How nutrients can be categorized

Question

How nutrients can be categorized according to their functions?

Answer 1

One possible and utile functional categorization for nutrients is the one which separates them into structural, energetic, and regulatory. Energetic nutrients are such employed as energy source for the metabolism; mostly they are carbohydrates (however fats and proteins can as well be transformed into acetyl-CoA and “cycle” the Krebs cycle). Structural nutrients are such employed in the support and structure of tissues and cells; they are amino acids which form structural proteins, such as collagen, the membrane proteins, cytoskeleton proteins, the contractile proteins of the muscle tissue, and Regulatory nutrients are those that constitute enzymes and coenzymes of the homeostasis, metabolites of the osmotic and electrolytic equilibrium of cells and hormones; several amino acids, vitamins and mineral salts are portion of this group.