- What is food ?

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Food makes your body work, grow and repair itself. The kind of food you eat can affect the efficiency of
these processes. Body function and the food that sustains it is infinitely complex. Food is in fact one of
the most complicated sets of chemicals imaginable.

Getting to know which nutrients are in which foods can help you to understand something of this complex
relationship between your food and your body.

Chemicals in food

Food is composed of many different chemical substances - 'macronutrients' (major nutritional components
that are present in relatively large amounts, such as protein), 'micronutrients' (major nutritional
components that are present in relatively small amounts, such as vitamins), water, and roughage (dietary
fibre). Many other components can also be present in food (see Figure 1).

Food may contain colours (natural and synthetic), flavours, pharmacologically active substances (such as
caffeine, steroids, and salicylates, which chemically affect the body), natural toxicants (naturally occurring
poisons, such as cyanide), additives , and various contaminants (substances resulting from a
contaminated environment, such as pesticides). Even characteristic flavours such as those of oranges
and passionfruit can depend on the presence of a dozen or more chemicals.

The chemical nature of food is changed by storage, preservation and, especially, by cooking. Food
chemicals can also interact amongst themselves within the body. For example, the availability to the body
of iron from plant sources depends on the amount of vitamin C present in the food eaten. The way in
which carbohydrate is absorbed from the bowel depends to some extent on the presence of dietary fibre,
even though the fibre itself is not absorbed.

Physical form of food

Food is also more than just the chemicals it contains. Its physical characteristics are important. The size
of food particles can affect the extent to which nutrients are digested and made ready for absorption
by the body. For example, eating an intact apple has nutritional value different from drinking all the
same chemicals in an apple purée. Ground rice is more rapidly digested than unground rice. Nutrients
can be more easily absorbed from peanut butter (paste) than from peanuts eaten whole.

Acid or alkaline

The acidity and alkalinity of food are physical properties often thought to be important. In fact, they are
only important insofar as they might alter the rate of emptying of the stomach, digestion in the small bowel
and the acidity or alkalinity of the urine. Our bodies can cope with a wide range in food acidity and
alkalinity without much problem. Acid foods are generally sour while alkaline foods often have a slightly
soapy taste. The use of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can make foods alkaline. It can also cause
loss of vitamin C and contribute to our intake of sodium.