Introduction
Welcome to The Principles of Human Nutrition Update.
This website looks at nutrition as an exciting discipline, which draws from all branches of biology.
The intake of air, water and food is essential for every species at every stage of life. The provision of these is the responsibility of the farmer, hunter and fisherman. Their harvests are brought to the general public by caterers and food retailers.
What we eat of these depends on many factors including culture, religious beliefs, geography, age, gender , economics and taste.
Does it matter what we eat or drink? The answer is decidedly yes. Food consists of chemicals, nutrients.
Nutrition is the science which identifies what nutrients we should eat at every stage of life for ideal growth, fertility, activity and health.
Nutrition is the
science of food at all
phases of life.
The website describes the components of science based nutrition. As such it can be used as a basis for a good grounding in nutrition or a reference source.
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Introduction
The selection, processing and manner of eating food will be strongly influenced by what is available and by the history, social stability and economy of the community. What and how a person eats is significantly affected by the family background and traditions. Though increasingly travel is changing food choices. War, pestilence and famine can restrict food availability. Food may also be contaminated by pollutants from the environment.
Being able to eat optimal amounts is dependent upon agriculture and the political, educational and social organisation in which the person lives. The chemical substances should be available in optimal amounts and in an attractive form for metabolism . Nutrition identifies, measures and recommends optimal dietary intakes of the nutrient chemicals in health and disease.
All living creatures require a range of dietary chemicals for metabolism, growth and activity. These chemicals are obtained from a range of sources. The digestion, absorption and metabolism of ingested nutrients is determined in each individual by many factors which include inherited constitution, gender, age, activity, growth , fecundity and lactation. A person needs an adequate energy intake as well as essential nutrients to provide for the needs and control of a genetically determined constitution ( genome) which dictates protein and enzyme structure and hence metabolism. This brings nutrition to a central role in the story. The synthesis , maintenance , functioning and control of the protein complex and hence overall metabolism relies on ingested nutrients.
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Journals
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Annual Review Nutrition/
British Medical Journal
British Journal of Nutrition
European Journal Clinical Nutrition
Nutrition Journal
Lancet
Nutrition Review
Nutrition
Nature
New England Journal of Medicine
Proceedings Nutrition Society
Science Magazine
Websites of Interest
World Health Organisation
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN
UN development programme
UNICEF
Third World wide network
European Community
European Food Information Council
US Nutrition Society
US dietary advice
US Department of Health and Human Services
US dietary guidelines
Australian Government Health
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs
UK Food Standards Agency
www.afssa.frAgence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire des Aliments ( France’s food safety agency).
American Society for Nutritional Sciences
US National Academy of Sciences
British Nutrition Society This web site has the addresses of all of the major Nutrition Societies and some journals
British Dietetic Association
British Nutrition Foundation. General food and nutrition information
UK Food and Drink Federation
United Kingdom soil association
Greenpeace website
Friends of the Earth
A medical and biosciences journal link system
Free medical texts on line
Food and nutrition information web site
Dietary guidelines for healthy American adults
American Council on Science and Health Nutrition
Genetic websites
European Bioinformatics Institute. an overview of the entire human genome structure.
Mendelian Inheritance in Man;with information on human disease and genes.
Saccharomyces Genome Database.
Omics Gateway Guidelines for human gene nomenclature.
UCSC Genome Bioinformatics
Human Proteome Organisation
Roche genetics education programme
Lipids online.
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
Alcohol Concern
Wine Lover’s Page.com
www.history-of-wine.com
scotchwhisky.com
Duke’s phytochemical ethnobase.
Pesticides register UK
USA site for pesticide information
US Department of Health and Human Services
United Kingdom soil association
A medical and biosciences journal link system
Free medical texts on line
History of food
Oxfam
Global Forum Health Forum
Up to date information on current natural disasters.