What are the Essential Vitamins and Minerals?
Understanding how the 27 vitamins and minerals are used in the body is essential when you want to change your diet. Knowing what you need instead of just a list of food or a diet plan is better because you will know how the micronutrients affect your body.
Vitamin A – Deficiency can lead to blindness or night blindness. Vitamin A is important for growing children and expectant mothers.
Vitamin B6 – It is essential in the formation of hemoglobin by storing protein and carbohydrates and using iodine.
Vitamin B12 – It helps get the energy from food, make healthy red blood cells, and maintains a healthy nervous system.
Vitamin C – It helps make collagen and is considered an antioxidant. Deficiency can lead to scurvy.
Vitamin D – It helps regulate the calcium and phosphate levels in the body. Deficiency can lead to osteomalacia, rickets, and body pain.
Vitamin E – It serves an as antioxidant that maintains healthy skin, eyes, and immune system.
Vitamin K – Deficiency can make wound healing slow and difficult, because not only does it keeps bones healthy but it’s important for blood-clotting.
Biotin – It is used for fat metabolism.
Calcium – It’s the important component for bones and teeth. Deficiency can cause poor mobility, brittle bones, and degeneration.
Choline – This is needed in muscle control and memory because it is used for the production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.
Chromium – It affects both the energy we get from food and the insulin levels in the body.
Copper – It is essential in the release of iron during hemoglobin-formation. It’s also important in white blood cell production.
Folate – It helps in the formation of red blood cells. In pregnant women, folate is necessary for the infant’s nervous system development.
Iodine – Its most important function is during the synthesis of thyroid hormones.
Iron – Its most important function is the creation of red blood cells to carry oxygen.
Magnesium – It is essential in converting food into energy, hormone production, and bone health.
Manganese – It’s important in activating body enzymes.
Molybdenum – It helps in activating enzymes for creating genetic material.
Niacin – It helps in getting the energy from the food as well as maintain healthy skin and nervous system.
Pantothenic Acid – Without pantothenic acid, you will always feel tired and stressed. It helps in several bodily functions especially in releasing the energy from food.
Phosphorus – Not only does it help release energy from food, it also helps maintain strong bones and teeth.
Potassium – It helps in maintaining healthy nerves and muscles, as well as keep the heart muscles healthy and balancing the body fluids.
Selenium – It’s an antioxidant that helps the immune system prevent damage to cells and tissues.
Sodium and Chloride – These are electrolytes that maintain the balance of body fluids. They even help the body digest the food we eat.
Thiamin – This is needed to convert carbohydrates to energy, as well as maintain proper nerve signal conduction and muscle contraction.
Riboflavin – It helps in releasing the energy from food and keeps the nervous system, skin, and eyes healthy.
Zinc – It helps in the processing of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, as well as in keeping healthy cells, making enzymes, and healing wounds.