Nutrition, Human

human nutrition, process by which substances in food are transformed into body tissues and provide energy for the full range of physical and mental activities that make up human life.

The study of human nutrition is interdisciplinary in character, involving not only physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology but also fields such as psychology and anthropology, which explore the influence of attitudes, beliefs, preferences, and cultural traditions on food choices. Human nutrition further touches on economics and political science as the world community recognizes and responds to the suffering and death caused by malnutrition. The ultimate goal of nutritional science is to promote optimal health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer as well as to prevent classic nutritional deficiency diseases such as kwashiorkor and pellagra.

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This article covers the major issues of human nutrition, such as energy generation and balance, essential nutrients, and recommended dietary guidelines. For a full-length treatment of health problems created by failure in nutrition, see nutritional disease. The utilization of food materials by all living things is described in nutrition, and specific biochemical processes are described in metabolism.