Nutrition & Food Science — B1 Essential Words

protein /ˈprəʊtiːn/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: A substance in foods like meat, eggs, fish, and beans that the body needs to build and repair muscles and other parts.

Example: Eggs are rich in protein.

Another example: Athletes eat extra protein.

Collocations: protein in · high in protein · protein shake

Synonyms: nutrient, building block, amino source

Word family: proteins (n pl) · protein (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Gym culture made it the most marketed nutrient on Earth. Its name comes from Greek for 'first place' — the scientist ranked it correctly.

🗣 In spoken American English: Labels now shout its grams like scores.

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

calorie /ˈkæləri/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: A unit for measuring the energy that food provides to the body; people count them to manage weight.

Example: This bar has 200 calories.

Another example: Burn calories by walking.

Collocations: 200 calories · count calories · burn calories

Synonyms: energy unit, kcal, fuel value

Word family: calories (n pl) · calorific (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Food labels in the US use its big-C twin (Calorie = kilocalorie), a quiet unit trick. Menus must print them in chain restaurants — law made the numbers famous.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its counting apps are dieting's bookkeeping industry.

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

nutrient /ˈnjuːtriənt/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: Any substance in food that the body needs to live, grow, and stay healthy — a category that includes proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

Example: Dark greens are full of nutrients.

Another example: Plants take nutrients from the soil.

Collocations: nutrients in · full of nutrients · essential nutrients

Synonyms: nourishment, food value, elements

Word family: nutrients (n pl) · nutrition (n) · nutritious (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Nutritious (the adjective) is its compliment form — foods 'rich in nutrients' earn it. Soil and bodies share its vocabulary because both are fed systems.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its density ('nutrient-dense') is diet science's quality grade.

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

mineral /ˈmɪnərəl/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: A natural substance from the earth (like iron, calcium, or gold); in food, elements the body needs in small amounts for health.

Example: Milk gives us the mineral calcium.

Another example: The mine produces minerals.

Collocations: the mineral calcium · minerals in food · mineral water

Synonyms: element, nutrient, ore

Word family: minerals (n pl) · mineral (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Mineral water is its bottled celebrity in Europe. Bones bank its calcium; batteries chase its lithium — one word feeding bodies and phones.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its kingdom (with animal and vegetable) classifies everything in old science games.

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

fiber /ˈfaɪbər/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: The parts of plant foods that the body cannot digest, which help the stomach work well; also thin threads that make materials and muscles.

Example: Beans are high in fiber.

Another example: Eat more fiber for digestion.

Collocations: high in fiber · fiber in · dietary fiber

Synonyms: roughage, bulk, thread

Word family: fibers (n pl) · fibrous (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: American spelling: FIBER (UK: fibre). Breakfast cereals advertise it like a headline feature — gut health's publicist.

🗣 In spoken American English: Optical fiber carries the internet in its glass-thread branch.

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

fat /fæt/ noun / adjective B1 Health

Meaning: The soft white or yellow substance in meat and under skin that stores energy; oils and butter as food substances; also (adjective, for people) having too much of it — a word used carefully.

Example: This meat has a lot of fat.

Another example: Cut the fat off the steak.

Collocations: fat in · low-fat milk · body fat

Synonyms: grease, oil, lard

Antonyms: lean, thin

Word family: fats (n pl) · fatty (adj) · fatten (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Science needs it neutrally (fats are a nutrient); people need it gently (never a description to volunteer). Low-fat labels built an industry on its first sense.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its chemistry splits into good and bad headlines weekly.

Register: Neutral — nutrition essential (use with care about people).

carbohydrate /ˌkɑːrbəˈhaɪdreɪt/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: A substance in foods like bread, rice, pasta, and sugar that gives the body its main energy; foods containing it (informally 'carbs').

Example: Pasta is rich in carbohydrates.

Another example: Runners load carbohydrates before races.

Collocations: carbohydrates in · rich in carbohydrates · carbs (short form)

Synonyms: carbs, starches, energy foods

Word family: carbohydrates (n pl) · carb (n — informal short)

⚠ Common mistake: Everyday speech shortens it to CARBS — diets made the short form famous (low-carb everything). Athletes 'carb-load' the night before marathons, pasta's finest hour.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its chemistry name hides inside: carbon + water (hydrate).

Register: Formal — nutrition staple.

dairy /ˈdeəri/ noun / adjective B1 Health

Meaning: Foods made from milk — cheese, butter, yogurt, and cream; relating to milk products or the farms producing them.

Example: She avoids dairy products.

Another example: The dairy section is at the back.

Collocations: dairy products · the dairy aisle · dairy farm

Synonyms: milk products, creamery goods

Word family: dairy (uncountable) · dairies (n pl — farms/shops)

⚠ Common mistake: Supermarket maps give it an aisle; allergies give it a warning label. Wisconsin wears its farming crown ('America's Dairyland' on license plates).

🗣 In spoken American English: Its substitutes (oat, almond) now share its shelf and its name fights.

Register: Neutral — nutrition essential.

serving /ˈsɜːrvɪŋ/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: An amount of food for one person at one time, as a standard measure on labels ('two servings per pack'); the act of giving food or service.

Example: One serving is half a cup.

Another example: The pack contains four servings.

Collocations: a serving of · serving size · per serving

Synonyms: portion, helping, amount

Word family: servings (n pl) · serve (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Labels define it, restaurants ignore it gloriously. Its sibling 'helping' is the warmer home word for the same plateful.

🗣 In spoken American English: Its honesty is dieting's first lesson (the bag is rarely one).

Register: Formal — nutrition essential.

portion /ˈpɔːrʃən/ noun B1 Health

Meaning: An amount of food served to one person (often used for the size on the plate); also a part or share of a larger thing.

Example: The portions are huge here.

Another example: A portion of the money goes to schools.

Collocations: a portion of · portion size · large portions

Synonyms: serving, share, part

Word family: portions (n pl) · portion (v)

⚠ Common mistake: Portion vs serving: labels set servings; eyes judge portions. 'Portion control' is dieting's least loved phrase and most honest one.

🗣 In spoken American English: Wedding cake slices negotiate it publicly.

Register: Neutral — nutrition essential.