Nutrition Research Guide

Nutrition refers to the science of how food impacts our health. To remain healthy, our body needs to consume various nutrients from protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Below is a list of resources that will help you get started in learning more about nutrition.

• Nutrition (Merck Manuals) : A medical reference source with information on a variety of disorders. This webpage offers basic information related to nutrition.
• Nutrition (Medline Plus): Medline Plus is a free online resource designed to provide the public with credible information on diverse health topics. This webpage provides resources on dietary planning, journal articles, present US guidelines on nutrition, and interventions related to nutrition.  
• The World Bank and Nutrition (The World Bank): Provides country-level economic information and data on nutrition-related topics, such as malnutrition. 
• Nutrition.gov (Department of Agriculture): This website offers credible information related to healthy nutrition, such as physical activity, food safety, recipes. In addition, the site offers educational material for teachers on nutrition and latest US guidelines on nutrition.  

A wealth of diseases occur due to improper nutrition. Some common conditions caused by nutrition imbalance include:

• Diabetes: A condition where your blood sugar is too high as a result of your body’s failure to make insulin or inability to absorb it effectively.
• Malnutrition: A condition that results from a lack, excess, or imbalance of nutrients and/or intake of energy. 
• Obesity: An excess amount of body weight. Obesity can lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain cancers.
• Overnutrition: A form of malnutrition.  A condition that comes from consuming an excess amount of energy from macronutrients.  Conditions related to overnutrition include overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. 
• Undernutrition: A form of malnutrition. A condition that comes from a lack of nutrients or low energy intake. Conditions related to undernutrition includes wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and underweight. 

For more information about these conditions, visit MedlinePlus or Merck Manuals.