Two Types of Nutrients
The purpose of digestion is to assimilate nutrients.
Major nutrients break down into two categories.
- Macronutrients:
These consist of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Macronutrients are sources of energy (provide calories). Macronutrients break down into smaller components during the digestive process. These smaller parts are called micronutrients.
- Micronutrients:
These are the vitamins and minerals. Micronutrients are not sources of energy (do not contain calories). Vitamins and minerals must be provided to the body from the food we eat (or in modern times by taking nutritional supplements). In other words, vitamins and minerals are sub-components of the macronutrients. While vitamins and minerals do not contain calories themselves, they act as important co-factors or co-enzymes to assist in release of energy from the macronutrients as well as in transportation and other unique and important metabolic functions.