Human Nutrition and the Digestive System

This document discusses human nutrition and the digestive system, emphasizing the importance of a balanced diet. It covers the different food groups, food preparation methods, and the effects of mineral and vitamin deficiencies. It also explores the role of physical exercise and provides information on calculating body mass index (BMI).

Running Head: HUMAN NUTRITION AND THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM 1
Human Nutrition and the digestive system
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Introduction
It is evident that for individuals to be healthy, one should consume a healthy diet which is
balanced. Moreover, one should control his or diet to avoid weight gain and also weight loss. To
choose diet it’s based on the environment which individual lives, the religious groups and also
the personal taste. How an individual chose his or her diet determines the impact of health
wellbeing of the individual and the longevity. To maintain a healthy life an individual should
take a balanced diet and have a good selection of food and drinks. A balanced diet is considered
to have all the nutrients which include calories, fat, carbohydrate, consuming many fluids,
proteins, having enough physical health and minerals. In the report the constituent food groups
will be discussed, food preparation to avoid alteration of nutrients, deficiency caused by deficient
in the mineral, physical exercise to control body mass and how the body mass index is calculated
(Manach et al., 2017, p. 61).
Food group can be defined as the category of foods with similar properties. Food groups
can be categorized into five groups which include group one up to group 5. They are categorized
together according to the nutrients they contain. In group I it contains all types of meat, it can be
red meat or white meat. These foods are expected to provide nutrients which are rich in protein
and also contains the nutrients of zinc and iron. group 2 food group contains all types of cereals,
potatoes, and bread. This group has nutrients which are rich in carbohydrate and they are
essential to provide the body with enough energy. These foods also help to work on muscles and
also increase the concentration of the individual (Wells et al., 2017, p. 950). The third group falls
to fruits and vegetables which provides vitamins and minerals. This are important to the body of

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the individual hence providing good health. They are also rich in fibre which helps in digestion
and also provides antioxidants which are helpful to the individual body. group 4 contains the
constituents of dairy foods which includes milk. This food category contains foods and drinks
which are rich in calcium, protein, vitamins, and minerals. The foods in this group are
recommended by the dietitians that they should be taken twice or thrice in a day. group 5 foods
contain fats and sugar. This food category although they are essential in the diet they should be
limited in how they are consumed.
How individuals prepare foods may alter the availability of nutrients. How food is
prepared, stored and how it is handled contribute to the nutrient preservation hence lowering the
risk of bacterial invasion. Healthy food preparation ensures that no nutrient is a loss. In foods
like vegetable, they should be prepared for a short time so that the nutrients in the food cannot be
lost. This means that the best method of preparing vegetables is by steaming. It is also good to
prepare food in a clean environment for food safety and freshness. It is also good to put away
uncooked food from cooked food. It is also important to choose cooking fats and oils. Sunflower
oils are the best rather than using the saturated solids (Sims, 2016 p. 90).
A deficiency of the mineral can be caused due to lack of substituent required in the diet.
Failure to get a well-balanced diet increases the risk to have these deficiencies, not getting the
essential minerals can be caused by having taking foods saturated in fats, lack of fruits, surgery
on the digestive tract and excessive blood loss. The symptoms of a deficiency disease depend on
the type of nutrient the individual body lacks. The symptoms, in general, can include.
Constipation, having an irregular heartbeat, poor concentration, vomiting, being tired always,
loss of appetite, excessive diarrhoea and decrease in the immune system (Fr0slie, 2017 p. 65).
The types of mineral deficiency include calcium deficiency, iron deficiency, magnesium

