Science · Classes 9-10 · Chapter 1 · 1.1
Food and Nutrition: Minerals, Water and Fibre.
More than half of your body weight is water. The mineral that hardens your bones also keeps your heart muscle working. And the fibre you cannot even digest is something you need every day. This note covers three minerals, water and fibre.
1. Minerals, and iron
Minerals are as essential as vitamins for normal growth and nutrition. They mainly help build cells. We get them from vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, fish and drinking water.
The first mineral is iron, the main element of blood. 100 mL of blood holds 50 mg of iron. In the body it is stored in the liver, spleen, bone and red blood cells.
Plant sources of iron: cauliflower, spine amaranth, neem leaf, fig, green banana, maize, wheat, nuts and millet. Animal sources: fish, meat, eggs and liver.
The main job of iron is to make haemoglobin. When haemoglobin runs short, anaemia follows. The signs are pale eyes, swollen hands and legs, weakness, headache and palpitation.
Iron makes haemoglobin, and without haemoglobin comes anaemia. Turn down the iron in food and watch the blood cells and the signs change.
Iron and haemoglobin
The percentages are a model, not measured. The signs are the book's.
2. Calcium, for bone and heart muscle
Calcium is the main element of bone and teeth. About 2% of human body weight is calcium, the highest among the minerals. 90% of it is stored in bone and teeth together with phosphorus and magnesium. Blood and lymph also carry a significant amount.
Plant sources of calcium: pulses, sesame, soybean, cauliflower, carrot, spinach, kochu leaf, red amaranth and kalmi leaf. Animal sources: milk, eggs, small fish and dry fish.
Calcium makes bone and teeth strong. It also helps blood circulation, the proper contraction of the heart muscle, and the movement of nerve and muscle.
Without enough of it, children get rickets and aged women get osteomalacia. A baby's teeth come late and blood circulation is disturbed.
3. Phosphorus, then telling the three apart
In amount, phosphorus comes right after calcium in the body. It collects in bone, liver and plasma. It helps form nucleic acid and nucleoprotein, and it takes part in producing energy through carbohydrate metabolism.
Plant sources of phosphorus: cereals, beans, peanuts and nuts. Animal sources: eggs, milk, fish and meat.
Like calcium, phosphorus mainly builds bone and teeth. Its deficiency brings osteoporosis, rickets and dental caries. If the food has enough protein and calcium, phosphorus deficiency does not occur.
The jobs and deficiency diseases of the three minerals are easy to mix up. Pick up a chip, then drop it into the right mineral's box.
Which mineral is it?
4. Water, and the body's balance
Water makes up 60-75% of your total body weight. It is essential for building blood, muscle, nerve, teeth and bone.
In the body water works as a solvent and helps digestion and absorption. It carries toxic by-products of metabolism, such as urea and ammonia, out through urine and sweat. Through sweating and evaporation it also keeps the body cool.
Water comes from drinks (water, tea, milk, coffee, juice) and from food (vegetables, fruit). When intake equals release, the body stays in balance. An adult should drink 2-3 litres of water a day. Drag the handles and watch the balance.
Daily water balance
The picture is a model of the idea, not a measurement.
Hot weather and hard labour leave the body short of water, so you must drink more. Uncontrolled diabetes also causes a shortage, through repeated urination.
A shortage of water brings severe thirst, blocked blood circulation and shrunken skin; nerve and muscle weaken. The acid-alkali balance is lost and acidosis sets in. A 10% loss of body water causes fainting, and can even cause death.
After excessive vomiting and diarrhoea, water and salt leave the body and the patient needs saline. If there is no oral saline at home, you can make it by the book's method. Go through the steps one at a time.
Saline at home
After excessive vomiting and diarrhoea have drained water and salt. If there is no oral saline at home, mix the three things below.
The first ingredient.
The second ingredient.
Let it cool to room temperature. Then mix all three together.
5. Roughage, undigested but needed
Roughage, or fibre, comes mainly from plants: whole seeds, pulses, potato, fruits with their peel and vegetables. Dry fruit, cumin, coriander and peas hold a lot of it too. Roughage is mainly the cellulose of the plant cell wall. It supplies no nutrient and is not digested; it simply passes through the intestine.
It still matters. Roughage absorbs water and adds bulk to the stool, so it helps digestion and clears out undigested food. It lowers extra body fat and the urge to feel hungry again and again. It also protects against constipation, heart disease and diabetes.
We should eat 20-30 grams of fibre food every day. Vegetables and fruits supply it.
Roughage on two cards
6. Check yourself
Three questions, straight from this note.
Question 1
Which mineral helps in the formation of haemoglobin?
Think a little before the second.
Question 2
Sources of iron are-
i. egg
ii. meat
iii. cheese
Last, one more to test yourself.
Question 3
Hasan is 30 years old. His weight is 65 kg. Lately his eyes are turning pale. He suffers from weakness, dizziness, palpitation and many other problems. What kind of food should Hasan take?
The whole note on seven cards.
Seven cards
Source: Science, Classes 9-10 (NCTB), Chapter 1 “Healthy Life, Better Living”, section 1.1.