Basics of Human Nutrition – Introduction

If we are to make reasoned judgements on the interrelationship of beer and human health, then it is important that we consider the key elements of nutrition. Essentially our bodies require, in the correct balance, the key nutrients for healthy functioning and development. Additionally the diet should be devoid of materials that are damaging. In this context there may be components of our daily intake that, while not of themselves essential nutrients, may serve to counter negative impacts of adverse food constituents or materials present in the environment. For more detailed considerations of human nutrition the reader is referred to Boyle and Zyla (1996).

Our bodies need food to provide energy (calories) and the building blocks of our tissues (notably amino acids), for the most part taken into the body in the form of protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals and water. Our wellbeing is therefore incontrovertibly related to what we eat and drink, in terms of the content of the essentials, the form in which they are present in the food (e.g. carbohydrate in the form of bread acts beneficially in a way quite distinct from that carbohydrate that will overtly provide energy through digestion) and the presence or absence of molecules in the food that may be beneficial or damaging to the body.

If any individual component of the diet is present in excess or is insufficient in quantity, then the diet is out of balance.

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