| Nutrient | Food source | What it does | Disease caused by deficiency |
| Carbo | Starch, sugar, cereals, hydrates | Provides energy cellulose | Fatigue, tiredress |
| Fats | Ghee, butter, oils, Groundnut | Provides energy; excess use increases cholesterol | |
| Fibre | Raw fruits, vegetables, bran, whole grain, salads | Provides roughage to intestines | Acute constipation |
| Fluid | Manly water | Keeps the kidneys functioning | Urinary diseases |
| Calcium | Milk and other diary products, fish | Healthy bones and teeth | Rickets |
| Iodine | Iodised salts | Growth of the body | Goitre |
| Iron | Kidney, liver, egg yolk, red meat, nuts | Healthy function of red blood cells | Anaemia |
| Proteins | All dairy products, eggs, fish, meat, pulses, nuts, sprouted beans | A body building food | Hampered growth |
| Vitamin A (Retinal) | Milk, fish, green vegetables, carrots | Essential for good vision | Night blindness xerophthalmia, xerosis |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Whole grain, pulses, brewer's yeast destroyed by over cooking | Helps digestion neede for fertilisation and growth | Beri-beri, loss of appetite |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Milk, egg, green vegetables, liver destroyed if exposed to light | Prevents eyes & skin problems | Skin disorder sore toungue |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | Milk, egg, brewer's yeast | Builds brain cells, prevents infections | Bleeding of gums |
| Vitamin B5 (Partothenic acid) | Egg, whole grain, cheese, liver, kidney | Essential for normal reproductive function | Anaemia |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | Brewer's yeast, banana potato, mushroom, dried vegetables, destroyed by excessive washing | Produces antibodies to fight disease | Nervous disorders, convulsions |
| Vitamin B12 (Cyano cobalamin) | Soyabean, fish, milk | To develop red blood cells | Anaemia |
| Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) | Citrus fruits, red, green or yellow vegetables, destroyed by over cooking | Helps absorption of iron from intestine, act as detoxicant, important for repairs and wound healing | Scurvy, chapping of skin |
| Vitamin D (Calciferol) | Milk, egg, sunshine activates a pre vitamin in the skin | Promotes absorption of calcium | Ricketes |
| Vitamin E | Wheatgerm, milk, oils | Maintenance of cell membrane, reproductive system | Sterility |
| Folic acid | Raw leafy vegetables, walnuts | Blood formation, development of central nervous system | Neural tube defects as spina bifida |
| Vitamin K | Green vegetables manufactured by the body from bacteria in gut | Coagulation of blood | Delayed healing of wounds |