Topic 14.2 Nutrients Your Body Needs
Nutrition research has identified specific nutrients in foods that are essential to good health. These nutrients are labeled essential nutrients. Nutritionists have created a list of criteria to determine whether a nutrient is considered essential (Harper 1999):
- The nutrient is required in the diet for growth, health, and survival.
- Inadequate intake of the nutrient leads to a deficiency disease, which can lead to death.
- Growth failure and deficiency symptoms are prevented only by consuming the nutrient.
- If dietary intake of the nutrient drops below a critical level, growth responses and severity of deficiency symptoms are proportional to the amount consumed.
- The nutrient is not synthesized in the body and is required for some critical function throughout life.
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Harper, A.E. 1999. Defining the essentiality of nutrients. In: Shils, M.E., Olson, J.E., Shike, M., Ross, A.C., eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 3-10.
