It is common knowledge that we need proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals
in our diet. We are also aware that too much saturated fat and cholesterol puts us at risk
for heart disease. Yet many of us have only a vague concept of what these molecules are,
much less how they function in the human body. Study of the molecules that compose living
organisms is called biochemistry. It overlaps with organic chemistry, the study of
carbon-containing (organic) compounds, because the most distinctive biomolecules are
organic compounds. In this chapter, we begin our discussion with some inorganic components
of the body and progress to the organic ones. This will lay a foundation for understanding
human form and function at many points later in the book.