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.
Other minerals like chromium, copper, iodine, iron, selenium, and zinc are called trace minerals because you need only very small amounts of them.
Vitamins and minerals boost the immune system , support normal growth and development, and help cells and organs do their jobs. For example, you've probably heard that carrots are good for your eyes. It's true! Carrots are full of substances called carotenoids pronounced: kuh-RAH-teh-noydz that your body converts into vitamin A, which helps prevent eye problems.
Vitamin K helps blood to clot, so cuts and scrapes stop bleeding quickly. You'll find vitamin K in green leafy vegetables, broccoli, and soybeans. And to have strong bones, you need to eat foods such as milk, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables, which are rich in the mineral calcium. Eating well now is especially important because the body needs a variety of vitamins and minerals to grow and stay healthy.
Eating a mix of foods is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day. Although water-soluble vitamins have many tasks in the body, one of the most important is helping to free the energy found in the food you eat. Others help keep tissues healthy. Here are some examples of how different vitamins help you maintain health:. Contrary to popular belief, some water-soluble vitamins can stay in the body for long periods of time.
And even folic acid and vitamin C stores can last more than a couple of days. Just be aware that there is a small risk that consuming large amounts of some of these micronutrients through supplements may be quite harmful. For example, very high doses of B6—many times the recommended amount of 1. Rather than slipping easily into the bloodstream like most water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins gain entry to the blood via lymph channels in the intestinal wall see illustration.
Many fat-soluble vitamins travel through the body only under escort by proteins that act as carriers. Fatty foods and oils are reservoirs for the four fat-soluble vitamins.
Within your body, fat tissues and the liver act as the main holding pens for these vitamins and release them as needed. To some extent, you can think of these vitamins as time-release micronutrients. Your body squirrels away the excess and doles it out gradually to meet your needs.
Together this vitamin quartet helps keep your eyes, skin, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and nervous system in good repair. Here are some of the other essential roles these vitamins play:. Because fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your body for long periods, toxic levels can build up. This is most likely to happen if you take supplements. The body needs, and stores, fairly large amounts of the major minerals. Major minerals travel through the body in various ways.
Potassium, for example, is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, where it circulates freely and is excreted by the kidneys, much like a water-soluble vitamin. Calcium is more like a fat-soluble vitamin because it requires a carrier for absorption and transport.
One of the key tasks of major minerals is to maintain the proper balance of water in the body. Sodium, chloride, and potassium take the lead in doing this. Three other major minerals—calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium—are important for healthy bones.
Sulfur helps stabilize protein structures, including some of those that make up hair, skin, and nails. Having too much of one major mineral can result in a deficiency of another.
These sorts of imbalances are usually caused by overloads from supplements, not food sources. Here are two examples:. A thimble could easily contain the distillation of all the trace minerals normally found in your body. Yet their contributions are just as essential as those of major minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, which each account for more than a pound of your body weight. The other trace minerals perform equally vital jobs, such as helping to block damage to body cells and forming parts of key enzymes or enhancing their activity.
More about vitamins. Trace elements are also essential nutrients that your body needs to work properly, but in much smaller amounts than vitamins and minerals. They include iodine and fluorine. Trace elements are found in small amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, fish, cereals, milk and dairy foods, vegetables and nuts. More about minerals and trace elements.
Fat is essential to a healthy diet as it gives us energy and helps our bodies absorb vitamins and nutrients from the foods we eat. However, fats contain more calories than carbohydrates and protein so it's important to limit how much you consume. Eating too much fat too often can lead to weight gain and other health problems.
Unsaturated fats can help to lower your blood cholesterol, reducing your risk of developing heart disease. They also provide your body with essential fatty acids, important for keeping your muscles, skin and other tissue healthy.
Saturated and trans fat raise the level of cholesterol in your blood, increasing your risk of developing heart disease. You'll benefit from reducing your intake of these type of fats. Some foods naturally contain sugar - such as fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and dairy foods. Other foods have sugar added to them in the manufacturing process. These are called free or added sugars. Most of us eat too many food products containing free sugars.
Currently, children and adults across the UK are consuming 2 to 3 times this amount. Foods that contain free sugars aren't required as part of a healthy balanced diet, so you should try to eat these less often and in smaller amounts.
Sugary drinks account for a surprisingly large proportion of the daily sugar intake of both children and adults. Almost a third of the free sugars consumed by 11 to 18 year olds come from soft drinks. Sugar is easy to consume in large quantities as it's pleasant to taste. This means many people eat too much sugar and get more calories than they need.
If you consume more calories than your body needs, your body stores the energy as glycogen or fat in your liver, muscles and fat cells to use at a later time. This can lead to weight gain. To prevent weight gain, and an increased risk of health problems like type 2 diabetes, reduce the amount of sugar in your diet overall. You should get most of the energy you need from starchy foods potatoes, pasta and cereals without the need to eat free sugars. When you eat sugar, the bacteria in your mouth produce acid.
This acid dissolves the enamel on your teeth, causing tooth decay and cavities to form. Sugars found naturally in fruits, vegetables and dairy are less likely to cause tooth decay. However, fruit juices contain a lot of sugar so should only be consumed at meal times. More about preventing tooth decay. The sodium found in salt is an essential nutrient used by your body to maintain blood pressure and regulate your nerves and muscles. Sodium attracts and holds on to water in your blood.
If you consume too much salt, the volume of water in your blood increase leading to high blood pressure. If left untreated, you could be at risk of developing heart disease or a stroke.
During food preparation, cooking and manufacturing, salt is used as a preservative and flavour enhancer. You don't have to add much more to go over your daily limit. You should avoid eating too much of these too often. For a healthier option, choose lower salt versions or make your own. Three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, so checking the label and choosing foods that are lower in salt is one of the best ways to cut down.
Fibre is an important part of a healthy balanced diet and is only found in foods that come from plants. Meat, fish and dairy products don't contain any fibre. Foods that contain fibre make you feel fuller for longer and can help digestion. There's also evidence that eating the recommended amount of fibre can lower your risk of developing:.
There are 2 types of fibre, soluble and insoluble. Part of a molecule hemoglobin found in red blood cells that carries oxygen in the body; needed for energy metabolism. Organ meats; red meats; fish; poultry; shellfish especially clams ; egg yolks; legumes; dried fruits; dark, leafy greens; iron-enriched breads and cereals; and fortified cereals.
Part of many enzymes ; needed for making protein and genetic material; has a function in taste perception, wound healing, normal fetal development, production of sperm, normal growth and sexual maturation, immune system health. Works closely with insulin to regulate blood sugar glucose levels. Other trace nutrients known to be essential in tiny amounts include nickel, silicon, vanadium, and cobalt.
Author: Healthwise Staff. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.
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