Nutrients and their preparations

Nutrition is the interaction between food and the body. It is about the nutrients contained in food, and their action, interaction and balance in relation to health and disease. It is the process by which people can ingest, digest, absorb, transport, utilise and excrete food substances. In addition, nutrition is concerned with social, cultural and physiological implications of food and eating. In general, the science of nutrition is the science of showing how food nourishes the body.

A nutrient is an active chemical component in food that plays a specific structural or functional role in the body’s activity. Sugars, starches and fibre are often grouped together as they are all carbohydrates. Vitamins and minerals are needed in very small amounts and they are called micronutrients.

Almost all foods are a mixture of nutrients. They contain different amounts of sugar, starch, fibre, fat, protein, minerals, vitamins and water.

Importance of nutrients:

The nutrients we get from the food we eat will affect the size and shape of our body. The use of nutrients to build tissues and supply energy at various stages of our life is explained here.

Classification of essential nutrients:

Based on the amount of the nutrients that each person needs to consume on a daily basis, these nutrients are categorised into two groups. These are macronutrients, which should be consumed in fairly large amounts, and micronutrients, which are only required in small amounts.

Macronutrients

‘Macro’ means large; as their name suggests these are nutrients which people need to eat regularly and in a fairly large amount. They include carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibre and water. These substances are needed for the supply of energy and growth, for metabolism and other body functions.

Macronutrients provide a lot of calories but the amount of calories provided varies, depending on the food source. For example, each gram of carbohydrate or protein provides four calories, while fat provides nine calories for each gram.

Micronutrients

As their name indicates (‘micro’ means small) micronutrients are substances which people need in their diet in only small amounts. These include minerals and vitamins.

Although most foods are mixtures of nutrients, many of them contain a lot of one nutrient and a little of the other nutrients. Foods are often grouped according to the nutrient that they contain in abundance.

Processes affecting food nutrient content:

A variety of things can happen during the growing, harvesting, storage and preparing of food that can affect its nutritional content. Processes that expose foods to high levels of heat, light or oxygen cause the greatest nutrient loss.

Fertilizers

Most plant crops are produced with the aid of fertilised soils. High use of nitrogen fertilisers tends to reduce the vitamin C content in many fruit and vegetable crops. It does not seem to make any difference to the plant’s nutrient value whether the fertiliser is organic or not.

Milling

Cereals such as wheat can be ground to remove the fibrous husks. The husks contain most of the plant’s dietary fibre, B-group vitamins, phytochemicals and some minerals.

That is why products such as white bread are less nutritious than wholemeal varieties, even if they have been artificially fortified with some of the nutrients that were lost after milling. It is impossible to add back everything that is taken out, especially the phytochemicals. The ‘fibre’ that is added back to some products is often in the form of resistant starch, which may not be as beneficial as the fibre removed.

Blanching

Before a food is canned or frozen, it is usually heated very quickly with steam or water. The water-soluble vitamins, including vitamin C and B-complex, are sensitive and easily destroyed by blanching.

Canning

Food is heated inside the can to kill any dangerous micro-organisms and extend the food’s shelf life. Some types of micro-organisms require severe heat treatment and this may affect the taste and texture of the food, making it less appealing. Preservatives are generally not needed or used in canned foods.

Water-soluble vitamins are particularly sensitive to high temperatures. Many people believe that canned foods are not as nutritious as their fresh counterparts, but this is not always the case, as fresh food often deteriorates more rapidly than canned foods.

Freezing

The nutrient value of a food is retained when it is frozen. Any nutrient losses are due to the processing prior to freezing and the cooking once the frozen food is thawed.

Pasteurization

Pasteurization involves heating liquid foods such as milk and fruit juices to specific temperatures to destroy micro-organisms. The nutrient value of milk is generally unaffected. In the case of pasteurized fruit juices, some losses of vitamin C can occur.

High pressure processing

This alternative preservation method subjects a food to elevated pressures, with or without the use of heat to kill micro-organisms. This method has been used in foods such as fruit juices. As heat is not required, this process impacts less on the vitamin content, flavour and colour of foods.

Dehydrating

Drying out foods such as fruits can reduce the amount of vitamin C they retain, but it can also concentrate other nutrients, particularly fibre in plant foods. Dehydrating food also makes food products more energy dense, which may contribute to weight gain. If a dehydrated food is reconstituted and cooked with water, further nutrients are leached out of the food and lost in the cooking water.

Preparation of vegetables:

Most vegetables are peeled or trimmed before cooking to remove the tough skin or outer leaves. But most nutrients, such as vitamins, tend to lie close to the skin surface, so excessive trimming can mean a huge reduction in a vegetable’s nutrient value.

Losing nutrients through cooking:

Some vitamins dissolve in water, so you lose your vitamins to the cooking water if you prefer to boil your vegetables. For example, boiling a potato can cause much of the potato’s B and C vitamins to migrate into the boiling water.

It is still possible to benefit from these nutrients if you consume the liquid, for example, by turning the potato and the liquid into a soup. Alternative cooking methods such as grilling, roasting, steaming, stir-frying or microwaving generally preserve a greater amount of vitamins and other nutrients.

Preserving the nutrient value of Food:

Some suggestions to retain the maximum nutrition in the foods you cook include:

• Store foods properly, such as keeping cold foods cold and sealing some foods in airtight containers.
• Keep vegetables in the crisper section of the refrigerator.
• Try washing or scrubbing vegetables rather than peeling them.
• Use the outer leaves of vegetables like cabbage or lettuce unless they are wilted or unpalatable.
• Microwave, steam, roast or grill vegetables rather than boiling them.
• If you boil your vegetables, save the nutrient-laden water for soup stock.
• Use fresh ingredients whenever possible.
• Cook foods quickly.