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deficiency, potassium, and zinc. To treat the mineral deficiency an individual should check on
the eating habits, seek advice from the dieticians and taking multivitamin and supplement.
For a body to function well different vitamins should be evident. A vitamin deficiency
may be associated with an inadequate intake of the foods which provide vitamins in the body.
Moreover, even taking alcohol affects the body by making it unable to absorb the vitamins
evident in the food taken by the individual (Frigstad 2017 p. 105). The selected vitamin
deficiency is rickets which is caused by the lack of vitamin D. this makes the body not to absorb
or store calcium in the human body. It mainly affects children because they are individuals with
developing bones. One of the symptoms is that they start having bow-legged due to bone
softening. Moreover, other symptoms include stunted growth, bone deformity and permanent
fractures in the body.
Performing physical exercise is essential to maintain body weight. It is also a factor that
contributes to bodyweight regimes. Physical exercise burns the excess calories which are present
in the human body and also improves the metabolic rate. It is the duty of the individual to have
equal calories by managing the diet. This can be achieved through an understanding of the diet
and portion control. Control of calorie in an individual body improves body weight.
Body mass index is defined as the ratio of an individual’s weight to height. It is believed
that the higher the BMI the higher the body fat percentage. To calculate BMI, the following
formula is followed which is weight over height in meters. In this I will work out the BMI that is
I weigh 70 kilograms and am 1.5 meters tall.so my BMI will be 31.11. this indicates I have a
normal weight and my diet intake is good so no risk of health complications (Bertoia et al., 2016
p. 17).

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On dietary scenario 1, I need first to calculate the BMI of Michael, in that his BMI can be
calculated as 98/ (1.78×1.78) = 98. According to his lifestyle, the BMI indicates that he is
overweight. He is at risk of an obese health complication. His body mass index can be managed
through having physical exercise not spending most of his time watching and eating. He should
involve himself in physical exercise, playing football and swimming. Moreover, he should
manage his eating habits together with his family so that the weight can be reduced. The possible
health risk is that he will be obese due to the lifestyle he has emulated.
On dietary scenario 2, Stephanie has anaemia. Anaemia is caused by a loss of blood in
health. Loss of blood means that she will be having an iron deficiency. This means due to much
bleeding many red blood cells are lost in the body. The dietitian gave her advice that she should
take foods rich in iron which are animal products like meat, poultry, fish products, taking foods
with beans and lentils. The anaemia symptoms include having a weak body, lack of
concentration and slow development of an individual.
On dietary scenario 3, the group needs to know the symptoms of rickets and how the
disease can be prevented (Al Rekhawi et al., 2017 p. 40). The parents of those children must first
understand the cause of rickets which is lack of vitamin D. The symptoms which could be
noticed to the child is the bone pain, blood having low calcium levels, weak bones hence they
break easily. Infants have flopping limbs and the old children develop knock knees. Treatment of
rickets is based on increasing the calcium levels to the patient, taking the vitamin D supplements
and phosphates. Moreover, vitamin D injection is given to the patient to prevent the problem.

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Conclusion
It is good to understand a balanced diet is better in individual health because it improves
his or her health. In an individual diet, one should include all food groups so that the food can be
balanced. These groups include group 1 to group 5. Moreover, how food is prepared should be
considered so that the available nutrients will not be altered. In that vegetables should be
steamed, food should be well stored to prevent bacteria from invading the food and also when
cooking one should avoid the saturated solid oils. It is good to take a well-balanced diet so that
even every individual can have a normal BMI to reduce the risk of being obsessed.

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References
Al Rekhawi, H.A., Ayyad, A.A. and Abu Naser, S.S., 2017. Rickets Expert System Diagnoses
and Treatment. International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS).
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Dietary flavonoid intake and weight maintenance: three prospective cohorts of 124 086 US men
and women followed for up to 24 years. Bmj, 352, p.i17.
Fr0slie, A., 2017. Problems on deficiency and excess of minerals in animal nutrition.
In Geomedicine (1990) (pp. 47-70). CRC Press.
Frigstad, S.O., Høivik, M., Jahnsen, J., Dahl, S.R., Cvancarova, M., Grimstad, T., Berset, I.P.,
Huppertz-Hauss, G., Hovde, Ø., Torp, R. and Bernklev, T., 2017. Vitamin D deficiency in
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Manach, C., Milenkovic, D., Van de Wiele, T., Rodriguez‐Mateos, A., De Roos, B., Garcia‐
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Wells, M.L., Potin, P., Craigie, J.S., Raven, J.A., Merchant, S.S., Helliwell, K.E., Smith, A.G.,
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