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Most vitamins are not single molecules, but groups of related molecules called vitamers. For example, there are eight vitamers of vitamin E: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The term vitamin does not include the three other groups of essential nutrients: minerals, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. [2]
Carbohydrates are classified according to their number of sugar units: monosaccharides (such as glucose and fructose), disaccharides (such as sucrose and lactose), oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides (such as starch, glycogen, and cellulose). Proteins are organic compounds that consist of amino acids joined by peptide bonds.
Biotin (also known as vitamin B 7 or vitamin H) is one of the B vitamins. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It is involved in a wide range of metabolic processes, both in humans and in other organisms, primarily related to the utilization of fats, carbohydrates, and amino acids. [ 4 ]
Some of the amino acids can be converted (with the expenditure of energy) to glucose and can be used for energy production just as ordinary glucose, in a process known as gluconeogenesis. By breaking down existing protein, some glucose can be produced internally; the remaining amino acids are discarded, primarily as urea in urine.
An animal's body will reduce the amount of fatty acids it produces as dietary fat intake increases, while it increases the amount of fatty acids it produces as carbohydrate intake increases. [31] Fats contain 9 calories per gram. Protein consumed by animals is broken down to amino acids, which would be later used to synthesize new proteins.
Pantothenic acid is involved in the oxidation of fatty acids and carbohydrates. Coenzyme A, which can be synthesised from pantothenic acid, is involved in the synthesis of amino acids, fatty acids, ketone bodies, cholesterol, [15] [better source needed] phospholipids, steroid hormones, neurotransmitters (such as acetylcholine), and antibodies. [16]
The elements listed below as "Essential in humans" are those listed by the US Food and Drug Administration as essential nutrients, [9] as well as six additional elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen (the fundamental building blocks of life on Earth), sulfur (essential to all cells) and cobalt (a necessary component of vitamin B 12).
The carbohydrate, protein and lipid content of plants is highly variable. Carbohydrates are mainly in the form of starch, fructose, glucose and other sugars. [36] Most vitamins are found from plant sources, with exceptions of vitamin D and vitamin B 12. Minerals can also be plentiful or not.