Nutrients – Elements and compounds found in the environment.

Nutrients are substances used in an organism’s metabolism which must be taken in from the environment. Non-autotrophic organisms typically acquire nutrients by the ingestion of foods. Methods for intake very, with animals and protists having an internal digestive system, while plants digest nutrients externally.

Organic nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins (or their building blocks, amino acids), and vitamins. Inorganic chemical compounds such as minerals, water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide may also be considered nutrients. A nutrient is essential to an organism if it cannot be synthesized by the organism in sufficient quantities and must be obtained from an external source. Nutrients needed in relatively large quantities are called macronutrients and those needed in relatively small quantities are called micronutrients.

Macronutrients are defined in several different ways

The chemical elements humans consume in the largest quantities are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

  • The classes of chemical compounds humans consume in the largest quantities and which provide bulk energy are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Water and atmospheric oxygen also must be consumed in large quantities, but are not always considered “food” or “nutrients”.

  • Calcium, salt (sodium and chloride), magnesium, and potassium (along with phosphorus and sulfur) are sometimes added to the list of macronutrients because they are required in relatively large quantities compared to other vitamins and minerals. They are sometimes referred to as the macro-minerals.

    • The remaining vitamins, minerals, or elements, are called micronutrients because they are required in relatively small quantities.

    Substances that provide energy

    • Carbohydrates are compounds made up of sugars. Carbohydrates are classified by their number of sugar units: monosaccharides (such as glucose and fructose), disaccharides (such as sucrose and lactose), oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides (such as starch, glycogen, and cellulose).

    • Proteins are organic compounds that consist of the amino acids joined by peptide bonds. The body cannot manufacture some of the amino acids (termed essential amino acids): the diet must supply these. In nutrition, proteins are broken down through digestion by proteases back into free amino acids.

    • Fats consist of a glycerin molecule with three fatty acids attached. Fatty acids are branchless hydrocarbon chains, connected by single bonds alone (saturated fatty acids) or by both double and single bonds (unsaturated fatty acids). Fats are needed to keep cell membranes functioning properly, to insulate body organs against shock, to keep body temperature stable, and to maintain healthy skin and hair. The body does not manufacture certain fatty acids (termed essential fatty acids)and the diet must supply these.

    Substances that support metabolism

    • Dietary minerals are generally trace elements, salts, or ions such as copper and iron. Some of these minerals are essential to human metabolism.

    • Vitamins are organic compounds essential to the body. They usually act as coenzymes or cofactors for various proteins in the body.

    • Water is an essential nutrient and is the solvent in which all the chemical reactions of life take place.

    Essential and non-essential nutrients

    Nutrients are frequently categorized as essential or nonessential. Essential nutrients are unable to be synthesized internally (either at all, or in sufficient quantities), and so must be consumed by an organism from its environment.

    For humans, these include essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, vitamins, and certain dietary minerals. Oxygen and water are also essential for human survival, but are generally not considered “food” when consumed in isolation.

    Humans can derive energy from a wide variety of fats carbohydrates, proteins, and ethanol, and can synthesize other needed amino acids from the essential nutrients.

    Non-essential nutrients can still have a significant impact on health, whether beneficial or toxic. For example, most dietary fiber is not absorbed by the human digestive tract, but is important in digestion and absorption of otherwise harmful substances. Interest has recently increased in phytochemicals, which include many non-essential nutrients which may have health benefits.

    The Vemma Nutrition Program™ is a premixed version of Essential Minerals®. Essential Minerals® is a unique liquid mineral supplement. It contains 100% ionic, life-giving minerals – reduced to the smallest, most body-ready form – and is sourced from plant vegetation that has been undisturbed for thousands of years. These unprocessed phytonutrients include over 65 major, trace and ultra-trace minerals. Essential Minerals® is delicious, easy to take and easy for the body to use.

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