nutrition

Nutrition is the intake of nutrients that an organism needs both to maintain its vital functions and to build up its body and to perform certain services in different situations. Nutrition is a prerequisite for the survival of living beings.

Plants

The most important nutritional process in green plants is photosynthesis. Green plants are autotrophs. This means they can build up the body's own organic substances from inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts). The sun is their source of energy. Through its synthesis, the plant provides the basis of existence for all organisms that depend on organic nutrients, such as bacteria, fungi, non-green higher plants, animals and, last but not least, humans.

The non-green plants such as saprophytes and parasites meet their energy and carbon needs from living or dead organic matter. Animals and humans have to absorb vital organic compounds for their nutrition in order to supply the organism with the energy substrates for its performance (operating metabolism), the substances for growth and the ongoing replacement of used body substances (building metabolism).

animal

Animals take their food in different ways. You will e.g. differentiated in swirlers like e.g. B. mussels, substrate eaters like the earthworm, worms like the snake and shredders like many insects, soft and vertebrate animals. Endoparasites ingest food from their hosts through their body surface. Furthermore, the animals are differentiated according to their preferred food, such as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

human

Human nutrition is the supply of people with food in the form of food and luxury foods. The intake of food normally takes place through peroral intake of life-supporting substances in the form of food and drinks. Man feeds according to an animal omnivore. The conscious handling of the supply of food and liquid is a dimension of human culture and all religions. Nutrition essentially controls the physical, mental, physiological and social well-being of humans.

Raw, cooked or otherwise prepared, fresh or preserved foods are used for human nutrition. Malnutrition when eating is called a nutritional disorder.

A healthy and balanced diet consists of 55-60% of the joule requirement (calorie requirement) from carbohydrates, 25-30% from fats and 10-15% from proteins (proteins). The daily protein intake should be 1 g per kg of body weight (protein minimum).

The food pyramid is a graphic representation that, based on the findings of nutritional science, shows the proportions in which different foods should be consumed in order to eat healthily.