Name: _____________________ Year 7____ Dr. Nermien Ismail Int.

school
Y7-Science
British Division
Diet
T2W2 Notes

Diet
Nutrients
Nutrients are substances found in food, that you need to stay
healthy.
 Carbohydrates
Starch is the fastest energy source for
our bodies, as it is converted to
glucose, which is a simple sugar.
After you eat starch (a type of
carbohydrate), the body breaks it
down to make glucose. Glucose is the
fuel your cells use for the respiration
process to give you energy.

Fats
• The greatest amount of energy is available in fats, it is also
needed to make cell membranes.
• They are used to store energy in our bodies and also make an
insulation layer below the skin to keep us warm from cold
weather.
• Avocado contains fat and oil. At normal temperatures, fats are
solid, and oils are liquid.

2
Proteins
Protein is needed for:
• Repair and maintain existing
muscles
• Build up of new muscles, help the
body to grow
• Needed to make haemoglobin and
antibodies
• Protein makes new cells.

Energy stores
• You get almost all of your energy from carbohydrates and fats that you
eat, you can get energy from protein if you run out of carbohydrates
and fats.
• For short-term energy stores: You store small amounts of carbohydrates
in your cells, especially in the liver and muscles.
• For long-term stores: Your body stores fat in special cells underneath
the skin and around some body organs to provide heat insulation.

3
Vitamins
Vitamins are nutrients needed in only small amounts, but you can
get ill if you don’t eat them. There are lots of different kinds of
vitamins. Each type is given a letter.
Vitamin A:
Vitamin A is needed to help your eyes to work well so
that your vision is good. It is particularly important
for helping us to see when it is quite dark. People who
don’t have enough vitamin A in their diet may not be
able to see anything at night. It also helps your white
blood cells to fight pathogens. You get vitamin A by
eating green vegetables, carrots, squash (such as
pumpkin), fruit, foods made from milk (such as
cheese), and some kinds of fish.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C helps the skin to stay strong and to heal
quickly if it is damaged. It keeps blood vessels and
bones healthy. People who don’t eat enough vitamin C
can get an illness called scurvy. A person with scurvy
feels weak and may have swollen, bleeding gums. You
get vitamin C by eating fresh fruit and vegetables.
Citrus fruits are particularly rich in vitamin C.
Potatoes and colorful berries are also good sources of
vitamin C. In the past, before anyone knew about
vitamin C, sailors on long sea voyages often got scurvy.
This was because they had no fresh fruit or vegetables
to eat.

4
 Vitamin D
Vitamin D is needed for strong bones and teeth. It
helps the body to absorb calcium from the food
that you eat. There are not many kinds of food that
contain vitamin D. Oily fish is probably the best
source. But for most people, most vitamin D does
not come from the food that you eat. Instead,
vitamin D is made in the skin when sunlight falls
onto it. People who never go outdoors, or who
never get any sun on their skin, may not get
enough vitamin D. This is most likely to happen if
you live in a country far from the equator, or
where there is not much sunshine. In children, a
lack of vitamin D can stop their bones from
growing normally. This illness is called rickets

Minerals
Calcium and Iron are two important minerals that you need to eat.
Calcium
Needed for strong teeth and bones.

5
Iron
Needed to make haemoglobin which carries oxygen
around the body. Good sources of iron include meat
(especially red meat), dark green vegetables, many
kinds of fish and shellfish, and some nuts and seeds
Anaemia
If you don’t eat enough iron, you don’t make enough
haemoglobin, so not enough oxygen is transported
around the body. This causes an illness called
anaemia, which makes a person feel very tired.

Water
There is one more nutrient to add to the list of what you need to take into your body each
day. This is water. Water is needed for many different purposes in the body. Cells and blood
contain a lot of water. Almost 90% of a person’s body weight is made up of water. Water in
cells allows all the different chemicals inside them to dissolve so that they can react
together. These reactions keep us alive. Water in the blood allows it to flow easily,
transporting substances all over the body.

Balanced diet
A diet that provides all the different kinds
of nutrients and the right amount of
energy, is called a balanced diet. A
balanced diet must contain enough
carbohydrates and fats to meet our energy
needs. It must also contain enough protein
to make new cells and tissues for growth &
repair. The diet must also contain vitamins
and mineral salts, plant fibre, and water.

6
Fibre
As well as the six nutrients you need in your diet, you also need to eat plenty of fibre. Fibre
is not a nutrient. This is because, when you eat it, you cannot digest it. So it does not go into
the blood or to your cells. Instead, it just travels through the digestive system. It leaves the
body as faeces.
Dietary fibre increases the weight and size of your stool and
softens it. A bulky stool is easier to pass, decreasing your chance
of constipation. If you have loose, watery stools, fibre may help
to solidify the stool because it absorbs water and adds bulk to
the stool. Helps maintain bowel health.
Fibre is mostly cellulose. Remember that plant cell walls are
made of cellulose, so foods made from plants are a good source
of fibre. Cereal grains, seeds and fresh fruit and vegetables are
all excellent sources of fibre. And the good thing about this is
that these foods usually contain lots of different minerals and
vitamins, too.

Not too much

Although you should try to include every different kind of nutrient in your diet, there are
some things that you should not eat too much of.
• Too much sugar (a kind of carbohydrate) can make your teeth decay. It also increases the
risk of developing an illness called diabetes.
• Too much fat, oil, or carbohydrate can make you put on weight. This can put a strain on
your joints, heart, and other body organs.
• Eating too many fats that come from animals can increase the risk of developing heart
disease.

7
Growth and development

8
9