Is it possible for a person to eat only one thing?

Some time ago, the epidemic broke out in many places across the country, and many people were deeply affected, either in quarantine or at home. So, if you only choose one thing to meet all your nutritional needs during this period of confinement, is it possible?

You may think that it is a fantasy to have one thing to meet all nutritional needs. But it is not. There is a professional term for this: complete nutrition. In other words, it can be the only source of nutrition for people to meet all their needs and maintain health. Let's answer this question for you today.

01. What is complete nutrition?

So, what is complete nutrition and what ingredients does complete nutrition contain?

In fact, this depends on the analysis of food. We eat from morning to night every day, and there are a variety of foods, which are cooked in a variety of ways, such as steaming, boiling, frying, and frying. In addition, people in different places have different diets, so it is actually difficult to simply look at the food itself. However, researchers look beyond the phenomenon to the essence, and move towards the interpretation of its ingredients. They have found the essential ingredients of these foods and classified them, including protein, fatty acids, sugars, vitamins, inorganic salts, dietary fiber and water, which are the seven nutrients mentioned by nutritionists.

02. Introduction to complete nutritional ingredients

Let’s introduce these ingredients one by one.

Protein: It is the basic substance that constitutes the cell structure. Whether it is the structure of the cytoskeleton or the signal molecules and channels on the surface of the cell membrane, they are all proteins. Cells also rely on proteins to connect and communicate with each other, not to mention that the units that perform functions within the cells themselves are basically proteins. For specific immunity, this is even more obvious. The molecules in specific immunity are the familiar antibodies, that is, immunoglobulins, such as IgG, IgM and other common antibodies. Another common immune component, interferon, is also a glycoprotein. Others such as complement and immune factors are also proteins.

Fat: It is also the basic substance that constitutes cells. For example, the basic structure of the cell membrane is the phospholipid bilayer. Fat is also involved in many cellular processes. Of course, for us, the most familiar thing is that fat is a source of energy for the human body and an important energy storage substance for the human body.

Carbohydrates: In many cases, we understand that carbohydrates are the energy source of the human body. For example, the most basic carbohydrate structural unit in our daily life is glucose. Whether it is starch or other carbohydrates, they are often converted into glucose to provide energy for the human body. In fact, sugar is also the basic substance of cells. Many structures in our body are also related to sugar, such as glycoproteins, which play an important role in cell signal transduction.

Vitamins: Vitamins are probably the most familiar nutrients. Unlike sugars, fats and proteins, vitamins themselves do not participate in tissue composition and are not a source of energy. Their main function is to regulate human metabolism, such as participating in the catalytic process of enzymes. Once they are deficient, metabolic abnormalities will occur and cause diseases. For example, lack of vitamin C will cause scurvy, and lack of vitamin D will cause bone problems.

Inorganic salts: They are important components of the human body. Many of them are components of the human body. For example, calcium is a component of bones, sodium and potassium are the source of electrical signals of our neurons, and iron is chelated with many structural proteins, such as hemoglobin. The human body needs to take in inorganic salts to maintain the body's electrolyte balance.

Dietary fiber: It has been identified as an essential nutrient for the human body in recent years. Although most dietary fiber is not absorbed by the human body, dietary fiber itself is very necessary for maintaining the function of the human digestive system. If dietary fiber is not consumed for a long time, it will not only cause abnormal digestive function, but also cause problems with the body's excretion.

Water: As the source of life, the importance of water cannot be overemphasized. After all, the human body is more than 70% water.

The above is the basic information about the nutrients necessary for humans, including the seven major nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, inorganic salts, dietary fiber and water.

03. Products for special medical purposes

However, this is just a macro classification. In fact, there are specific requirements under each major category.

Take the relatively simple protein as an example. Currently, protein supplementation is basically provided through various proteins. However, protein itself is composed of amino acids, and the proportions of amino acids contained in different proteins are not consistent. In fact, there are very few proteins that can fully meet human needs. Therefore, we need to repeatedly adjust the composition of protein so that its final total amino acid composition meets human needs.

For example, the human body has different requirements for different vitamins, and the demand for vitamins is also different at different developmental stages. For example, for people in the growth period, the demand for vitamin D is significantly higher. Because of this, the ratio of vitamins must be adjusted to meet the needs.

Because of this, simulating these ingredients is also one of the important areas in the nutrition industry.

In fact, there is already a special field to deal with this aspect: special medical purpose formula products.

Food for special medical purpose (FSMP) is a formula food designed to meet the needs of people with restricted food intake, digestive and absorption disorders, metabolic disorders or specific disease states.

Since special medical purpose formula foods are often used as special nutrition for some special groups of people, the requirements for them are very high. For example, the "National Nutrition Plan (2017-2030)" has clear provisions on special medical purpose formula foods, requiring them to follow the principles of safety, standardization, and effectiveness.

Moreover, when producing a product with a special medical formula, several processes must be followed. For example, a scientific nutritional formula requires repeated scientific research to prove the scientific nature of the nutritional formula and to meet the needs of the human body. Then a large number of clinical validations must be conducted, and research must be conducted on a large population to verify the effectiveness of the product in the actual process. In addition, production must also comply with pharmaceutical standards to ensure product quality and safety.

Because of this, there are not many special medical formula products in China, especially complete nutrition series. Of course, special medical formula products are not only complete nutrition, but also for certain special situations, such as diabetes groups, infant groups, etc., which is also a gradually emerging field in China.

In fact, if we really study nutrition, which is related to human health, we will find that it is very complicated. It is definitely not just a few simple nutrients, but involves complex scientific ratios and clinical verification, so it has always been a difficult point to study. With the advancement of science, I believe that our total nutrition will make more progress in the future.