FN 225: Nutrition
Rathakette, Ph.D.
Health Professions Division
Lane Community College
Eugene, Oregon
 

FORUM for Week 8:
  1. After viewing the Lecture on Guidelines for Choosing Supplements (Lecture 8b) does your current supplement meet those guidelines?  Explain. What was new or interesting about this information?
  2. A few nutrients many students report being low in are Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and potassium.  Looking at a label for a multivitamin mineral supplement, how much of these nutrients does the multivitamin contain?  How does that compare to the RDA/AI?
LECTURE 8A: Vitamins & Minerals- part 2
During Week 7, we looked at the first 4 NUTRICHARTS:
  • NUTRI-CHART 1: Nutrients Involved that can be ANTIOXIDANTS.
  • NUTRI-CHART 2: Nutrients Involved in CERTAIN SPECIALIZED CELLS/TISSUES
  • NUTRI-CHART 3: Nutrients Involved in ENERGY METABOLISM
  • NUTRI-CHART 4: Nutrients Involved in BLOOD HEALTH

During Week 8, we'll look at the last 2 NUTRICHARTS.


NUTRI-CHART 5 lists the Nutrients Involved in FLUID & ELECTROLYTE BALANCE
    
As discussed during Week 1, water is one of the 6 categories of nutrients.  The others were
  • carbohydrates
  • proteins
  • fats
  • vitamins and 
  • minerals
NUTRICHART 5 starts with water, giving just a few of the functions of water in our body, such as keeping substances dissolved so they can be transported throughout our body in our blood and lymph.  Water also helps maintain body temperature at about 98.6.  When our body temperature goes too far above that, proteins get denatured so our cells can't function.

A pale yellow urine indicates that the body probably has enough water to accomplish these tasks. 

Am I Hydrated?  Urine Color Chart.


Both too much water and too little can be a problem.  Too much water dilutes sodium, which you can see below is an important electrolyte.   As you can also see on this page, electrolytes have vital roles in nerve response and muscle contraction.

Too little water is especially dangerous for infants and the elderly, as the chapter discusses.

Problems from too little water often come from what you drink instead of water, like soft drinks and juice.  Sugar is a solute that draws water out of cells, dehydrating them.  The salt in fast foods, snacks and soups is also a solute that draws water out of cells, dehydrating them.

Important electrolytes include sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl) and phosphorus (P).  Can you find each of those 4 on the Periodic Table below?
 




As the NUTRI-CHART says, sodium in the body helps with glucose transport in cells by being part of the sodium/potassium "pump".  This "pump" helps keep the correct amount of water INside cells.  Without this water, cells collapse and can't function.

Too much sodium in the body can contribute to hypertension if a person is among the perhaps 5% of people with hypertension who are salt sensitive, although some say the figure is higher.  Sodium may cause calcium excretion in some people.

Potassium helps keep the correct amount of water OUTside cells, by being part of the sodium/potassium "pump".  Too little potassium in the body can be caused by abuse of what can be called the 3Ps.
  • Laxatives make you.................. poop.
  • Diuretics make you.................. pee. 
  • And emetics make you.................. puke.
 
Now watch "Video Clip 1: Electrolytes" below.

Video Clip 1: Electrolytes
approximately 8 minutes

NUTRI-CHART 6 lists the Nutrients Involved in BONE HEALTH.

As you can see at the top of this page, bone health depends on many factors, including
  • genes
  • sun exposure
  • exercise
  • not smoking and
  • hormonal levels (estrogen/testosterone)
Most people know that calcium has something to do with strong bones.  But bone health depends on many more minerals than just calcium, including magnesium (Mg), fluoride (Fl), manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).  can you find each of those minerals on the Periodic Table below?




The macronutrient protein is also important for strong bones because crystals form around a matrix made of protein (collagen).  High protein diets can promote calcium excretion as can the mineral sodium.  Both protein and sodium are often high in American diets, which is not a good situation for bones, especially considering the diet might also be low in calcium.

Common American diets might also be low in 2 vitamins important for bones-
vitamin D and vitamin K. (Remember that vitamin K is not the same thing as the mineral potassium, abbreviated with a K.)  Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and vitamin K helps make osteoclacin, a protein associated with bone matrix remodeling.

Video Clip 2: Bone Health Part 1
approximately 6 minutes

The next Video Clip will help you fill in a remaining blanksin the phosphorus section
 
Video Clip 3: Bone Health Part 2
approximately 8 minutes



There was a document posted in moodle that lists food sources of vitamins and minerals, including those that help with bones, such as calcium.  Canned salmon is listed as a source of calcium, while fresh salmon is not listed.  This is because the high heat used in the commercial canning process pulverizes the bones so they can be eaten.

Some foods are fortified with bone-building nutrients, like the soy milk and orange juice shown below.









Parsley is a natural source of vitamin K, also important for bone health.  Parsley is also rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, which is also important for bone growth.


The above display at a Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. (in the late 1980s) said:
Young animals must grow, and the length and size of bones must grow with them.  Bone is a living substance. continually being eroded, reforming, and growing.  Long bones, such as those in the legs of mammals, need a special way to increase their length.  Each bone consists of a bony cap (epiphysis) and a long shaft (diaphysis).  Between these is a layer of cartilage continually growing and being replaced by bone, thus lengthening the bone.  The bone increases in diameter by deposition of bone on its outer surface and complementary erosion of bone on its inner surface.

This process is dependent upon vitamin A.


Fluoride is on the NUTRI-CHART for BONE HEALTH.  For more information on fluoride, watch the last Video Clip.

Video Clip 4: Fluoride
approximately 8 minutes





Fluorosis
(white spots from too much fluoride)


END of Lecture 8A