Chapter Lecture Chapter 1: The Science of Nutrition: Linking Food, Function, and Health © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc What Is Nutrition? • Food is the plants and animals we eat • Nutrition is the science that studies food: • How food nourishes our bodies • How food influences our health • Includes identifying how we consume, digest, metabolize, and store nutrients • Includes studying our eating patterns and making recommendations • Addresses food safety, food production, and global food policy © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc How Did Nutrition Evolve? • Mid-1700s researchers observed an association between diet and illness • In the 1800s, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and some minerals were identified • In the early 20th century, nutrition research focused on identifying deficiency diseases • By WWII, nutrition research supported wellness and treating chronic diseases • Nutrigenomics is the study that links our genes, environment, and diet to tailor nutrition to our genetic makeup © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc How Does Nutrition Contribute to Health? • Proper nutrition supports wellness • Wellness is more than the absence of disease • Includes physical, emotional, social, occupational, and spiritual health • Is a multidimensional, lifelong process • Two key components of wellness: Nutrition Physical activity © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Why Is Nutrition Important? • Can prevent some diseases and reduce risk for others • Healthful nutrition and regular physical exercise can increase feelings of well-being • A poor diet, inadequate or excessive physical activity, or a combination of those, can lead to serious health problems © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc ABC News Video: Two Meals a Day Could Help Diabetics Control Blood Sugar © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Scientific Method To ensure that certain standards and processes are used in evaluating claims, the researcher: Makes an observation and describes a phenomenon Proposes a hypothesis (educated guess) to explain the phenomenon Develops an experimental design to test the hypothesis Collects and analyzes data to support or reject the hypothesis © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Scientific Method (cont.) • If the data are rejected, an alternative hypothesis is proposed and tested • If the data support the original hypothesis, a conclusion is drawn • The experiment must be repeatable, so other researchers can obtain similar results © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Well-Designed Experiment • The sample size (number of people being studied) should be adequate to ensure that the results obtained are not due to chance alone • A control group is essential for comparison between treated and untreated individuals • Control for other variables is applied to avoid coincidentally influencing the results © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Advancing a Theory • A hypothesis that is consistently supported by repeated experiments becomes a theory • A theory represents a scientific consensus of why a phenomenon occurs based on data from repeated experiments • Theories can be challenged and changed as scientific knowledge evolves © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Types of Research Studies—Animal • Is used to gather preliminary information for designing and implementing human studies • Is used for research that cannot be done with humans • Have advanced our understanding of many aspects of nutrition • Drawbacks: results may not apply directly to humans; ethical implications of animal studies © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Types of Research Studies—Human • Epidemiological studies: • Examine patterns of health and disease in defined populations • Indicate relationships between factors, not cause and effect • Observational studies: • Involve assessing nutritional habits, disease trends, or other health phenomena of large populations • Determine the factors that may influence these phenomena © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Types of Research Studies—Human • Case control studies are more complex observational studies with additional design features • Compare a group of individuals with a particular condition to a similar group without the condition • Clinical trials are tightly controlled experiments • Experimental group receives an intervention/treatment • Control group is not given an intervention/treatment © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Other Aspects of Research Studies • Key aspects in evaluating clinical trials: • Randomized trials: researchers randomly assign participants to the treatment and control groups; reduces the possibility of favoritism and errors • Single-blind experiments: participants are not aware of which (if any) treatment is being given • Double-blind experiments: both the participants and the researchers are not aware of which group is getting a treatment © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Evaluating Nutrition Claims • Conflict of interest • Key questions to ask: • Who/what group conducted the study? • Who paid for it? • Was the study funded by a company or corporation that stands to profit from the results? • Did the researchers receive goods, services, money, or perks from the research sponsor? • Do the researchers have investments or ties to companies or products related to the study? © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Evaluating Nutrition Claims (cont.) • Website reliability; separating Internet fact from fiction • Check credentials of website sponsors and/or information suppliers • Qualified professionals? Are financial contributors' names available? Is there expert review of content? • Check website date • Is it current? Is information subject to change over time? Should it be consistently updated? • Check sources of information (for-profit or not?) • Look for ".gov"/".edu"/".org" as reliable designations © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Evaluating Nutrition Claims (cont.) • More ways to discern truth from fiction: • Who is reporting the information? • Is the report based on reputable research studies? • Is the report based on testimonials? • Are the claims too good to be true? • Quackery: promotion of an unproven product or service—usually by an unlicensed or untrained source—for financial gain © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Trustworthy Nutrition Experts • Reliable experts have education and credentials, such as: • Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist (RD) • Licensed dietitian: meets state credentialing requirements • Professional with an advanced, related degree: master's or doctorate degree (MA, MS, PhD) • Medical doctor/physician • "Nutritionist" has no legal definition or laws regulating it © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Government Information Sources • Government-affiliated online sources (".gov") are considered reliable, such as: • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) • National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) National Institutes for Health (NIH) â 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Reliable Professional Organizations • • • • • Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) American Society for Nutrition Sciences Society for Nutrition Education American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) The Obesity Society (TOS) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc ... tailor nutrition to our genetic makeup © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc How Does Nutrition Contribute to Health? • Proper nutrition supports wellness • Wellness is more than the absence of disease... components of wellness: Nutrition Physical activity © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Why Is Nutrition Important? • Can prevent some diseases and reduce risk for others...What Is Nutrition? • Food is the plants and animals we eat • Nutrition is the science that studies food: • How food nourishes our bodies •