Components of Food

Class 6 Science · Chapter 3: Mindful Eating: A Path to a Healthy Body · NCERT Curiosity section 3.2

Learn

Food contains several nutrients, each with a job. Carbohydrates (rice, roti, potato, jaggery) and fats (ghee, oil, nuts) give energy. Proteins (dal, paneer, eggs, fish, soya) help the body grow and repair.

Vitamins and minerals are needed in small amounts but keep us healthy and protect us from disease. Vitamin A (carrot, papaya) for eyes, vitamin C (amla, guava) for healthy gums, vitamin D (sunlight!) and calcium (milk, ragi) for bones, iron (spinach, jaggery) for blood, iodine (iodised salt).

Dietary fibre (roughage) from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dals gives no nutrients, but helps food move smoothly through our body. Water carries nutrients, helps digestion, removes wastes and keeps us cool.

When a diet lacks a nutrient for a long time, we can get a deficiency disease: too little vitamin C → bleeding gums (scurvy); vitamin D → weak, bent bones (rickets); iodine → swelling in the neck (goitre); iron → tiredness (anaemia). Eating a variety of foods prevents them.

Explore: sort foods by their main job.

1. Energy-giving, body-building or protective?

Remember

• Carbohydrates and fats give energy; proteins build and repair; vitamins and minerals protect.
• Fibre and water are also needed. Lack of a nutrient over time causes a deficiency disease.

Quick check

Which food is rich in vitamin C?

1. Amla
2. Ghee
3. Rice
4. Sugar

Think about it

Sailors on long sea voyages long ago often got bleeding gums. Which food could they carry to stay healthy, and why?

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.