Nutrition

«Nutrition involves various chemical and physiological activities, which transform food elements into body elements.» This simple definition describes the science of nutrition, a chemistry-based discipline interacting to varying degrees with many of the other physical and biological sciences. This definition also implicates nutrition as one of the environmental factors that influences the ability of animals to attain their genetic potential for growth, reproduction, longevity, or response to stimuli. Therefore the nutritional status of animals involved in biomedical research has a profound effect on the quality of experimental results. The process of supplying adequate nutrition for laboratory animals involves establishing requirements for approximately 50 essential nutrients, formulating and manufacturing diets with the required nutrient concentrations, and managing numerous factors related to diet quality. Factors potentially affecting diet quality include the bioavailability of nutrients, palatability or acceptance by animals, procedures involved in preparation or storage, and the levels and types of chemical contaminants and other nonnutrients.