Nutrition

Nutrition is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion.[1]

The diet of an organism is what it eats, which is largely determined by the availability, the processing and palatability of foods. A healthy diet includes preparation of food and storage methods that preserve nutrients from oxidation, heat or leaching, and that reduce risk of foodborne illness.

A poor diet can cause deficiency diseases such as blindness, anemia, scurvy, preterm birth, stillbirth and cretinism;[2] health-threatening conditions like obesity[3][4] and metabolic syndrome;[5] and such common chronic systemic diseases as cardiovascular disease,[6] diabetes,[7][8] and osteoporosis.[9][10][11] A poor diet can cause the wasting of kwashiorkor in acute cases, and the stunting of marasmus in chronic cases of malnutrition.[2]