Nutrition

I am the zoom in your step when you race your friends across the playground and the focus in your brain when you solve a tricky math puzzle. I am the reason a crunchy, sweet apple gives you a boost for the afternoon and why a warm bowl of chicken soup can make you feel so strong and cozy on a chilly day. For thousands and thousands of years, people felt my power, but they didn't know my name or how I worked my magic. They simply knew that some foods helped them grow tall and strong, while others could help them get better when they were sick. Can you imagine a world where nobody understood why eating vegetables was a good idea? That’s how it was for a very long time. I was the secret ingredient for a healthy life, the invisible fuel that powers your amazing, unique body every single second of the day. It’s so nice to meet you. I am Nutrition.

For a long, long time, I was a very big mystery. People knew that food was important, but they didn’t understand how I used it to keep them from getting sick. Imagine being a sailor hundreds of years ago, out on the vast, blue ocean for months at a time. Your only food might be dry, hard biscuits and salty meat. After a while, you and your shipmates would start to feel terribly weak. Your muscles would ache, and your gums would bleed. This sickness was called scurvy, and it was a huge problem. In the year 1747, a kind and curious Scottish doctor named James Lind decided he had to solve this puzzle. He was on a ship called the HMS Salisbury and saw how sick the sailors were. He set up one of the first scientific experiments. He gave different groups of sick sailors different additions to their diet. Some got vinegar, some got cider, and one lucky group got two oranges and one lemon every day. What do you think happened? The sailors who ate the citrus fruits started getting better, right away! It was an amazing discovery. Dr. Lind proved that there was a special, hidden helper in fresh fruit that people needed to stay healthy. This was one of the very first times someone showed exactly how I use specific foods to keep the body working right.

After Dr. Lind’s amazing discovery, more scientists got curious about me and my secrets. A brilliant French scientist named Antoine Lavoisier, working around the 1770s, figured out something incredible. He realized that your body uses food like a tiny, slow-burning fire uses wood. It combines the food you eat with the oxygen you breathe to create energy and warmth. He called this process metabolism, and it explains why you feel warm and full of energy after a good meal. Later, in the 1800s, scientists found my main building blocks. They identified proteins, which build your muscles and repair your body; carbohydrates, which give you quick energy for running and playing; and fats, which store that energy for later. But there was still a piece of the puzzle missing. Why did Dr. Lind's citrus fruits work? In the 1890s, a Dutch doctor named Christiaan Eijkman noticed that chickens got sick when they ate only polished white rice, but they stayed healthy if they ate brown rice with its outer layer still on. Finally, on February 20th, 1912, a Polish scientist named Casimir Funk found the invisible substance in that rice bran. He called these special helpers 'vitamines,' a word we now know as vitamins. People finally understood that you need these tiny, powerful helpers to unlock my full power.

Today, you can see me at work everywhere you look. My story, which started with sick sailors and curious chickens, is now a part of your everyday life. Scientists have discovered all sorts of vitamins and minerals that keep you healthy, from Vitamin A in carrots that helps your eyes see in the dark, to calcium in yogurt and milk that builds strong bones for jumping and climbing. I'm in the colorful rainbow of fruits and vegetables that fill your plate, and I'm even on the nutrition labels you see on food packages, which help your family make healthy choices at the grocery store. My story is still being written, as we learn more about how different foods help our bodies grow and our brains learn. Every time you eat a balanced meal with proteins, carbohydrates, and lots of vitamins, you're using centuries of discovery to your advantage. You are inviting me to help you grow, learn, and play. I am Nutrition, and I'm your lifelong partner in being the healthiest, happiest, and most amazing you.