Study Questions
Understanding Nutrition
(Chapters 1-4)
The following questions will help you study the material for the first exam. These questions are representative of the information you will be expected to know for the exam, although the question may be asked in a format other than short answer. This list of topics is not exhaustive, but representative. In other words, if there is a topic covered in class that does not appear in this list of questions, that does not necessarily mean it will not (or cannot) appear on an exam.
You should use this list as a study tool. It may be helpful to go through the questions first as we cover each chapter and then again when studying for the exam. If you can answer these questions (correctly) on your own, you should have a firm understanding of the material. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Note: I have put an asterisk by questions I consider to be of utmost importance, but again, that does not discount those without an asterisk as being unimportant.
Chapter 1
1. Give several reasons and examples why people make the food choices they do.
*2. What is a nutrient? Name the six classes of nutrients found in foods. What is an essential nutrient?
*3. Which nutrients are inorganic and which are organic? Discuss the significance of the distinction between organic and inorganic.
*4. Which nutrients yield energy and how much energy does each yield per gram? How is energy measured (in what unit)?
5. Describe how alcohol resembles nutrients. Why is alcohol NOT considered a nutrient?
6. What is the science of nutrition? Describe the types of research studies and methods used in acquiring nutrition information.
7. Explain how variables can be correlative but not causal.
*8. What are the DRI? Who develops the DRI? To whom do they apply? How are they used? In your description, identify the four categories of DRI and indicate how they are related.
9. What judgment factors are involved in setting the energy and nutrient intake recommendations?
10. What happens when people either get too little or too much energy or nutrients? Define malnutrition, undernutrition, and overnutrition. Describe the four methods used to detect energy and nutrient deficiencies and excesses.
11. What methods are used in nutrition surveys? What kinds of information can these surveys provide?
*12. Describe risk factors and their relationship to disease.
Chapter 2
1. Name the diet-planning principles and briefly describe how each principle helps in diet planning.
*2. What recommendations appear in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans?
3. Name the five food groups in the Daily Food Guide and identify several foods typical of each group. Explain how such plans group foods and what diet-planning principles the plans best accommodate. How are food group plans used, and what are some of their strengths and weaknesses?
4. Review the Dietary Guidelines. What types of grocery selections would you make to achieve those recommendations?
*5. What information can you expect to find on a food label? How can this information help you choose between two similar products?
6. What are the Daily Values? How can they help you meet health recommendations?
*7. What health claims have been approved by the FDA for use on labels What criteria must all health claims meet?
Chapter 3
*1. Describe the obstacles associated with digesting food and the solutions offered by the human body.
2. Describe the path food follows as it travels through the digestive system. Summarize the muscular actions that take place along the way.
*3. Name five organs that secrete digestive juices. How do the juices and enzymes facilitate digestion?
4. Describe the problems involved with absorbing nutrients and the solutions offered by the small intestine.
*5. How is blood routed through the digestive system? Which nutrients enter the bloodstream directly? Which are first absorbed into the lymph?
*6. Describe how the body coordinates and regulates the processes of digestion and absorption.
*7. How does the composition of the diet influence the functioning of the GI tract?
Chapter 4
1. Which carbohydrates are described as simple and which are complex ?
*2. Describe the structure of a monosaccharide and name the three monosaccharides important in nutrition. Name the three disaccharides commonly found in foods and their component monosaccharides. In what foods are these sugars found?
3. What happens in a condensation reaction? In a hydrolysis reaction?
*4. Describe the structure of polysaccharides and name the ones important to nutrition. How are starch and glycogen similar and how do they differ? How do the fibers differ from the other polysaccharides?
*5. Describe carbohydrate digestion and absorption. What role does fiber play in the process?
*6. What are the possible fates of glucose in the body? What is the protein-sparing action of carbohydrate?
*7. How does the body maintain blood glucose concentration? What happens when blood glucose rises too high or falls too low?
8. What are the health effects of sugars? What are the dietary recommendations regarding concentrated sugar intakes?
9. What are the health effects of starches and fibers? What are the dietary recommendations regarding these complex carbohydrates?
10. What foods provide starches and fibers?