Nutritional science

Study of food substances in relation to life processes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Nutritional science" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Nutritional science (also nutrition science, sometimes short nutrition, dated trophology[1]) is the science that studies the physiological process of nutrition (primarily human nutrition), interpreting the nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism.[2]

## History[edit]

Before nutritional science emerged as an independent study disciplines, mainly chemists worked in this area. The chemical composition of food was examined. Macronutrients, especially protein, fat and carbohydrates, have been the focus components of the study of (human) nutrition since the 19th century. Until the discovery of vitamins and vital substances, the quality of nutrition was measured exclusively by the intake of nutritional energy.

A 1940s lithograph produced by the UK Ministry of Food illustrating the Vitamin C content of various foods

The early years of the 20th century were summarized by Kenneth John Carpenter in his Short History of Nutritional Science as "the vitamin era".[3] The first vitamin was isolated and chemically defined in 1926 (thiamine). The isolation of vitamin C followed in 1932 and its effects on health, the protection against scurvy, was scientifically documented for the first time.[4]

At the instigation of the British physiologist John Yudkin at the University of London, the degrees Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in nutritional science were established in the 1950s.[5]

Nutritional science as a separate discipline was institutionalized in Germany in November 1956 when Hans-Diedrich Cremer was appointed to the chair for human nutrition in Giessen. The Institute for Nutritional Science was initially located at the Academy for Medical Research and Further Education, which was transferred to the Faculty of Human Medicine when the Justus Liebig University was reopened. Over time, seven other universities with similar institutions followed in Germany.[6]

From the 1950s to 1970s, a focus of nutritional science was on dietary fat and sugar. From the 1970s to the 1990s, attention was put on diet-related chronic diseases and supplementation.[4]

## Distinction[edit]

Nutritional science is often combined with food science (nutrition and food science).

Trophology is a term used globally for nutritional science in other languages, in English the term is dated. Today, it is partly still used for the approach of food combining that advocates specific combinations (or advises against certain combinations) of food. Ecotrophology is a branch of nutritional science concerned with everyday practice and elements from household management that is primarily studied in Germany.

## Academic studies and education[edit]

Nutritional science as a subject is taught at universities around the world. At the beginning of the programs, the basic subjects of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics are part of the curriculum. Later, a focus is on inorganic chemistry, functional biology, biochemistry and genetics. At most universities, students can specialize in certain areas, this involves subjects such as special food chemistry, nutritional physiology, nutritional epidemiology, food law and nutritional medicine. Students who are more interested in the economic aspect usually specialize in the field of food economics. Laboratory exercises are also on the curriculum at most universities.

## Notable nutritional scientists[edit]

* John Yudkin (1910–1995), who established the first degree in nutritional science in any European university
* Hans Adalbert Schweigart (1900–1972), the creator of the term vital substances
* Hans Konrad Biesalski (* 1949)
* Hanni Rützler (* 1962)

## Scientific journals[edit]

* Nutrition
* Journal of Nutritional Science, published on behalf of The Nutrition Society
* Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, edited by The Vitamin Society of Japan and Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science, published by the Center for Academic Publications Japan
* Food & Nutrition Research, published by the Swedish Nutrition Foundation
* European Journal of Nutrition, published by Springer Science+Business Media in Germany
* Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

## References[edit]

1. ^ trophology. (n.d.) Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. Online: [1] (retrieved 8 March 2021)
2. ^ "Joint Collection Development Policy: Human Nutrition and Food". US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
3. ^ Kenneth J. Carpenter (1 October 2003): A Short History of Nutritional Science: Part 3 (1912–1944). In: The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 133, Issue 10, October 2003, pp. 3023–3032, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.10.3023
4. ^ a b Dariush Mozaffarian, Irwin Rosenberg Ricardo Uauy (13 June 2018): History of modern nutrition science—implications for current research, dietary guidelines, and food policy. In: BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2392
5. ^ Davies, Louise (24 July 1995). "Obituary: John Yudkin", The Independent.
6. ^ Gertrud Rehner (1 June 2007): 50 Jahre Institut für Ernährungswissenschaft in Gießen – Ein Rückblick. In: Der Präsident der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (Hrsg.): Spiegel der Forschung, pp. 26–30 (in German)

