Food and digestion - on a diet

In science, the word diet means 'what you eat'. Your food is a source of raw materials for your bodies. These raw materials are needed to make new substances for:

• Energy ( to help us move etc)
• Growth and repair
• Health

Many foods have nutrition information labels which tell you what is in them. If you look at the left-hand column of the table you will see the names of the different things in the food. Apart from energy, which is not a substance, the other parts of the food are all substances that your body needs.

Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals…