The basic/essential nutrients needed by the human body can be divided into three groups:
Macronutrients:
Carbohydrates - has 3 categories, sugars, starch, and fiber.
Lipids - triglycerides and cholesterol.
Proteins - can be complete (meat, poultry, fish, egg, milk, cheese, yogurt) and incomplete (vegetables, legumes, grains)
Micronutrients:
Minerals - there are two categories, major minerals (100mg+/day) which include calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur. Trace minerals (Less than 100mg/day) include chromium, cobalt, copper, flouride, iodine, manganese, molydenum, and zinc.
Vitamins - there are two categories, water-soluble include Vitamin C and B that are easily absorbed into the blood from the digestive tract. Fat-soluble include vitamins A, D, K, and E. They are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract within the lipid of micelles and eventually enter the lymphatic capillaries.
Water: There are two categories. Ingested - water absobed from food and drink taken into the GI tract. Metabolic - water produced daily from aerobic cellular respiration.