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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]
Parts-per-million cube of relative abundance by mass of elements in an average adult human body down to 1 ppm. About 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium ...
[1] [2] [3] Minerals are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. [4] The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. [2] The remaining minerals are called "trace elements".
There are three principal classes of macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. [1] 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.
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).
Organisms are able to detect nutrients through taste or other forms of nutrient sensing, allowing them to regulate nutrient intake. [16] Optimal foraging theory is a model that explains foraging behavior as a cost–benefit analysis in which an animal must maximize the gain of nutrients while minimizing the amount of time and energy spent foraging.
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excreted by cells to create non-cellular structures such as hair, scales, feathers, or exoskeletons.
Human food is food which is fit for human consumption, and which humans willingly eat. Food is a basic necessity of life, and humans typically seek food out as an instinctual response to hunger ; however, not all things that are edible constitute as human food.