Nutrients and Organic Compounds

The human body can last weeks without food, but only days without water. The body is made up of 50 to 75 per cent water. Water forms the basis of blood, digestive juices, urine and perspiration, and is contained in lean muscle, fat and bones. It helps to maintain the temperature of the body.

Chlorides are inorganic mineral salts that are highly stable and are not affected by biological processes like decomposition or bacterial action.

Glucose is a simple monosaccharide sugar. It is a hexose sugar. It is an aldose sugar. Ingested carbohydrates are broken down into monosaccharides which are absorbed in the intestine. Glucose is absorbed in intestine. Glucose is also chief form of sugar in blood and circulates in blood to supply energy to visceral organs.

Calcium strengthens bones and teeth in our body. It is an inorganic substance which is later converted to its organic forms when it gets combined with carbon molecule.

Nutrients obtained by plants and animals are classified into two groups organic and inorganic. Inorganic nutrients are those that are not easily found in animals or plants. They are always converted into their organic forms. Ammonia is an organic nutrient generally found in animals for synthesis of various metabolite.

Nitrogen is one such element which is very important in plant growth because it is an essential part of the chlorophyll that is the site of photosynthesis.

Rhizobium is a nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in symbiotic association with the root nodules of leguminous plants. 

In NH3 (ammonia), nitrogen is in the -3 oxidation state, which is its most reduced form. In CO2, carbon is in the +4 state (oxidized); in H2O, hydrogen is in the +1 state; in sulphate, sulphur is in the +6 state.

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is a classic example of an inorganic compound, as it is an ionic salt lacking carbon-hydrogen bonds. Oil, fats, and nutrients (like proteins/carbohydrates) are organic compounds.

The body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen (carbohydrates) reserves stored in muscle and liver cells. During short periods of energy abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation when the body has depleted its body fat, it begins to burn lean tissue and muscle (protein) as a fuel source.