components of Food

Components of Food

In Chapter 1, we made lists of the food items that we eat. We also identified food items eaten in different parts of India and marked these on its map. A meal could consist of chapati, dal and brinjal curry. Another may be rice, sambar and a vegetable preparation of lady’s finger (bhindi). Yet another meal could be appam, fish curry and vegetables. curd, butter milk and pickles. Some examples of meals from different regions are given in Table 2.1. Select food items you depicted on the map in Chapter 1. Add some more meals to this list and enter these in Table 2.1. Sometimes, we may not really have all this variety in our meals. If we are travelling, we may eat whatever is available on the way. It may not be possible for some of us, to eat such a variety of items, most of the time. There must be some reason though, why meals usually consist of such a distribution. Do you think that our body needs different kinds of food for some special purpose?

2.1 WHAT DO DIFFERENT FOOD ITEMS CONTAIN?

We know that each dish is usually made up of one or more ingredients, which we get from plants or animals. These ingredients contain some components that are needed by our body. These components are called nutrients. The major nutrients in our food are named carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. In addition, food contains dietary fibres and water which are also needed by our body. Do all foods contain all these nutrients? With some simple methods we can test whether cooked food or a raw ingredient contains one or more of these nutrients. The tests for presence of carbohydrates, proteins and fats are simpler to do as compared to the tests for other nutrients. Let us do these tests and record all our observations in Table 2.2. For carrying out these tests, you will need solutions of iodine, copper sulphate and caustic soda. You will als need a few test tubes and a dropper. Try these tests on cooked food items as well as raw materials. Table 2.2 shows you a way to record the observations from these tests. Some food items aregiven in this table. You can conduct the  tests either with these or any other available food items. Do these tests carefully and do not try to eat or taste any chemicals. If the required solutions are not available in readymade form, your teacher can prepare them as follows. Let us begin by testing different food items to see if they contain carbohydrates. There are man types of carbohydrates. The main carbohydrates found in our food are in A blue-black colour indicates that it contains starch. Repeat this test with other food items to find out which of these contain starch. Enter all your observations in Table 2.2.

Exercises 

1. Name the major nutrients in our food.

2. Name the following:

(a) The nutrients which mainly give energy to our body.

(b) The nutrients that are needed for the growth and maintenance of our body.

(c) A vitamin required for maintaining good eyesight.

(d) A mineral that is required for keeping our bones healthy.

3. Name two foods each rich in:

(a) Fats

(b) Starch

(c) Dietary fibre

(d) Protein

4. Tick (√) the statements that are correct.

(a) By eating rice alone, we can fulfill nutritional requirement of our body. ( )

(b) Deficiency diseases can be prevented by eating a balanced diet. ( )

(c) Balanced diet for the body should contain a variety of food items. ( )

(d) Meat alone is sufficient to provide all nutrients to the body. ( )

5. Fill in the blanks.

(a) ______________ is caused by deficiency of Vitamin D.

(b) Deficiency of ______________ causes a disease known as beri-beri.

(c) Deficiency of Vitamin C causes a disease known as ______________.

(d) Night blindness is caused due to deficiency of ____________ in our food.