hello,
why are water and roughage not nutrients?

Dear student, Nutrients are the substances that are absorbed or digested by the body. Water and roughage also known as dietary fibre are not digested or absorbed by the body. They are excreted from the body in the form of urine, faeces, sweat etc. Hence they are not classified as nutrients. Roughage or dietary Fiber is the indigestible portion of plant foods.They do not provide any nutrient to our body. However, they form an important component of our food because of the following reasons: It helps to prevent constipation by increasing the volume of stool in our body. Therefore, people who include a lot of dietary fibres in their diet suffer from fewer problems of constipation. Water forms 60-65% of our body and it is extremely important as it provides the medium in which various reactions of our body occur and it also provides the medium for transportation of substances. Thanks and regards