Science test – Nutrients

NAME OF FOOD EXAMPLES OF FOOD ROLE IN THE BODY

GROUP
PROTEIN EGGS, FISH, CHICKEN NUTRIENT NEEDED TO
GROW AND REPAIR
CARBOHYDRATES BREAD, PASTA, CEREAL, USED AS THE MAIN
POTATOES SOURCE OF ENERGY
VITAMINS CARROTS – VITAMIN A VITAMIN A – GOOD FOR
ORANGE, LEMON – VISION
VITAMIN C VITAMIN C- GOOD FOR
MILK, CHEESE, GUMS
SUNLIGHT- VITAMIN D VITAMIN D-
STRENGTHENS BONES
FATS OIL, BUTTER, CHEESE A SUBSTANCE FOUND
IN FOOD THAT IS
STORED IN THE BODY
FOR THE FUTURE AND
IT ALSO ACTS AS A
THERMAL INSULATOR
FIBRE APPLE, WHEAT, A SUBSTANCE FOUND
VEGETABLES IN FOOD THAT THE
BODY DOES NOT USE
AND IT HELPS TO KEEP
THE INTESTINES CLEAN
WATER COCONUT WATER, NEEDED FOR CHEMICAL
WATERMELON, REACTIONS TO HAPPEN
CUCUMBER AND TO DISSOLVE
SUBSTANCES AND FILL
UP CELLS
MINERALS IRON- RED MEAT IRON- TRANSPORTS
CALCIUM- MILK, OXYGEN AROUND THE
CHEESE BODY
CALCIUM- KEEP BONES
HEALTHY

- Iron is needed to make hemoglobin (binds to oxygen) in red blood cells

 Macronutrients- Need a lot of these, such as carbohydrates, proteins
and lipids (fats)

Micronutrients- Need these in smaller amounts, such as vitamins and

minerals

- Diet means what you eat. Your diet provides raw materials for your
body, which are needed for energy.
- Food substances that provide raw materials are called nutrients, these
include – carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals
- Water and fiber are not considered as nutrients but they are a vital part
of a healthy diet.
- A balanced diet is a diet in which all the nutrients needed to maintain a
healthy body are present to in the correct amount
- A human body needs nutrition to gain energy and stay healthy.
- The amount of energy required by a person depends on their muscle
mass, their age, the gender. Other factors that could affect the energy
required by a person would be the amount they exercise, sleep and
their height.
- Pregnant woman requires more energy that an elderly man
- Our bodies need food as a fuel for respiration
- Girls need more iron that boys
- In digestion, insoluble food substances are broken up into soluble ones
so that they can be taken in by the small intestine.
- The main chemical substance used to digest food are enzymes
- Starch is broken into smaller molecules called sugars
- The amount of energy in food is measured in Kilojoules (KJ)
- Digestion turns large insoluble substances into small soluble ones.
- To help absorb the digested food, the wall of the small intestine is
folded and covered with villi. The cells have microvilli. These features
increase the surface area. The wall of the small intestine is one cell
thick, meaning that it is easy for small molecules to diffuse out of the
small intestine and into the blood. The digested food molecules are
carried in the blood plasma. The surface area is the total area of the
faces of a three-dimensional object. The volume is the amount of space
the object takes up. An object's surface area : volume ratio is its
surface area divided by its volume. The bigger the surface area :
volume ratio, the more surface area an object has per unit volume.
 Cells need large surface area: volume ratios to get enough of the
substances they need from the surroundings.

We need energy to:

- Keep warm
- Movement
- Growth
- Repair

What alters our energy requirements?

- Age
- Gender
- Height
- Amount of exercise/activity
- Body Mass
- Muscle mass

Food Tests

Test for Carbohydrate ( Starch):

You will need: a dimple tray & iodine solution

1. Add the food to the dimple tray

2. Add a couple of drops of iodine to each food
3. If the solution turns black the food contains carbohydrates

Test for Sugar:

You will need: hot water, a test tube, Benedicts solution

1. Add the food to your test tube

2. Fill 1/3 of the test tube with the Benedict’s Solution
3. Place the test tube in hot water for 5 minutes
 4. If the solution turns orangey red, the food contains sugar

Test for Protein:

You will need: a test tube, a rubber bung, biuret solution

1. Add the food to your test tube

2. Add 2cm of Bierut solution
3. Put the rubber bung on the test tube and shake
4. If the solution turns purple, the food contains protein

Test for Fats:

1. Rub brown paper, on your food

2. If it turns oily, it contains fats

What is a balanced diet?

A balanced diet is a diet in which all the nutrients needed to maintain a

healthy body are present to in the correct amount

Why is a balanced diet important?

If you don’t have a balanced diet, you can get ill and malnutrition

Problem Too much of Too little of How can the problem be

something something prevented
Obesity √ To decrease the amount of fat
in the body
Starvation √ Eat more healthy, balanced
food
Scurvy √ Eat more healthy food having
Vitamin C
Rickets √ Go out in the sunlight more and
eat more food which contains
Vitamin D
 Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a problem caused by having too much/ too little of a nutrient

in a diet.

Malnutrition can be caused by:

1. Poverty
2. Lack of access to drinking clean water
3. Diseases (Mosquitos)

Kwashiorkor is a deficiency disease caused by a lack of protein in your diet

Scurvy: Vitamin C Deficiency

Bleeding around the bases of the hair on the legs & the gums in between the
teeth are signs of scurvy. There may be areas of bruising, there may also be
swelling of the bone joints.

Rickets: Caused by a deficiency in Vitamin D

Vitamin D is naturally made in the skin through the help of sunlight. Diet is
also important, especially when people don’t have much sunlight. Vitamin D
is important for the growth of our bones.

Obesity

Obesity is a form of malnutrition where individuals take in more food than

they need and become very overweight and there are more chances of heart
attack

The digestive system

The digestive system is a system that breaks down and absorbs nutrients
from food and liquid.
Name Function/ Adaptation
Mouth Mechanical digestion: physical
breakdown of food into smaller
pieces using teeth and tongue.
Contains salivary glands
Salivary Glands Soften food to make it easier to
swallow and digest, release
enzymes (amylase- found in the
saliva) to begin digesting food
Epiglottis The section of tissue that folds over
the airway to get to the lungs when
swallowing. This is to avoid
food/liquid going into the lungs.
Oesphagus Pipe that carries food from the
mouth to the stomach. It uses
involuntary muscular movements in
a sequence ( peristalsis)
Stomach Muscular bag that contains
hydrochloric acid (ph2) and churns
food. It secretes enzymes known as
pepsin; pepsin helps to break down
proteins into amino acids.
Liver The liver produces bile. Bile is a
substance that is stored in the gall
bladder. The liver filters all of the
blood in the body and breaks down
poisonous substances
Gall Bladder The gallbladder stores and
concentrates bile from the liver. The
bile is then released into the small
 intestine, it breaks fat droplets into
smaller pieces, known as
emulsification.
Pancreas The pancreas makes important
hormones ( insulin) and enzymes
( makes proteases, lipase and
amylase). It secretes these enzymes
into the small intestine to increase
digestion.
Small Intestine The small intestine is split into 2
parts: The duodenum and the ileum.
Food reaches the small intestine
from the stomach, and bile and
enzymes are added
Large Intestine The large intestine reabsorbs lots of
water and salt from undigested food.
It is long for more reabsorption and
is also known as the colon. The
undigested food after this is called
the foeces.
Rectum The rectum is where the faeces are
stored until they are ready to leave
via anus.
Anus The anus moves faeces out of the
body. This process is called egestion/
defaection (removal of food waste of
digestion)