Nutrition, Balanced Diet and Food Preservation
Nutrition, Balanced Diet and Food Preservation tests nutrients, food groups, deficiency signs, balanced meals and safe preservation.
Core rules
- Macronutrients: carbohydrates for energy, proteins for growth and repair, fats for energy and fat-soluble vitamins.
- Micronutrients: vitamins and minerals; fibre aids digestion; water is essential.
- Balanced diet: variety from cereals, pulses, milk, fruits and vegetables, fats and sugars in moderation; match portion to age and activity.
- Deficiency signs: iron deficiency causes anaemia; vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness; iodine deficiency causes goitre; vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy.
- Preservation: drying, salting, sugaring, pickling, freezing, canning and jam-making work by removing moisture, lowering pH, lowering temperature or excluding oxygen.
- Safety: cool cooked food before refrigerating, label with date, use FIFO, reject bulging cans.
Worked example
A plate has rice, dal, palak sabzi, curd and orange. Reasoning: rice gives carbohydrate, dal gives protein, palak gives iron and folate, curd gives calcium, orange gives vitamin C. Vitamin C improves iron absorption from palak, so the combination is stronger than rice and dal alone.
Traps
Overcooking vegetables and discarding the water; thinking costly food is always balanced; adding salt to pickles without measuring; freezing in thick containers; refreezing thawed food.