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Vitamins and minerals are essential to the proper functioning and maintenance of the human body. [114] There are 20 trace elements and minerals that are essential in small quantities to body function and overall human health. [114] Iron deficiency is the most common inadequate nutrient worldwide, affecting approximately 2 billion people. [115]
Protein is a nutrient needed by the human body for growth and maintenance. Aside from water, proteins are the most abundant kind of molecules in the body. Protein can be found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle. This also includes body organs, hair and skin.
They are an important source of protein and are considered complete proteins for human consumption, as (unlike plant proteins) they contain all the amino acids essential for the human body. [17] Some cultures and people do not consume meat or animal food products for cultural, dietary, health, ethical, or ideological reasons.
Micronutrients are nutrients such as vitamins and minerals required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. [1] [2] The following is a list of micronutrients used by various living organisms. For human-specific nutrients, see Mineral (nutrient).
Macronutrients are defined as a class of chemical compounds which humans consume in relatively large quantities compared to vitamins and minerals which provide humans with energy. Fat has a food energy content of 38 kilojoules per gram (9 kilocalories per gram) proteins and carbohydrates 17 kJ/g (4 kcal/g).
The four organogenic elements, namely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen , that comprise roughly 96% of the human body by weight, [7] are usually not considered as minerals (nutrient). In fact, in nutrition, the term "mineral" refers more generally to all the other functional and structural elements found in living organisms.
[1] [2] By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the health of organisms throughout life. [3] [4] [5] For humans, vitamins and dietary minerals are the primary micronutrients. [3] [6] Human micronutrient requirements are in amounts generally less than 100 milligrams per day, whereas macronutrients are required in gram quantities ...
Nutrients can also be classified as essential or nonessential, with essential meaning the body cannot synthesize the nutrient on its own. [6] Nutrients are absorbed by the cells and used in metabolic biochemical reactions.