Energy nutrient equivalents

In defining the nutritional equivalence of dairy foods, FDA considered only 11 to 15 nutrients for milk substitutes, 1 nutrient for cream substitutes, and 4 to 9 nutrients for cheese substitutes (FDA 1978). Yet, data from the Consumer and Food Economics Institute, USDA (1976), reveal that traditional milk, cream, and cheese contain an array of nutrients including protein, fat, carbohydrate, and at least 15 minerals and vitamins and 18 amino acids. Thus, under FDA s proposal (FDA 1978), which has been withdrawn (FDA 1983) but, as mentioned above, may in effect be applied, a substitute dairy product could be declared nutritionally equivalent to its traditional counterpart and yet (1) not contain all of the nutrients in the traditional food, or (2) contain some or all of these other nutrients but in lesser quantities, or (3) contain some of the nutrients such as sodium in excessive amounts, or (4) contain more or less energy (NDC 1983C). 

Substitute milk products may not be equivalent to cow s milk in terms of the quantity and in some cases the quality of fat, carbohydrate, vitamins, and minerals. Fat, carbohydrate, sodium, fiber, and energy, as well as the nutrients for which no U.S. RDA has been established, were not considered by FDA in its proposed definition of nutritional equivalency. In terms of quality, coconut oil, the primary and in most instances the sole fat used in substitute as well as imitation milk products, is a more saturated fat than milk fat and lacks linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. Thus, a substitute dairy product formulated with hydrogenated coconut oil and sucrose and containing more so-... 

The response to a diet may change when the proportions of energy supplied as carbohydrates and fat are varied. For example, an animal may increase its consumption of food when carbohydrates are substituted in place of an equal weight of fat. This increase is due to the animaTs desire to satisfy its energy requirement. The increase in food consumption results in increases in the intake of protein, vitamins, and minerals, and thus their possible oversupply. A solution to the problem of comparing physiological responses to diets of different carbohydrate/fat ratios is available. The equivalent of 1 kj of carbohydrate can be omitted from the diet and replaced by 1 kJ of fat plus nonnutritive fiber, where the weights of the carbohydrate and fat -i- fiber are identical. This type of substitution maintains the nutrient density of all the other nutrients (Harper, 1986). 

Animals do not normally obtain energy exclusively from either carbohydrate or fat. They oxidise a mixture of these (and protein). Consequently, in order to apply the appropriate thermal equivalent, it is necessary to know how much of the oxygen is used for oxidation of each nutrient. The proportions are calculated from what is known as the respiratory quotient (RQ).This is the ratio between the volume of carbon... 

The term PHA (Figure 9.1) is applied to a family of polyesters accumulated by various bacteria, deposited in the cells in the form of highly refractive granules of carbon reserve, energy and reducing equivalents. " In general, PHA synthesis by bacteria in a nutrient medium occurs when there is an excess of carbon source and a lack of one necessary nutrient at least (N, P, Mg, Fe etc.) for cell multiplication. ... 

All cells require energy to live and reproduce. They get the energy they need from nutrients that they convert into a chemically useful form. The most important repository of chemical energy is adenosine 5 -triphosphate (ATP). The importance of ATP to biological reactions is reflected in its turnover rate in humans each day, a person uses an amount of ATP equivalent to his or her body weight. 

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