
 Fatty acid and glycerol combine to form fat in our body to protect internal organs and act as heat
insulator under our skin.

Copy the summary from pg68.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og5xAdC8EUI

Defecation

The substances that enter the large intestine consist of water and undigested food substances like
cellulose from the fibre of vegetables and fruit. Water, together with dissolved minerals and vitamins
are reabsorbed into the bloodstream. The residue left in the large intestine is called faeces.

Defecation is a process of removing faeces from the body. When the faeces reach the rectum, the
rectum undergoes peristalsis and pushes the faeces through the anus.

An individual has problems of passing motion is said to have constipation. Constipation takes place
because of the lack of water and roughage in the diet. This is due to bad eating habits.

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