The day-to-day food habits or the food one consumes daily ends up being that particular person’s diet. This human diet is generally divided into seven nutritional groups. They are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, water and fibre. These groups include about 50 nutritional items. They are necessary for good health and growth in which each of these nutrients plays an essential role in the functioning of the human body.
A number of nutrients required for good health vary from person to person. The factors affecting the nutrition level includes
- Gender.
- The person’s age.
- Overall health conditions.
Food Deficiency
A food deficiency is mainly caused when an individual does not get an abundant amount of the required nutrients in their daily diet which results in a dietary deficiency disease. Most of the dietary deficiency diseases are caused due to the deficiency of minerals, proteins, and vitamins.
Food deficiency diseases are mainly seen in the parts of undeveloped and developing countries. In a few parts of the world, people are too poor to buy protein-rich food. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are due to diets that lack some nutrients found in food components including vegetables, fruit, meat, cereals, pulses, milk, and milk products, etc.
Our body requires different types of essential nutrients for normal growth development and preventing diseases. These essential nutrients include both micronutrients and macronutrients. Micronutrients are the group of nutrients which are required in trace amounts as it cannot be produced naturally by our body. the improper supplements of these micronutrients lead to a variety of deficiency diseases.
Here is the list of all essential nutrients, their sources, and their deficiency.
| Nutrients | Food Sources | Deficiency Diseases |
| Carbohydrates | Cereal, whole grains, legumes, potatoes, cheese, pasta, etc. | Hypoglycaemia and Ketoacidosis. |
| Proteins | Almonds, eggs, chicken, yoghurt, cottage cheese, oats, seafood, beans and pulses, milk and other dairy products. | Kwashiorkor and Marasmus. |
| Iodine | Eggs, nuts, bread, seaweed, dairy products, and iodized table salt. | Goitre, Anaemia, Hypothyroidism. |
| Calcium | Dates, spinach, almonds, soybeans eggs, beans, lentils milk, and all other dairy products. | Muscle spasms, low bone density, and Hypocalcaemia. |
| Sodium | Onions, cabbage, sweet potato, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, eggs and milk | Gastrointestinal Distress, the Improper functioning of nerves and muscles. |
| Phosphorous | Milk, yoghurt, soy products, beans, whole grain food products, potatoes, peas, etc. | Weak bones and muscles, joint pains, nervous system disorders, obesity, etc. |
| Vitamin – A | Green leafy vegetables, yellow coloured fruits, milk, nuts, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, etc. |  Night Blindness and other vision problems. |
| Vitamin -B | Whole-grain foods, legumes eggs, green leafy vegetables milk and milk products, etc. | Beriberi. |
| Vitamin -C | Citrus fruits, broccoli, milk, and chestnuts. | Gum bleeding and Scurvy. |
| Vitamin -D | Fish, liver, egg yolks, cheese, citrus fruit juices, soy milk, cereals, etc. | Improper growth of bones and Rickets. |
| Vitamin -E | Potatoes, turnip, pumpkin, avocado, guava, olives, mango, olives, milk, nuts, seeds etc. | Heart problems and Haemolysis. |
| Vitamin -K | Tomatoes, chestnuts, broccoli, beef, cashew nuts, lamb, mangoes, etc. | Haemorrhage. |
Learn more in detail about Food, types of nutrients, balanced diet, functions and other related topics at BYJU’S Biology.
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