food and health
Human nutrition is a multidisciplinary science that studies the impact of food and eating on human health. Nutritionists are specialists in human nutrition, which help people to understand and use the knowledge from this science to maintain and improve their own health. Nutritionists have a general understanding of the structure and function of the human body as well as a broad knowledge of food and nutrition.
Glucose syrup is a purified aqueous solution of nutritive saccharides obtained from edible starches having a dextrose equivalent greater than 20. It is primarily a food industry ingredient, belongs into starch hydrolysates or starch syrups. To produce glucose syrup, starch granules are extracted from vegetable raw materials (mostly corn,...
Aspartate is the salt of aspartic acid, or aspartic acid in dissociated form. Aspartate is often involved in the active sites of proteins. The negatively charged aspartate can interact with positively charged atoms, such as various cations. Minerals such as potassium, sodium, zinc and magnesium can bind with aspartate....
Aspartic acid is a negatively charged amino acid with an acidic side chain. Aspartate is the carboxyl anion of aspartic acid. This amino acid is often found on the surface of proteins and thus affects their solubility and ionic character. Aspartic acid is one of the 20 amino acids...
There are several types of fat in the human body. For example, we have visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, etc.. Visceral fat is closely linked with certain diseases. What is body fat percentage? It is the total body fat mass relative to the total weight, and it is expressed as...
Ciguatera poisoning occurs after ingestion of toxins that are found in edible fish from the coral reefs and tropical seas. The toxins are actually produced by dinoflagellates that attach themselves to corals, algae and seaweed. Eating them the fish bioaccumulate the toxin, which concentrates through the food chain with...
Dicamba is a broad spectrum herbicide, which is absorbed through leaves and enters all parts of the plants causing disruptions of balance in hormones needed for cell division, respiration and protein synthesis. The plant dies within ten days. The DI-6 strain of the bacterium Pseudomonas maltophila which normally resides...
The word diet derives from the Greek diaita which means life, living, lifestyle, food, residence; white the verb diaitein means to keep her alive, heal, feed and be fed. Diet is the prescribed way of life, type of nutrition prescribed by a doctor or other professional (nutritionist, dietician), total...
Diphenylamine, DPA (CAS 122-39-4), is a substance used as antioxidant on apples, keeps them from turning brown for months when they are kept in storage. The chemical is used in USA, but banned in EU from 2012 (the maximal residue is set to 0,1 ppm). Diphenylamine isn’t harmful by...
Commercial dehydrated nursing herbal teas mainly contain the following plants: cumin, fennel, anise, common nettle, and some may contain basil and others. You can easily prepare nursing tea using dried parts of the following plants: 2 parts of cumin 1 part fennel seeds 1 part anise seeds (you can...
The term “local food” (or “regional food”) is used to describe a method of food production and distribution that is geographically localized, rather than national and/or international. Food is grown (or raised) and harvested close to consumers’ homes, then distributed over much shorter distances than is common in the...
Mon810 is a variety of genetically modified corn developed by Monsanto Corporation, marketed under the name YieldGard. It contains a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that expresses Bt toxin with toxic effects on insects of the order Lepidoptera. It is permitted for use in the EU in 1998...
N-Glycolylneuraminic acid, abbreviated Neu5Gc, is a monosaccharide containing 9 carbon atoms that can be found in mammalian tissues. Humans do not synthesize Neu5Gc, as it is assumed that the gene responsible for the synthesis mutated 2-3 millions wears ago. Primates, man’s closest relatives, as well as other mammalians retained...
The Scoville scale is used to sensory evaluate the pungency (spicy heat) of chili peppers and other spicy foods. The scale is reported in Scoville heat units (SHU), a function of the concentration of the naturally occurring alcaloide capsaicin. The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur...
Starch is a polysaccharide of plant origin. It is digestible in the human GI tract and therefore has great importance in human nutrition. Starch makes an efficient energy store in plants. It does not have sweet taste like monosaccharides and disaccharides. The plants store starch in cereal seeds and...
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