## External links[edit]

* Society of Nutrition and Food Science

* v
* t
* e

Food science

General|

* Allergy
* Engineering
* Microbiology
* Nutrition
* Diet
* clinical
* Processing
* Processing aids
* Psychology
* Quality
* Sensory analysis
* Discrimination testing
* Rheology
* Storage
* Technology

* v
* t
* e

Food chemistry

* Additives
* Carbohydrates
* Coloring
* Enzymes
* Essential fatty acids
* Flavors
* Fortification
* Lipids
* "Minerals" (Chemical elements)
* Proteins
* Vitamins
* Water

* v
* t
* e

Food preservation

* Biopreservation
* Canning
* Cold chain
* Curing
* Drying
* Fermentation
* Freeze-drying
* Freezing
* Hurdle technology
* Irradiation
* Jamming
* Jellying
* Jugging
* Modified atmosphere
* Pascalization
* Pickling
* Potting
* Confit
* Potjevleesch
* Salting
* Smoking
* Sugaring
* Tyndallization
* Vacuum packing

* Food portal
* Category: Food preservation

Food industry|

* Manufacturing
* Packaging
* Marketing
* Foodservice
* Fortification

* v
* t
* e

Consumer food safety

Adulterants, food contaminants|

* 3-MCPD
* Aldicarb
* Antibiotic use in livestock
* Cyanide
* Formaldehyde
* HGH controversies
* Lead poisoning
* Melamine
* Mercury in fish
* Sudan I

Food additives|

* Flavorings
* Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
* Salt
* Sugar
* High-fructose corn syrup

Intestinal parasites, parasitic disease|

* Amoebiasis
* Anisakiasis
* Cryptosporidiosis
* Cyclosporiasis
* Diphyllobothriasis
* Enterobiasis
* Fasciolopsiasis
* Fasciolosis
* Giardiasis
* Gnathostomiasis
* Paragonimiasis
* Toxocariasis
* Toxoplasmosis
* Trichinosis
* Trichuriasis

Microorganisms|

* Botulism
* Campylobacter jejuni
* Clostridium perfringens
* Cronobacter
* Enterovirus
* Escherichia coli O104:H4
* Escherichia coli O157:H7
* Hepatitis A
* Hepatitis E
* Listeria
* Norovirus
* Rotavirus
* Salmonella
* Vibrio cholerae

Pesticides|

* Chlorpyrifos
* DDT
* Lindane
* Malathion
* Methamidophos

Preservatives|

* Benzoic acid
* Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)
* Sodium benzoate

Sugar substitutes|

* Acesulfame potassium
* Aspartame
* controversy
* Saccharin
* Sodium cyclamate
* Sorbitol
* Sucralose

Toxins, poisons, environment pollution|

* Aflatoxin
* Arsenic contamination of groundwater
* Benzene in soft drinks
* Bisphenol A
* Dieldrin
* Diethylstilbestrol
* Dioxin
* Mycotoxins
* Nonylphenol
* Shellfish poisoning

Food processing|

* 4-Hydroxynonenal
* Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein
* Acrylamide
* Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease
* Food additives
* Food irradiation
* Heterocyclic amines
* Modified starch
* Nitrosamines
* Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
* Shortening
* Trans fat
* Water fluoridation controversy

Food contamination incidents|

* Devon colic
* Swill milk scandal
* Esing Bakery incident
* 1858 Bradford sweets poisoning
* 1900 English beer poisoning
* Morinaga Milk arsenic poisoning incident
* Minamata disease
* 1971 Iraq poison grain disaster
* Toxic oil syndrome
* 1985 Austrian diethylene glycol wine scandal
* United Kingdom BSE outbreak
* Australian meat substitution scandal
* Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak
* 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak
* 2006 North American E. coli outbreaks
* ICA meat repackaging controversy
* 2008 Canada listeriosis outbreak
* 2008 Chinese milk scandal
* 2008 Irish pork crisis
* 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak
* 2011 Germany E. coli outbreak
* 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak
* Bihar school meal poisoning
* 2013 horse meat scandal
* 2015 Mozambique funeral beer poisoning
* 2017 Brazil Operation Weak Meat
* 2017–2018 South African listeriosis outbreak
* 2018 Australian strawberry contamination
* Food safety incidents in China
* Food safety incidents in Taiwan
* Foodborne illness
* outbreaks
* death toll
* United States

