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Nutrition — Core Concepts flashcards

10 of 79 cards free to study here · 13 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys

Dietary reference terms and label reading, digestion and absorption, the macronutrients, energy balance, vitamins and minerals by function, deficiency and toxicity, water and electrolytes, life-cycle nutrition and food safety.

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Learn deck · part of Nutrition · written against: Standard intro nutrition course; no individual dietary advice. Updated 2026-10-10.

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  1. What does the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) represent, and why is it not used as a personal intake goal?
    The EAR, one of the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes, is the daily intake estimated to meet the requirement of half the healthy people in a given life-stage and sex group. Because half the group would fall short at that level, it is used to assess the adequacy of a population's intake and as the basis for the RDA, not as an individual target.
    Dietary Standards and Labels
  2. What features of the small intestine make it, rather than the stomach, the main site of nutrient absorption?
    Its great length plus three layers of folding — circular folds, villi and microvilli (the brush border) — give it an enormous absorptive surface. It also receives pancreatic enzymes and bile, and its brush-border enzymes finish digestion right at the absorbing surface.
    Digestion and Absorption
  3. What is the structure of a triglyceride, and which bond holds it together?
    A triglyceride is one glycerol molecule linked to three fatty acids by ester bonds. Lipases cut those ester bonds during digestion, releasing free fatty acids and monoglycerides.
    Lipids
  4. What separates an essential amino acid from a conditionally essential one?
    An essential amino acid cannot be made by the body in sufficient amounts and must come from food. A conditionally essential one is normally made but must be eaten in certain states; tyrosine, for example, becomes essential in phenylketonuria because phenylalanine cannot be converted to it.
    Proteins
  5. How much energy does each gram of carbohydrate, protein, fat and alcohol supply?
    Carbohydrate 4 kcal, protein 4 kcal, fat 9 kcal, alcohol 7 kcal per gram. Fat's high energy density is why a small amount of oil adds many calories.
    Energy Balance
  6. Why does thiamin deficiency strike the nervous system and heart first?
    Thiamin's coenzyme form is required by pyruvate dehydrogenase and other enzymes that burn glucose for energy, and nerve and heart tissue depend heavily on that pathway. Deficiency causes beriberi (neuropathy, or heart failure in the "wet" form) and, in heavy alcohol use, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome.
    Water-Soluble Vitamins
  7. What separates a major mineral from a trace mineral, and which minerals are major?
    Major minerals are needed in amounts above about 100 mg a day: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur. Trace minerals such as iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper and manganese are needed in much smaller amounts but are no less essential.
    Major Minerals
  8. Why is heme iron absorbed better than nonheme iron, and what changes nonheme iron absorption?
    Heme iron from meat, fish and poultry is taken up intact by its own pathway and is little affected by the rest of the meal. Nonheme iron is improved by vitamin C (which keeps it in the ferrous form) and by meat in the meal, and reduced by phytates, tea and coffee polyphenols and calcium. Both are absorbed mainly in the duodenum.
    Trace Minerals
  9. Why is plain cow's milk unsuitable as an infant's main drink before 12 months of age?
    Cow's milk is low in iron and can cause slow, hidden blood loss from the gut in infants, leading to iron-deficiency anemia. Its high protein and mineral content also give a heavy solute load for immature kidneys, and it lacks enough essential fatty acids and vitamins.
    Life-Cycle Nutrition
  10. What is the temperature "danger zone" for food, and what is the time rule for perishable food?
    In USDA guidance, bacteria multiply most rapidly between 40 °F and 140 °F (4–60 °C). Perishable food should not sit in that range for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the air is above 90 °F / 32 °C).
    Food Safety

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Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • OpenStax Nutrition for Nurses and OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, consulted as references where applicable; no text copied.

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