Preface

This account of human nutrtion describes the basic facts in an clear andsimple way without the use of complicated details or much specialistlanguage. In the few places where more than this is necessary, elementaryexplanation are given. I believe that any averagely intelligent person willreadily gain a good knowledge of human nutrition from this book, which willalso be of value to students, teachers, nurses, doctors and healthprefessionals.

I would like to thank professors Anthony Angel and peter W. Andrews of theDepartment of Biomedical Scienc, University of shefiled, for the verygenerous facilities they provided during the several years it has taken to writethis book.Greald wiscman All the nenrgy needed for growth and repair of thebook. for ,usular activity of all kinds and for all the work done by cells comesfrom the metabolism of carbohydrate, fat, proten and alcohol. The numeriusother items of the diet, even though essenital for other reasons, do notprovide energy, although many are directly involved in the chemical reactionwhich vield enery (If the diet is adequate and properly balanced the energynormally comes chilfly from carbohydrate and fat, while most of the proteinis used for cell growth and repair. When there is not enough carbohydrateand fat, the protein is used for energy and is then not availabe for otherpurpoes. As dietary protein is generally less abundat than carbohydrate andfat and usually more expensive, using protein for energy is comparativelywastclit. In some communitics, however, there may be plentiful protein and itmay then be eaten in sufficient quantity to be used for both cell building andfor energy.