Essential nutrients are those that our cells require but cannot make, and thus they must be present in the diet. Only some amino acids and some fatty acids are essential. What does that suggest about extreme diets that eliminate fats or proteins? What does that suggest about our carbohydrate intake? Describe the typical American diet, in terms of relative amounts of ingested carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, and nucleic acids. Propose some explanations for why one of those is predominant.
What will be an ideal response?
Complete elimination of proteins or fats would eventually be fatal. Carbohydrates need not be consumed at all, from the standpoint of essential nutrients. In reality, however, a carbohydrate-free diet would cause metabolic problems because of consequences of manufacturing glucose from lipids and proteins, as described in Chapter 22 in the text. About half of the typical dietary intake is carbohydrate, with most of the remainder in the form of fats and proteins. Carbohydrates are the primary molecule in plant products, which makes up most of what we eat because of abundance and price.
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Fill in the blank(s) with correct word
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