What Is the Definition of Nutrition?

Nutrition can be defined as food or nourishment needed to keep an organism growing, healthy and viable. It also refers to the process of providing or receiving food or other life-supporting substances. The study of nutrition covers the types of food needed to keep an organism thriving and the means by which the organism derives nourishment by the digestive process. Every living thing needs proper nutrition to survive. For human needs, nutrition can be as basic as gruel or as complex as a five-star meal.

History

For hundreds of years the ancient Greek view was that all food contained a single essential nutrient since people were able to survive on varied diets, from coastal fish-based diets to inland meat- and grain-based diets. It wasn't until the 1700s that researchers in Europe started trying to analyze foods and realizing that a range of different foodstuffs were necessary for health. In 1753 an English researcher, James Lind, linked the disease of scurvy in sailors to a lack of fresh fruits in the diet. Once lemon juice and oranges were added to the dried meat rations, sailors were able to survive for months in relative good health. In the 1800s a soldier shot in the stomach survived the gunshot would but was left with a gaping hole in his abdomen. William Beaumont, an American doctor, observed the inner workings of the soldier's stomach through this hole and concluded that the stomach did not grind foods mechanically but dissolved them, and foods were dissolved at different rates. Over the years these and other observations advanced the study of nutrition.

Effects

The effects of inadequate nutrition are rarely seen in the United States anymore. Diseases like rickets, caused by a lack of vitamin D, are uncommon now that food is often vitamin fortified. What is becoming more common in the industrialized world are the effects of over-nutrition, with obesity and related complications like diabetes and heart disease on the rise.

Features

It is now understood that there are essential building blocks in human nutrition, and each must be present for health. Proteins are valuable in building and maintaining muscle and organ systems. Carbohydrates provide energy. Fat are necessary nutrition for skin, hair and organs. Essential minerals and vitamins are supplied by a panoply of foods and perform hundreds of tasks, from maintaining mental alertness to growing strong bones. Water also is an essential nutrient, and necessary for maintaining almost every system in the human body, which is made up of 60 percent water.

Geography

The world's varied geography and often very different diets make it easy to understand why the ancient Greeks once thought that all food was basically the same, containing the essential nutrients for growth and health. A typical Japanese diet provides the same nutrients as a Mediterranean or northern European diet, since the nutritional building blocks are present in a rich array of foods.

Considerations

It would be theoretically possible to make a dry pellet diet for humans, containing "complete and balanced" nutrition, similar to kibble for dogs. Like dog kibble, human kibble would be suitable for sustaining a person in reasonably good health for a reasonably long life span. However, it would create an unnaturally sensitive and vulnerable digestive system, rendering humans unable to vary their diet without gastrointestinal distress. It would lack micro-nutrients for optimal health like enzymes and probiotics found naturally in fresh foods. It would be bland and boring, and part of good nutrition is the enjoyment we get both from eating and from providing food for others.