What are nutrients?

Article created in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation.

Nutrients are substances found in food that carry out certain jobs in the body.

We need different nutrients to keep us healthy. We get nutrients from foods and drinks.

An illustrated cartoon girl with orange hair wearing safety goggles, green overalls and a pink top.

The different types of nutrients are:

carbohydrate
fibre
protein
fat
vitamins
minerals

What do nutrients do?

Nutrients play an important role in keeping our bodies healthy.

Read on to learn more about which foods contain different nutrients and what they do to keep us healthy.

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Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is found in foods like potatoes, bread, rice and pasta. Carbohydrate provides energy.
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Fibre
Fibre is found in foods like wholegrain breakfast cereal, wholemeal bread, brown rice, vegetables, fruit, beans and lentils. Fibre helps to keep the digestive system healthy.
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Protein
Protein is found in foods like beans, lentils, chickpeas, fish, eggs and meat. Protein can also come from milk, cheese and yoghurt. Protein is needed for the growth and repair of muscles.
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Fat
We only need a small amount of fat to keep us healthy. There are two main types of fat: unsaturated and saturated fat. Unsaturated fat is healthier for us and it is mostly found in lower fat spreads and oils from plants, such as sunflower oil or olive oil. Saturated fat is found in foods like butter and lard. Fat helps the body to absorb some vitamins.
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Vitamins
There are lots of different vitamins, such as vitamin A, C, D and E. Different vitamins do different jobs in the body. Vitamin C is found in fruit and vegetables, such as oranges, strawberries, red peppers and broccoli. Vitamin C helps wounds to heal.
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Minerals
There are lots of different minerals, such as calcium, iron and zinc. Different minerals do different jobs in the body. Calcium can be found in foods like milk, cheese and yoghurt. Calcium can also be found in dairy alternatives, such as soya drinks if they have calcium added. Calcium helps to build strong bones and teeth.

Quiz: Match the nutrient to its job

Can you remember what all the nutrients do? Let's find out!

Amounts of nutrients

An orange tree full of oranges against a sunny blue sky — Image caption,
Oranges are a source of Vitamin C.

Different types of foods provide nutrients in different amounts. Some foods provide more of certain nutrients than others.

For example, oranges are good at providing vitamin C, so they are called a ‘source’ of vitamin C.

They also provide 0.8g of protein per 100g.

However, because this is such a small amount compared to other foods, it means that oranges are not called a ‘source’ of protein.

The table below shows how much of each nutrient can be found in 100g of oranges.

Nutrient	Oranges per 100g
Carbohydrate	8.2g
Fibre	1.2g
Protein	0.8g
Fat	0.2g
Vitamin C (vitamins)	52mg
Calcium (minerals)	24mg

Eatwell Guide

We can’t get all the nutrients we need from one food. We need to eat a variety of different foods to get all the nutrients we need.

The Eatwell Guide shows us that we need:

potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates – some starchy food with every meal.
fruit and vegetables – at least five portions a day.
beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins – some protein foods every day.
dairy and alternatives – some foods like milk, cheese and yoghurt every day.
oils and spreads – just a small amount of foods like these.
about 6-8 drinks a day.

Following the Eatwell Guide can help you to get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy.

Read What is healthy eating? to find out more about the Eatwell Guide.

The Eatwell Guide, which is a circle split into five separate segments of different sizes. There is a large green segment called 'Fruit and vegetables' which shows a selection of fruit and vegetables. There is a large yellow segment called 'Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates' with pictures of the food types mentioned, There is a small purple segment called 'Oils and spreads' with images of the named foods. There is a medium-sized blue segment called 'Dairy and alternatives' with images of milk, cheese, yoghurt and soy milk. There is a medium-sized pink segment called 'Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins' with images of the named food types. There is also a glass of water with the label '6-8 glasses a day'. — Image caption,
Source: This resource has been adapted from the UK government’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

Key words

Digestive system	The parts of the body that help to break down food so that the body can get energy and nutrients from it.
Saturated fat	A type of fat that mostly comes from animals.
Unsaturated fat	A type of fat that mostly comes from plants.
Dairy alternatives	Foods and drinks that are not made from milk, but contain calcium and sometimes other added vitamins and minerals. They can be used as a substitute for dairy foods like milk and yoghurt.

Quiz: Know your nutrients

It is time to test your nutrients knowledge with this quiz.