B-GROUP VITAMINS.Group of eight water-soluble
vitamins that are often present as a single, vitamin
complex in many natural sources, such as rice, liver
and yeast.
BILE ACIDS.Produced by the liver, from choles-
terol, for the digestion and absorption of fat.
BILE DUCTS.Tubes that carry bile from the liver to
the gallbladder for storage and to the small intestine
for use in digestion.
BILE.Fluid made by the liver and stored in the
gallbladder. Bile helps break down fats and gets rid
of wastes in the body.
BINGE DRINKING.Usually used to refer to heavy
drinking over an evening or similar time span. Some-
times also referred to as heavy episodic drinking.
BINGE EATING DISORDER.A mental eating disorder
that features the consumption of large amounts of
food in short periods of time.
BIOAVAILABILITY.Availability to living organisms,
based on chemical form.
BIODIVERSITY.The presence of many different
species of plants and animals within a limited geogra-
phical region.
BIOELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS (BIA).A tech-
nique for evaluating body composition by passing a
small amount of electrical current through the body
and measuring the resistance of different types of
tissue.
BIOFEEDBACK.A technique for improving aware-
ness of internal bodily sensations in order to gain
conscious control over digestion and other processes
generally considered to be automatic.
BIOMOLECULE.Any organic molecule that is an
essential part of a living organism.
BIPOLAR DISORDER.A psychiatric disorder marked
by alternating episodes of mania and depression.
BLAND DIET.A diet that is free of irritating or
stimulating foods.
BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER.A physiological mechan-
ism that alters the permeability of brain capillaries, so
that some substances, such as certain drugs, are pre-
vented from entering brain tissue, while other sub-
stances are allowed to enter freely.
BLOOD CHOLESTEROL.Cholesterol is a molecule
from which hormones, steroids and nerve cells are
made. It is an essential molecule for the human body
and circulates in the blood stream. Between 75 and
80% of the cholesterol that circulates in a person’s
bloodstream is made in that person’s liver. The
remainder is acquired from animal dietary sources. It
is not found in plants. Normal blood cholesterol level
is a number obtained from blood tests. A normal
cholesterol level is defined as less than 200 mg of
cholesterol per deciliter of blood.
BLOOD DOPING.Practice of illicitly boosting the
number of red blood cells in the circulation in order to
enhance athletic performance.
BLOOD PLASMA.The pale yellowish, protein-con-
taining fluid portion of the blood in which cells are
suspended. 92% water, 7% protein and 1% minerals.
BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER.A mental disorder
involving extreme preoccupation with some feature of
one’s appearance. Excessive time spent in physical
exercise, often involving bodybuilding or weight-lift-
ing practices, is a common symptom of the disorder in
adolescents.
BODY MASS INDEX.Also known as BMI, the index
determines whether a person is at a healthy weight,
underweight, overweight, or obese. The BMI can be
calculated by converting the person’s height into
inches. That amount is multiplied by itself and then
divided by the person’s weight. That number is then
multiplied by 703. The metric formula for the BMI is
the weight in kilograms divided by the square of height
in meters.
BODYBUILDING.Developing muscle size and tone,
usually for competitive exhibition.
BONE MINERAL DENSITY (BMD).Test used to mea-
sure bone density and usually expressed as the amount
of mineralized tissue in the area scanned (g/cm2). It is
used for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER.A serious
mental illness characterized by ongoing instability in
moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and
behavior.
BOTANICAL.An herb; a dietary supplement derived
from a plant.
BOTULISM.A potentially deadly disease character-
ized by respiratory and musculoskeletal paralysis
caused by a bacterium calledClostridium botulinum.
Botulism is a medical emergency. Nitrites are some-
times used to prevent the growth ofC. botulinum
spores in meat and smoked fish.
BRAN.The outer layer of cereal kernel that con-
tains fiber and nutrients. It is removed during the
refining process.Glossary