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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.
In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. [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]
Human nutrition deals with the provision of essential nutrients in food that are necessary to support human life and good health. [1] Poor nutrition is a chronic problem often linked to poverty, food security , or a poor understanding of nutritional requirements. [ 2 ]
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.
Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds necessary for plant growth and reproduction, plant metabolism and their external supply. In its absence the plant is unable to complete a normal life cycle, or that the element is part of some essential plant constituent or metabolite.
Other nutrients found in animal products include calories, fat, essential vitamins (including B12) and minerals (including zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium). [ 67 ] Food products produced by animals include milk produced by mammary glands , which in many cultures is drunk or processed into dairy products (cheese, butter, etc.).
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.
Nutritional science is often combined with food science (nutrition and food science). Trophology is a term used globally for nutritional science in other languages, in English the term is dated. Today, it is partly still used for the approach of food combining that advocates specific combinations (or advises against certain combinations) of food.