Of the nutrients you need for proper functioning, your body is unable to store water-soluble vitamins, which need to be replaced every day. There are also certain minerals that your body requires on a daily basis to perform important tasks such as making red blood cells. Eating a well-balanced, healthy diet will help ensure you receive all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.
B Vitamins
B vitamins help make red blood cells and are water-soluble, so you have to replace them each day. B vitamins do more than just make red blood cells, they also aid in digestion so your body can use fats, carbohydrates and protein as energy. They're important for hair and nail growth, as well as your skin. You can obtain B vitamins from a variety of foods including poultry, meat, fish, eggs, leafy green vegetables and beans.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, another water-soluble vitamin, helps boost your immune system and helps your skin produce collagen. Collagen is important for your skin because when you cut yourself, collagen production makes skin grow back in the place where the cut occurred. Vitamin C helps keep other tissues healthy such as your organs, gums and muscles. Vitamin C helps your body resist infections and when a virus or bacteria does make its way into your body, vitamin C helps your body fight off the invasion so you get well soon. You can obtain vitamin C from foods such as kiwi, cabbage, sweet red peppers, strawberries and other citrus fruits.
Potassium
Potassium is an electrolyte, which conducts electricity within your body, and it plays a vital role in the contraction of smooth muscle. Your heart is made of smooth muscle, which makes potassium a vital mineral in heart function and other cell function. Potassium is found in various foods including all types of meat, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and some types of fish such as cod and salmon. Potassium can cause problems for those who are older. As you age, your kidneys lose the ability to filter vitamins, minerals and toxins, which make it easier for them to build up.
Iron
Iron is another important mineral because it helps produce adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which is your body's energy source. It also helps red blood cells, or RBCs, carry oxygen to other parts of your body from your lungs. Your body stores iron in bones, muscles, liver and spleen. Iron is found in foods such as meat, fish and shellfish.
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