Nutrition is a hot topic today because many people are focusing more on their health than in the past. Rather than focusing on what is missing in our diets, which was the focus of nutritionists (people who specialize in the study of nutrition) in the 1960s, the focus today is on avoiding too much fat or sugar and on the effects of unnatural substances, such as food coloring. Nutrition has the following meanings in the field of medicine:

1. All of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and uses food substances for proper and healthy body functioning. These processes include metabolism (a chemical process in the body by which food is broken down and changed to energy). They also include taking in food, digesting food, absorbing nutrients (healthy substances) in food, building up tissue in the body based on the passage of these healthy substances through the blood, and food excretion (releasing from the body as waste).

2. The study of the foods and liquids that are required for the human body to function normally and in a healthy manner. Nutrition also involves the study of how these foods and liquids are digested and how the nutrients (healthy substances) in these foods pass through the blood to build up tissue in the body. Such functions include growth, energy, activity, and reproduction.

3. The act or process of nourishing or being nourished. Nourish means to promote the growth of. Nutrition comes from the Latin word "nutrio" meaning "to nourish."

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