substance that an organism uses to live From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A nutrient is either a chemical element or compound used in an organism's metabolism or physiology. A nutrient is essential to an organism if it cannot be produced by the organism and must be obtained from a food source.[1]
This article deals with nutrition in animals, especially humans. Nutrition in plants, fungi, bacteria and archaea is not discussed here.
These three types of nutrients are often called macronutrients.[2]
The following table gives an idea of what elements are essential for humans:[3]
Periodic table highlighting dietary elements
H | He | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Li | Be | B | C | N | O | F | Ne | ||||||||||||
Na | Mg | Al | Si | P | S | Cl | Ar | ||||||||||||
K | Ca | Sc | Ti | V | Cr | Mn | Fe | Co | Ni | Cu | Zn | Ga | Ge | As | Se | Br | Kr | ||
Rb | Sr | Y | Zr | Nb | Mo | Tc | Ru | Rh | Pd | Ag | Cd | In | Sn | Sb | Te | I | Xe | ||
Cs | Ba | * | Lu | Hf | Ta | W | Re | Os | Ir | Pt | Au | Hg | Tl | Pb | Bi | Po | At | Rn | |
Fr | Ra | ** | Lr | Rf | Db | Sg | Bh | Hs | Mt | Ds | Rg | Cn | Uut | Fl | Uup | Lv | Uus | Uuo | |
* | La | Ce | Pr | Nd | Pm | Sm | Eu | Gd | Tb | Dy | Ho | Er | Tm | Yb | |||||
** | Ac | Th | Pa | U | Np | Pu | Am | Cm | Bk | Cf | Es | Fm | Md | No |
The four organic basic elements | Quantity elements | Essential trace elements | Possible structural or functional role in mammals |
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