Components of Food

Table of Contents

• What Do Different Food Items Contain?
• What Do Various Nutrients Do For Our Body?
• Components of Food (Tabular Representation)
• Balanced Diet
• Deficiency Diseases

Food is essential for the survival of living organisms. It provides us with energy to carry out daily activities and develop, grow and repair our body parts in case of any damage. Therefore understanding the importance of consuming the right kind of food becomes a necessity.

Furthermore, most of the food items available today are adulterated in many possible ways. The food that we consume comes from numerous sources and the variety is huge. You can think of the last meal you had, and list down the sources from which your food was obtained. This helps us understand how food varies in its sources and components.

Each dish we eat is prepared using more than one ingredient containing different nutrients along with dietary fibres and water. Some nutrients in our food are fats, minerals, vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates.

• Carbohydrates are present in the form of starch and sugars in our food. The presence of carbs in our food can be tested using a dilute iodine solution, an indication of the presence of starch is shown by black-blue colouration.
• The presence of protein in food is tested using a solution of copper sulphate and caustic soda. If the solution turns violet, proteins are present.
• The presence of fat in food is indicated when food wrapped in paper turns oily after releasing its moisture content.

Also Read: Balanced diet

• Nutrients play a vital role in determining the health of our bodies. These nutrients are used up during the process of nutrition by each cell in our body to carry out its basic functionality.
• Fats provide more energy to our body compared to carbohydrates.
• Proteins are bodybuilding foods.
• Vitamins help our body fight against diseases and also help to keep our eyes, gums, and bones in a healthy shape. There are different kinds of vitamins such as Vitamin A, B complex, C, D. E, K etc. Vitamin C protects our body against diseases.

• Roughage, also known as dietary fibres, is obtained from plants such as fruits, whole grains etc. They do not provide nutrients but add bulk to our food and are essential to our body as they aid in digestion.
• Water helps absorb nutrients from food and aids in getting rid of wastes in the form of sweat and urine

Also Read: Food Variety

A diet, which contains the right amount of nutrients, roughage and water is called a balanced diet. Eating a balanced diet can never lead us to obesity. Consuming the right food is as important as having knowledge of the nutrient content of your food.

Deficiency diseases occur in our body due to a lack of nutrient supply over a long period of time. Listed below are a few deficiencies caused as a result of a lack of nutrients.

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