Vitamins & Minerals Demystified

Vitamins and minerals are some of the natural chemicals in foods and you need them to stay healthy. Because a diet that does not include them would not be properly nourishing, they are called nutrients. Vitamins and minerals are very different kinds of chemicals and often occur in different foods. Indeed, the only thing they have in common is that your body needs them to carry out vital metabolic functions. To make sure you get enough of them, you need to know something about a balanced diet.

Understanding Minerals

Minerals, for example iron, calcium, copper and zinc, are inorganic chemicals. You might also have noticed that they tend to be metals. This means they are not actually made by living organisms, but occur naturally in the earth. You need them for a wide range of vital functions. For example, iron is essential for healthy blood while calcium is needed for strong bone formation.

Understanding Vitamins

Vitamins are organic, which means that they are made by living organisms. You need them on your daily plate because your body either cannot make them at all or not enough to meet your needs. Because vitamins are made by living things, they have complex structures and can be very different from each other. There are two main classes of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins are easily destroyed and cannot be stored in your body. You need to get these vitamins from your diet every day. Important examples include riboflavin, vitamin B-1, and vitamin C. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E and K, can be stored in the liver so you don't need them from your diet every day. For example vitamin A, retinol, which is important for good eyesight is in a range of foods including dairy products, carrots and liver.

Good Foods

When looking for good foods, you will find that some are rich in one nutrient but poor in others. For example, oily fish and egg yolk are rich in vitamin D but for vitamin C you need to turn to fruits and vegetables, such as oranges, broccoli and potatoes. The mineral iron, which is vital for healthy blood, is only found in the most readily available heme form in meat and fish. So, you can see that to get all the minerals and vitamins you need, you have to eat different types of foods. If you do this correctly, your diet is balanced.

A Balanced Diet

The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a range of eating habits to ensure that your diet is balanced. For example, women of child-bearing age should choose foods rich in heme iron, such as meat and fish. If you are over 50, you should eat fortified cereals which are enriched with vitamin B-12. Everyone should eat more fruit, vegetables and drink fat-free or low-fat milk. It is important that you eat such a wide range of foods because the nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, you need are so different and are rich in different foods.