Nutrition is a science. Compared with some other sciences, such as chemistry, which have been studied for thousands of years, nutrition is a young science. Many nutritional facts revolve around nutrients, such as carbohydrates. Nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that provide energy and promote the growth and maintenance of the body. In addition, nutrients aid in regulating body processes such as heart rate and digestion and in supporting the body’s optimum health.
Nutrition researchers look at how nutrients relate to health and disease. Almost daily we are bombarded with news reports that something in the food we eat, such as fat, is not good for us—that it may indeed cause or complicate conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Researchers look closely at the relationships between nutrients and disease, as well as the processes by which you choose what to eat and the balance of foods and nutrients in your diet.
In summary, nutrition is a science that studies nutrients and other substances in foods and in the body and the way those nutrients relate to health and disease. Nutrition also explores why you choose the foods you do and the type of diet you eat. Diet is a word that has several meanings. Anyone who has tried to lose weight has no doubt been on a diet. In this sense, diet means a weight-reducing diet and is often thought of in a negative way. But a more general definition of diet is the foods and beverages you normally eat and drink.
Kilocalories
Food energy, as well as the energy needs of the body, is measured in units of energy called kilocalories. The number of kilocalories in a particular food can be determined by burning a weighed portion of that food and measuring the amount of heat (or kilocalories) it produces. A kilocalorie, also called a Calorie (notice the uppercase “C”), raises the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. Just as 1 kilogram contains 1000 grams, 1 kilocalorie contains 1000 calories (notice the lowercase “c”). When you read in a magazine that a cheeseburger has 350 calories, understand that it is really 350 kilocalories. The American public has been told for years that an apple has 80 calories, a glass of regular milk has 120 calories, and so on, when the correct term is not calories but kilocalories. The media shortened the term kilocalories to calories, which is incorrect.
The number of kcalories you need is based on three factors: your energy needs when your body is at rest and awake (referred to as basal metabolism), your level of physical activity, and the energy you need to digest and absorb food (referred to as the thermic effect of food). Basal metabolic needs include energy needed for vital bodily functions when the body is at rest but awake. For example, your heart is pumping blood to all parts of your body, your cells are making proteins, and so on.
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