|
|
Nutrients
|
|
|
|
|
Like all living creatures, companion animals require food
in order to stay alive and healthy. Food may be defined as any solid or liquid
which, when ingested, can supply any or all of the following:
- energy-giving materials from which the body can produce
movement, heat or other forms of energy
- materials for growth, repair or reproduction
- substances necessary to initiate or regulate the processes
involved in the first two categories
The components of food which have these functions are called nutrients
and the foods or food mixtures which are actually eaten are referred to as
the diet. Any nutrient which is required by the animal and cannot be
synthesised in the body is called an essential nutrient and a dietary
source must be provided.
If any essential nutrient is lacking or present in insufficient
quantity in the diet, then the diet, as a whole, must be considered inadequate.
Long term feeding of a nutritionally inadequate diet can result in sub-optimal
performance or overt disease.
In this first learning module, we will examine each of the basic nutrients in
turn, and looking at their structure and functions in the body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
