The Importance of Energy Balance for People - Assignment Example

  At the point, one should recall the significance of digestion where nutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates undergo simplification from being large molecular units into tiny particles that a human body can absorb via the bloodstream. Hence, hydrolyzing protein means breaking it into its most basic units called the “amino acids” through an aqueous medium with the help of enzymes which act to catalyze or speed up the hydrolytic process. Enzymes themselves are made of protein constituents which serve as biological catalysts that increase the rate of reaction (Ophardt, 2003).

   In food, the energy (in calories) is measured by means of a device called the ‘bomb calorimeter’ which subjects the food to combustion so that it burns with oxygen at a certain pressure. The heat generated is then analyzed in terms of calorific content originating from carbohydrates, protein, fats, and the rest of the food’s nutritional composition (Niedziocha, 2011). Individuals in the realm of over-nutrition expend energy much higher than the right or allowable amount whereas those experiencing under-nutrition consume energy in quantities below normal.

Either case tends to cause metabolic activity that brings about diseases such as cancer, AIDS, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, burns, and cachexia that is why a balanced expenditure of energy must be maintained on a regular basis (Pi-Sunyer, 2000). Factors besides energy affect one’s determination of an ideal weight so at any rate, however, energy consumption ought to account for values within the range of a healthy weight.