A healthful diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and nutritious oils supplies your body with a natural source of vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients. Vitamins and minerals prove essential to many of your body functions. Consuming a sufficient supply of vitamins and minerals benefits your body by keeping your organ systems healthy and helping to prevent serious and potentially life-threatening diseases.
Strong Bones
Vitamin D and calcium help you develop and maintain strong bones. Vitamin D aids in the formation of your bones and proves essential to the absorption of dietary calcium from the intestine. Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium give your bones their rigidity and strength. Other minerals that also contribute to your bone health include copper, boron, manganese, fluoride and zinc, reports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General.
Efficient Metabolism
Your body requires several vitamins and minerals to metabolize dietary proteins, fats and carbohydrates into energy, notes Colorado State University. A healthful diet that includes the recommended levels of B complex vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin and vitamin B5, helps you maintain efficient metabolism and adequate energy production.
Healthy Immune System
Your immune system defends against infections from invading viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. Vitamins A, C and D and the mineral zinc prove particularly important in supporting the healthy function of your immune system, reports the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
Visual Health
The image-perceiving area of your eye, or the retina, contains colored chemicals called pigments, which enable your perception of light and color. Vitamin A-rich vegetables in your diet, such as spinach, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and carrots, support the formation of the visual pigments and protect you against the development of night blindness.
Prevention of Cell Damage
During the course of normal metabolism, your body generates highly reactive chemicals called free radicals. These chemicals also form if you are exposed to tobacco smoke, pollutants or radiation. Free radicals can damage your cells, impairing their normal function. Vitamins C and E, selenium and beta carotene are antioxidants, which protect your cells from free radical damage, explains the American Dietetic Association.
Normal Red Blood Cell Production
Your body tissues require a constant supply of oxygen to maintain normal function. Red blood cells ferry oxygen from your lungs to the body tissues. Your bone marrow produces an ongoing supply of red blood cells to replace old cells removed from the circulation by your spleen and liver. To produce an adequate number of red blood cells, your body requires iron, vitamin B12, folate, riboflavin, vitamin C and copper, notes the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Normal red blood cell production helps prevent you from developing anemia, which may lead to chronic fatigue, shortness of breath and weakness.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General: Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D
- Colorado State University Pathophysiology Hypertext: Vitamins: Introduction and Index
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin A and Carotenoids
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin C
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Zinc
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