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Nutrition — Practice Questions flashcards

6 of 40 questions free to study here · 13 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys

Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, on labels, digestion, macronutrients, energy calculations, vitamins, minerals, fluids, life-cycle nutrition and food safety.

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

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  1. A public health team wants to find out what share of adults in a national survey have an inadequate usual intake of vitamin C. Against which reference value should each person's usual intake be compared?

    A) Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)
    B) Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
    C) Adequate Intake (AI)
    D) Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
    A) Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)

    The EAR meets the needs of half the people in a group, so the share whose usual intake falls below it estimates how many fall short. The RDA is set high enough to cover nearly everyone, so it is the goal for an individual rather than the yardstick for a group.
    Dietary Standards and Labels
  2. Lactase acts on its substrate at the intestinal brush border. Which two monosaccharides does this reaction release?

    A) Two glucose molecules
    B) Galactose and fructose
    C) Glucose and fructose
    D) Glucose and galactose
    D) Glucose and galactose

    Lactose is glucose plus galactose. Glucose plus fructose is sucrose, split by sucrase, and two glucose units make maltose, split by maltase.
    Carbohydrates
  3. A snack contains 10 g of fat, 25 g of carbohydrate and 5 g of protein. How many kilocalories does it provide?

    A) 210 kcal
    B) 360 kcal
    C) 190 kcal
    D) 160 kcal
    A) 210 kcal

    Fat gives 9 kcal/g and carbohydrate and protein give 4 kcal/g: 10 × 9 + 25 × 4 + 5 × 4 = 90 + 100 + 20 = 210 kcal. Counting every gram at 4 kcal (160) misses fat's higher energy density.
    Energy Balance
  4. In a community that relies heavily on corn that has not been treated with alkali, people develop dermatitis, diarrhea and dementia. Deficiency of which vitamin is most likely?

    A) Niacin
    B) Riboflavin
    C) Vitamin C
    D) Thiamin
    A) Niacin

    Untreated corn holds its niacin in a bound, largely unavailable form and is low in tryptophan, from which the body can make niacin, so pellagra results. Thiamin deficiency causes beriberi, with neuropathy or heart failure rather than dermatitis.
    Water-Soluble Vitamins
  5. Why does oral rehydration solution for diarrhea contain glucose as well as sodium?

    A) Glucose kills the bacteria that cause secretory diarrhea
    B) Glucose and sodium enter gut cells together, and water follows
    C) Glucose raises blood sugar, which slows intestinal transit
    D) Glucose stops the gut from secreting sodium into the stool
    B) Glucose and sodium enter gut cells together, and water follows

    The SGLT1 transporter carries sodium and glucose into intestinal cells together, and water follows by osmosis. This transporter keeps working even in secretory diarrhea such as cholera, so salt plus sugar rehydrates far better than either alone.
    Water and Electrolytes
  6. Ham left at room temperature for several hours is reheated thoroughly, yet within a few hours diners develop vomiting and cramps. Staphylococcus aureus is suspected. Why did reheating not make the ham safe?

    A) It keeps multiplying at refrigerator temperatures
    B) Its spores survive heating and germinate in the gut
    C) The bacteria had already made a heat-stable toxin
    D) Reheating spread surface bacteria through the meat
    C) The bacteria had already made a heat-stable toxin

    S. aureus releases a heat-stable enterotoxin, so cooking kills the bacteria but leaves the preformed toxin, which is why symptoms start within hours. S. aureus does not form spores; heat-resistant spores belong to bacteria such as Clostridium species.
    Food Safety

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About these cards

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.
  • Original questions written for this deck; no official, textbook or question-bank items were copied. Supplement and medication amounts are deliberately omitted, and nothing here is personal diet or treatment advice.

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