Made by living things and required in an animal diet

• A. Vitamins
• B. Minerals
• C. Nutrients
• D. Hormones

Answer: (C)

Nutrients are the substances that living organisms need to grow, repair, and maintain their bodies. In animals, these must come from the diet because the body may not produce enough of them on its own, or at all, for proper function. This broad category includes energy-providing macronutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, as well as micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. The phrase about being made by living things fits nutrients in the sense that many nutrients originate from other living organisms (for example, vitamins produced by plants or microbes). Hormones, while also produced by living organisms, aren’t typically required to be consumed in the diet, and minerals aren’t produced by living processes in the same way. So the best overall answer is nutrients, since it encompasses all substances required in an animal’s diet.