What Are Vitamins ?
Since you were young your parents or guardians , doctors, teachers and pretty much any other adult were pushing you to each your vegetables and take your vitamins. But what are vitamins and essential vitamins ? Well there’s a good reason they told you this, vitamins are substances that your body needs to grow and develop normally.
Essential Vitamins
There are 13 essential vitamins consisting of Vitamin A, B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate), Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K. Each vitamin has specific jobs, promoting good health and even preventing illnesses.
What Types of Vitamins Are There?
What are vitamins types ? There are two types of vitamins: water soluble and fat soluble. Water soluble vitamins are vitamins that are not stored in the body and must be replaced each day. This includes your B vitamins and Vitamin C. These vitamins are easily destroyed or washed out during food storage and preparation. The other vitamins are fat soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K, are stored in the body for long periods of time and only require a small amount (unless told otherwise by a doctor/physician).
Where Can I Get Vitamins?
You can get most of your vitamins through the food you eat and some can be naturally produced from your body. Vitamin D and vitamin K can be made by your body but your diet can influence how much each vitamin is produced. For example, Vegan and Vegetarian diets can restrict your level of vitamin vitamin D and vitamin B12. To aid this and stick to your diet, supplementation is a good option. Supplements are available for all the essential vitamins if needed. If you are concerned with your intake of vitamins or feel you may be low/ deficient, you should speak to your doctor/physician about getting blood work done. The best way to ensure you are getting your vitamins is to eat a variety of foods and supplement where needed.
What Other Vitamins Can Be Helpful?
What are vitamins that could also be helpful? If your got your essentials covered there are still other vitamins that can be beneficial for your health. If you are pregnant or planning to be pregnant you’ve probably heard of Prenatal vitamins. Prenatal Vitamins typically contain more folic acid and iron than do standard adult multivitamins. Why?
- Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects. These defects are serious abnormalities of the brain and spinal cord.
- Iron supports the baby’s growth and development. Iron also helps prevent anemia
Not all prenatal vitamins include omega-3 fatty acids or fish oil, which might help promote a baby’s brain development. Calcium and vitamin D are important as well to support the development of your baby’s bones (especially during the third trimester).
Generally, look for a prenatal vitamin that contains:
- Folic acid
- Calcium
- Iron
- Vitamin D
What are Minerals?
Vitamins are essential to your health whether from food or supplements. But what about minerals ? What are minerals? Minerals are also important for you health. Minerals aid your body in different ways, from bone health to helping make enzymes and hormones.
What Types Of Minerals Are There?
Like vitamins, there are two types of minerals; macrominerals and trace minerals. You can probably get from the name that you need larger amounts of macrominerals than trace minerals. Macrominerals consist of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur. Your trace minerals consist of iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride and selenium.
Macrominerals are key to maintaining the proper balance of water in the body. Sodium, chloride, and potassium are the main minerals in this task. While calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium are important for healthy bones. And finally sulfur helps stabilize protein structures, including some of those that make up hair, skin, and nails.
Trace minerals do a bunch of different things based on the mineral. Iron is known for aiding in delivering oxygen throughout the body. Fluoride strengthens bones and wards off tooth decay (hence why its in your toothpaste). Zinc helps blood clot and is essential for taste and smell. Copper helps form several enzymes, one of which assists with iron metabolism and the creation of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. Each task of minerals is equally vital for good health.
Where Can I Get Minerals?
Most people are able to get the daily allowance off minerals through food. However in some cases you may need additional supplementation of minerals or to adjust your diet to get more or less of a mineral. If you are concerned with your intake of minerals or feel you may be low/ deficient, you should speak to your doctor/physician who can further assist you by your health needs.
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