The 12 types of nutrition and their characteristics

There are different ways of extracting nutrients from the food we eat to keep us healthy.

For humans, nutrition is the process by which the body takes advantage of nutrients from food. takes advantage of nutrients from food to keep its body and cells to keep your body and cells alive and provide you with energy. However, it is not only humans who need nutrition; plants, for example, also need nutrition.

Evolutionarily, there is no single way to extract from food the raw material for what needs to be built; it is a complex process that has been modified over several million years of evolution. These processes can be different and, therefore, can be classified in different ways into types of nutrition..

Nutrition is a vital process

The intake of food by human beings is a vital necessity for the organism. Good nutrition, i.e., an adequate and well-balanced diet, is necessary for good health and to prevent physical and mental deterioration.

This process provides the energy needed to keep us alive and allows us to and enables us to carry out all the other functions of living beings. Food also provides the raw materials for the growth and repair of our bodies.

Difference between nutrition, food and diet

There is some confusion with the term nutrition. As a science, it includes the study of food and the processes involved in the utilization of its nutrients: digestion, absorption and their assimilation into the cells of the organism.. Nutrition, in reality, is an involuntary process, as it is too important to leave us to its controls: the physiological functioning of the body takes care of it.

Thus, it would be wrong to speak of good nutrition or bad nutrition, because this would refer to food. Feeding is a series of voluntary and conscious actions aimed at selecting, preparing and ingesting food. are aimed at selecting, preparing and ingesting food.. Diet is also often confused with nourishment. Instead, diet is a person's eating habits. Although this one is associated to the loss and the control of weight, the diet does not have to have any objective to affect the corporal image.

Types of nutrition

But... what types of nutrition are there? In the following lines you can find a classification of the different types of nutrition

1. Autotrophic nutrition

Autotrophic nutrition refers to feeding oneself by synthesizing organic substances. In other words, it is the nutrition that are carried out by those living beings that are capable of producing their own food..

Plants are a clear example, since they feed themselves thanks to photosynthesis. Living beings that carry out the photosynthesis process are called photolithoautotrophs. On the other hand, those that use chemical elements are called chemolithotrophs. For example: bacteria.

2. Heterotrophic nutrition

This type of nutrition is used by living beings that need an already elaborated source of food. For example: animals, fungi and most microorganisms. Heterotrophic nutrition can be divided into several types:

Parasitic nutrition, in which the living organism lives on or within another organism that it harms and from which it obtains its nutrients by ingestion or absorption; saprophytic nutrition, in which the living organism absorbs nutrients from the environment and breaks them down by means of enzymes to obtain the energy it needs; and holozoic nutrition, which is specific to humans, and in which an organism ingests food in solid form and subsequently digests it to obtain the nutrients it needs.

Holozoic nutrition can be classified in three ways:

• Herbivorous nutrition: The organism feeds on vegetables.
• Carnivorous nutrition: The organism feeds on meat.
• Omnivorous nutrition: The organism feeds on vegetables and meat.

Types of nutrients

Nutrients are necessary for the growth and health of the organism. There are five types of nutrients that are divided into two main groups: macronutrients and micronutrients.. Macronutrients are needed in large amounts and include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Micronutrients, on the other hand, are needed in small amounts and include vitamins and minerals. Water and fiber are not nutrients but are necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

Below you can find the different types of nutrients.

1. Carbohydrates

Although carbohydrates have become the enemies of the weight loss diet, they are essential macronutrients for the body, as they feed the brain and muscles. Carbohydrates are the best source of energy and foods containing them can also be rich in fiber, which is necessary for the intestine to function properly.

There are two types: simple carbohydrates (banana, honey, etc.), which contain one or two sugars; and complex carbohydrates (e.g., brown rice), which are made up of three or more sugars linked together. These macronutrients provide 4 calories per gram, although complex carbohydrates take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates and are more satiating.

2. Proteins

The proteins are the structural nutrients structural to all cells. That is, they form what we could call the raw material of our body, the bricks with which it is built and reformed. On the other hand, they also help to repair tissues and fight infections When consumption exceeds the body's needs, protein can serve as a source of energy. They provide 4 calories per gram.

3. Fats

Fats, like the two previous macronutrients, also provide energy to the body and participate in the processes that keep the body alive. However, they they provide 9 calories per gram. Although they are currently demonized, fats are essential for maintaining good health.

On the other hand, fats have other functions in addition to energy. For example, they play a structural role, provide a means of transport for certain substances, and increase palatability.

There are several types of fat, you can learn more in this article: "Types of fats (good and bad) and their functions".

4. Vitamins

Vitamins are micronutrients that the body needs to assimilate other nutrients. other nutrients. Their functions are: to participate in the formation of nervous system chemicals, red Blood cells, hormones and genetic material. They also participate in the regulation of metabolic systems and are necessary for the health and proper functioning of the organism.

If you want to know the different types of proteins, you can learn more about this topic in this article: "Types of vitamins: functions and benefits for your body".

5. Minerals

Minerals give structure to bones, teeth and nails. Like vitamins, they help enzymes in many body processes. However, unlike vitamins, minerals are inorganic substances that come from soil, rocks and water. Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc or magnesium are some examples of minerals.

Types of food

As it has been commented in the previous lines, feeding is a series of voluntary actions that are directed to select what is ingested. The types of feeding that exist are the following.

1. Veganism

Veganism is the behavior of an individual who decides to not to ingest food products of animal origin nor, in general, use any product that in order to be produced involves the death of animals. Therefore, a vegan does not eat meat and fish products, nor do they consume eggs, dairy products or honey.

In addition, in certain cases, products known to be condemning animals to death due to their production system are not consumed, even though they are of purely vegetable origin.

Vegetarianism

Vegetarians are people who, due to their ideology, basically eat vegetables. Apart from the strict vegetarians, there are also lacto-ovo vegetarians.The idea is not to consume animals directly, but only some of the products derived from their way of life. The idea is not to consume animals directly, but to consume some of the products derived from their way of life.

3. Emotional nutrition

This is the diet that is associated with emotional and psychological problems.. For example, when someone suffers from anxiety, he/she consumes more fatty foods, even automatically and without realizing it.

4. Sports nutrition

It is the diet that aims to to increase sporting or physical performance. For example, the consumption of carbohydrates to perform better in a marathon. It is also associated with improved physical appearance and bodybuilding.

5. Healthy eating

Healthy eating is the choice to consume products that are beneficial to the well-being of the body. that are beneficial to well-being. For example, fruit or olive oil for its healthy properties.