What is nutrition in animals?

Nutrition is the process of consuming foods to carry out the vital functions of the body for survival. Nutrients are the substances that provide nutrition to the living organisms for performing proper functions and growth.

There are seven major nutrients that are required by the body in order to maintain its proper functionality.

They are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, water, minerals, and fibre.

There are two types of nutrition: Autotrophic Nutrition and Heterotrophic Nutrition.

(1) Autotrophic Nutrition- Organisms prepare their own food through the process of photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, minerals, and pigment such as chlorophyll, phycocyanin, phycoerythrin etc.

Examples: Plants, blue-green algae, few photosynthetic bacteria, etc.

(2) Heterotrophic Nutrition- Organisms depending on autotrophs like plants, and other animals for nutritional requirements are known as heterotrophs, and they exhibit a heterotrophic mode of nutrition.

Examples: Human beings, animals, birds, reptiles, etc.