Maintaining a healthy body means taking in a wide variety of foods to get all your essential vitamins and minerals. Take a multivitamin supplement that contains all your essential vitamins and minerals, or take separate vitamin supplements for each specific vitamin you need. While your body requires many vitamins and minerals to function at its best, some vitamins play particularly important roles in promoting overall well-being.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant and helps to neutralize free radicals in the body. If left unchecked, free radicals can lead to a number of various cancers and other diseases. Vitamin A is also necessary for good vision and healthy skin. Food sources of vitamin A include fruits and vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, sweet potatoes and melons. Vitamin A is also available as an ingredient in a multivitamin or as an individual supplement.
Vitamin B Complex
Vitamin B Complex is a vitamin that contains all of the eight B vitamins, including vitamins B6, B12, folic acid and niacin. The B vitamins are essential to good overall health. Vitamin B6 is responsible for your body functioning properly. Vitamin B 12 is responsible for providing you with energy and maintaining a strong immune system. Folic acid is important for women of child-bearing age because it contributes to proper brain stem development. Many food sources contain one or more of the B vitamins, but the best way to make sure you're getting them all is through a vitamin B complex supplement.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is responsible for proper immune function. It helps your body heal from sickness or injury and promotes repair on a cellular level. Vitamin C can be found in food sources like oranges, grapefruit, peppers, brussels sprouts and strawberries.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, because your body makes vitamin D when it's exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is important: Without it, your bones cannot utilize calcium properly. Calcium is what helps makes bones hard and prevents them from breaking easily. Dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese all contain vitamin D. You can also take vitamin D in the form of a supplement.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is another antioxidant important in neutralizing free radicals in the body. Good food sources of vitamin E include green leafy vegetables, blueberries, nuts, vegetable oils and fortified cereals.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods like salmon, mackerel, eggs, seeds and fish oil capsules. Your body needs omega-3 in order to make new brain cells and nerve cells.
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