Regulation, standards, watchdogs|

* Acceptable daily intake
* E number
* Food labeling regulations
* Food libel laws
* Food safety in Australia
* International Food Safety Network
* ISO 22000
* Nutrition facts label
* Organic certification
* Quality Assurance International
* United Kingdom food information regulations

Institutions|

* Centre for Food Safety (Hong Kong)
* European Food Safety Authority
* Food and Drug Administration
* Food Information and Control Agency (Spain)
* Food Standards Agency (United Kingdom)
* Institute for Food Safety and Health
* International Food Safety Network
* Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (South Korea)
* Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition

Related topics|

* Curing (food preservation)
* Food and drink prohibitions
* Food fraud
* Food marketing
* Food politics
* Food preservation
* Food quality
* Genetically modified food
* Conspiracy theories

* Food portal Drink portal
* Category
* Commons
* Cookbook
* WikiProject

* v
* t
* e

Artificial foods

Artificial fat substitutes|

* Olestra

Artificial protein substitutes|

* Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Artificial sugar substitutes|

* Acesulfame potassium
* Alitame
* Aspartame
* Aspartame-acesulfame salt
* Dulcin
* Glucin
* Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
* Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone
* Neotame
* NutraSweet
* Nutrinova
* Saccharin
* Sodium cyclamate
* Sucralose

Natural food substitutes|

* Cheese analogues
* Coffee substitutes
* Egg substitutes
* Meat analogues
* bacon
* list
* Milk substitutes
* Phyllodulcin
* Salt substitutes

Brands|

* Tang

Related topics|

* Food safety
* List of food additives

Food politics|

* Food power
* Food security
* Famine
* Malnutrition
* Overnutrition

Institutions|

* International Association for Food Protection
* Food and Drug Administration
* Food and Agriculture Organization
* National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
* National Food and Drug Authority

* v
* t
* e

Branches of biology

* Abiogenesis
* Aerobiology
* Agronomy
* Agrostology
* Anatomy
* Astrobiology
* Bacteriology
* Biochemistry
* Biogeography
* Biogeology
* Bioinformatics
* Biological engineering
* Biomechanics
* Biophysics
* Biosemiotics
* Biostatistics
* Biotechnology
* Botany
* Cell biology
* Cellular microbiology
* Chemical biology
* Chronobiology
* Cognitive biology
* Computational biology
* Conservation biology
* Cryobiology
* Cytogenetics
* Dendrology
* Developmental biology
* Ecological genetics
* Ecology
* Embryology
* Epidemiology
* Epigenetics
* Evolutionary biology
* Freshwater biology
* Generative biology
* Genetics
* Genomics
* Geobiology
* Gerontology
* Herpetology
* Histology
* Human biology
* Ichthyology
* Immunology
* Lipidology
* Mammalogy
* Marine biology
* Mathematical biology
* Microbiology
* Molecular biology
* Mycology
* Neontology
* Neuroscience
* Nutrition
* Ornithology
* Osteology
* Paleontology
* Parasitology
* Pathology
* Pharmacology
* Photobiology
* Phycology
* Phylogenetics
* Physiology
* Pomology
* Primatology
* Proteomics
* Protistology
* Quantum biology
* Relational biology
* Reproductive biology
* Sociobiology
* Structural biology
* Synthetic biology
* Systematics
* Systems biology
* Taxonomy
* Teratology
* Toxicology
* Virology
* Virophysics
* Xenobiology
* Zoology

See also|

* History of biology
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* Timeline of biology and organic chemistry

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany

Other|

* Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template