Vitamins and Minerals
February 7, 2022 | by Yashaswi Pathakamuri | Posted in Vitamins
Vitamins and minerals are essential for our bodies to function properly. They provide energy, help with mood, and keep our skin healthy. It is important to get enough of these nutrients in your diet or you can take a supplement. It is also important to make sure that you are getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals in your diet because too many or too few can have negative effects on your health.
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients that are required in a healthy, balanced diet. There are 12 vitamins that the body needs to function properly, and many minerals which help to maintain optimal health. Both vitamins and minerals combine to perform hundreds of roles in the body.
Vitamins and minerals can be found in a variety of foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products. Diets rich in vitamins and minerals promote growth, development, and normal body functioning.
Vitamin
The word ‘vitamin’ is a combination of Latin words ‘vita’ and ‘amine’, meaning life and nitrogen respectively. It was discovered by Casimir Funk in 1884, who found that this substance helps the growth and maintenance of the human body.
There are 12 vitamins that are essential for human nutrition, including vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, D, E and K. Vitamins are essential nutrients that we need in small amounts to help our bodies grow and function. They are found in food and can also be taken as supplements.
Vitamins act as a catalyst in the generation of energy by utilizing carbohydrates and fats properly. Humans cannot live without vitamins and the human body cannot produce it on its own (except vitamin D and Vitamin B3). So it should be taken in required quantities through other sources such as the food we take, vitamin capsules etc. Vitamins can be found in major foods like meat, leafy vegetables, fruits etc. Vitamin deficiency may cause some diseases and overdose also causes diseases.
Also read: Vitamins
Types of Vitamins
Vitamins are of two types:
- Fat-soluble – which are dissolved in fat
- Water-soluble – which are dissolved in water
Name | Solubility | Food Sources | Deficiency Diseases |
Vitamin A | Fat | Green leafy vegetables, ripe yellow fruits, guava, milk, liver, nuts, tomatoes, oranges, carrots, broccoli, watermelon etc. | Hyperkeratosis, night blindness, and keratomalacia |
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Water | Fresh fruits, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, cashew nuts, wheat, milk, black beans, dates etc. | Beriberi |
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Water | Banana, dates, mushrooms, grapes, mangoes, peas, pumpkin, popcorn etc. | Slow growth, sore eyes |
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | Water | Meat, fish, eggs, milk products, cereals, mushroom, guava etc. | Pellagra |
Vitamin C | Water | Fresh fruits, black currant, broccoli, goat milk and chestnuts. | Scurvy |
Vitamin D | Fat | Fish, egg, liver, beef, cod, chicken breast etc. | Rickets and Osteomalacia |
Vitamin E | Fat | Potatoes, pumpkin, guava, mango, milk, nuts, seeds etc. | Heart problems, Haemolysis and sterility |
Vitamin K | Fat | Tomatoes, broccoli, chestnuts, cashew nuts, beef, lamb, mangoes, grapes etc. | Haemorrhage |
Some of the most important vitamins include:
Vitamin B12: This vitamin helps keep the nervous system working well, and it is needed for making DNA.
Vitamin C: The main job of this vitamin is to protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, which are chemicals that cause aging.
Vitamin D: This vitamin helps control the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the body, which helps keep bones strong. It has also been shown to be effective in helping to control high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, heart disease, allergies, arthritis and insomnia.
Minerals
Minerals are organic compounds found in nature, which help the human body grow. Minerals are essential for the human body to work properly. Deficiency of minerals leads to several disorders. There are 14 minerals that are necessary for the body, including calcium, chloride, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, and zinc.
Also read: Minerals
The major minerals necessary for body are:
MINERALS | SOURCES | FUNCTIONS |
Calcium | Blackberries, dates, milk, egg, pomegranate, almonds, wheat, soybeans etc. | Important for healthy bones, teeth and immune system |
Sodium | Passion fruit, onions, fresh fruits, sweet potato, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, eggs, milk etc. | Helps in the regulation of blood pressure and blood volume. It also helps in the proper functioning of nerves and muscles |
Potassium | Dried fruits, beans, lentils, potatoes, spinach, broccoli, beet greens, avocado, bananas. | Its main role in the body is to help maintain normal levels of fluid inside our cells. Sodium, its counterpart, maintains normal fluid levels outside of cells. Potassium also helps muscles to contract and supports normal blood pressure. |
Iodine | Sea foods, iodised salt, milk and foods that are grown in iodine-rich places | Promotes healthy hair, nails, skin and teeth. Also controls body weight and growth |
Iron | Red meat, pork and poultry, seafood, beans, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, peas and iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas. | Iron is a mineral that the body needs for growth and development. Body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body, and myoglobin, a protein that provides oxygen to muscles |
Phosphorous | Passion fruit, pomegranate, dates, beef, tuna, oats etc. | Phosphorous along with calcium is necessary for the formation of bones, teeth etc. |
Summary
Both vitamins and minerals combine to perform hundreds of roles in the body. We need vitamins and minerals to maintain the health of our body.
Vitamins and minerals are essential for the maintenance of good health. They are needed for a number of bodily processes, such as the production of red blood cells, bone growth, and healthy skin.
Vitamins are organic substances, which means they’re made by plants or animals. Minerals are inorganic elements that come from soil and water, and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. Your body needs larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium, to grow and stay healthy.
Vitamins are organic compounds, found in natural foods which are required for normal growth and maintenance of the body. Both humans and animals require vitamins for their growth.
The human body cannot produce vitamins or minerals on its own, which is why they must be obtained through diet in order to maintain good health.
Recent Posts
Categories
- Arthritis
- B vitamins
- Berries
- Best time to take
- Breasfeeding
- cancer
- Chronic Diseases
- COVID-19
- Dairy
- Deficiency
- Diabetes
- Diet
- Diseases
- FAQ's
- Fats
- Fever
- Hair
- health
- Kidney
- Leafy Vegetables
- Lung disease
- mango
- Meat
- Millets
- Minerals
- Myositis
- Nausea
- Nutrition Facts
- Nuts and Seeds
- Oats and Oatmeal
- Psoriasis
- Recipes
- Rice
- Skin
- spices and Condiments
- Summer
- Thyroid
- Varicose Veins
- Vegetables
- Vitamins
- Vomiting
- water
- weight gain
- weight Loss
Archives
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020