For most of us, a healthy and varied diet (that includes all 5 food groups) is all we need to stay healthy. We get vitamins and minerals from the foods we eat. Basically, they keep us healthy and help our bodies to function. _osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses.Vitamins and minerals are organic compounds that our bodies use in very small amounts for a variety of metabolic processes. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. In this series, we’ll take a closer look at many of these micronutrients, as they are often called, and help you to understand why they are so important, how we can get enough of them in our diets, and how to measure them! Next in this series, we will discuss Vitamin A and Iron!Ĭookie by Google used for website analytics. There are nearly 30 vitamins and minerals which are essential for a variety of biological functions. Iron, although considered a trace mineral, is needed in somewhat greater quantity than for the other trace minerals. Trace minerals, on the other hand, are needed in very small quantities, such as manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride, and selenium. Macrominerals are required in larger quantities (more than 100mg) and include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur. Similarly, minerals can also be divided into two categories – macrominerals and trace minerals – based on their requirements by the body. The water-soluble vitamins (B-complex and C) need regular replacement in the body. The fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are stored in the liver and fatty tissue they need to be consumed with sources of fats or oils for them to be properly absorbed by the body. Vitamins can be classified as fat-soluble or water-soluble. This gave birth to the naming of vitamins as we know them today. In 1920, Sir Jack Drummond, a British scientist, suggested that vitamins should be classified by the letters of the alphabet, according to the order of their discovery. He believed that this vitamin was a nitrogenous compound, or amine, which was vital for life. The term “vitamin” comes from the root words “vital” and “amine,” and was coined by the Polish-American scientist, Casimir Funk in 1912 while working to extract vitamin B1 from rice bran. This truly puts vitamins and minerals as an integral part of our diets. We must, therefore, eat a wide variety of foods to meet our daily requirements, or risk deficiencies, which can have wide-ranging effects on our health. However, there exists no single food that contains the full range of vitamins and minerals in adequate quantities needed by the body. We now know that each of the vitamins and minerals known today has specific functions in the body. Since the early 20th century, our knowledge of the function of vitamins and minerals has increased tremendously. Thus, we need to consume them through the foods we eat. Unlike plants, humans and animals cannot themselves produce all the vitamins necessary for their metabolism as we lack the enzymes used to make these vitamins and minerals in the body. Vitamins and minerals are needed and consumed in small quantities by the body, which is why we call them micronutrients. A mineral is an inorganic crystalline element which is taken from the Earth. Vitamins are essential organic nutrients that are vital to sustaining life. Vitamins and Minerals! You may have heard about them, and perhaps you even know about their important role in sustaining a healthy life. Thanks to Sight and Life for their publication “ Vitamins and Minerals: A Brief Guide“, which provided the inspiration for this new series and for much of the content! In our quest to ‘Make Nutrition Visible’ in 2020, we are bringing you new content on the vitamins and minerals around you. Vitamins and associated body functions (Credit: Sight and Life, 2017)
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