Vitamins are organic compounds, meaning they contain carbon. The human body needs 13 vitamins to support normal growth and development. Iron, classified as a mineral, does not contain carbon, making it an inorganic compound. Although not a vitamin, your body needs iron for the production of proteins and enzymes.
Essential Vitamins
Doctors use the term essential vitamin to describe vitamins required to support normal body functions. The 13 essential vitamins include the B complex vitamins of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate along with vitamins A, C, D, E and K.
Essential Minerals
In addition to those 13 vitamins, your body also needs to maintain adequate levels of certain minerals. The essential minerals can be further classified based on how much you need to consume each day. Macromineral describes the minerals that you need to intake at least 100 mg per day. These include include calcium, chlorine, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and sulfer. Iron is classified as a trace mineral because the required intake falls below 100 mg per day. The other trace minerals include chromium, zinc, manganese, copper, fluorine, cobalt, tin, iodine, selenium, vanadium, nickel, molybdenum and selenium.
What is Recommended Daily Intake?
The National Academy of Sciences provides a list of recommended daily intakes for the essential vitamins and minerals. To determine the RDI, they take into account the recommended daily allowance -- the average daily intake sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of nearly all healthy people. In addition, they use the tolerable upper intake level -- the maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse effects -- to determine the RDI. The RDI list provides the suggested intakes based on age and gender.
Deficiency
Failing to consume the RDI for a vitamin or for iron can lead to a deficiency in that nutrient. The most common cause for nutrient deficiencies includes malnutrition and starvation. Nutrient deficiency may also occur due to diseases that interfere with the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the digestive system, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease. Depending on which vitamin becomes deficient, medical conditions may occur. A vitamin D deficiency, for example, causes rickets in children, resulting in weak bones and delayed growth. Because about two-thirds of all the iron in the body is found in hemoglobin -- the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen -- an iron deficiency causes a deficient number of functioning red blood cells, known as anemia.
Overload
Although the body needs vitamins and minerals, getting too much can also cause medical problems. Vitamins can be classified into two groups; fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins. Because water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water, the body must use them immediately. The body then excretes any extra, diminishing the danger of excessive buildup in the body. Fat-soluble vitamins get stored in the fat cells of the body. Consuming too much of these vitamins, which include vitamin A, D, E and K, can cause symptoms of toxicity. The body also stores iron, retaining and reusing approximately 90 percent each day, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Too much iron can cause organ damage such as cirrhosis of the liver or heart disease.
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