Eating a healthy diet is about more than just getting enough carbohydrates, proteins and fats to fuel your body and make new tissue. A healthy and balanced diet also requires you to get enough vitamins and minerals, because these substances play a number of important roles in the body.
Vitamins as Coenzymes
The majority of the chemical reactions in your body are facilitated by special proteins known as enzymes. Enzymes do not alter what goes into or comes out of a chemical reaction; instead, these proteins speed up the chemical reactions so that the products are made at the rate at which the body needs them. Many vitamins serve as coenzymes or cofactors for these enzymes. This means that small amounts of the vitamins are needed to allow the reaction to proceed quickly.
Fat- and Water-Soluble Vitamins
Vitamins can be divided into two groups, depending on the conditions in which they dissolve easily. The vitamins that dissolve well in fat, known as fat-soluble vitamins, are vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins are important for the function of the immune system, absorption of calcium, as antioxidants and for proper blood clotting. Water-soluble vitamins include the B vitamins and vitamin C. Vitamin C is needed to make collagen and to keep the immune system working; many of the B vitamins play a pivotal role in metabolism.
Minerals
Minerals are inorganic substances that come from the earth and also play a pivotal role in keeping the body working properly. Many of these are electrolytes, which means that they carry an electrical charge when dissolved in water. Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium and chloride can help cells change their electrical charge, which is especially important for muscle and nerve cells. Calcium is needed to make bones, produce energy, regulate immunity and for blood clotting.
Trace Minerals
Trace minerals describe a class of minerals that are needed in much smaller amounts than other minerals. Trace minerals include chromium, iodine, copper, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc. Except for chromium, these trace minerals all function as coenzymes; for example, iron is needed to make hemoglobin, which allows red blood cells to bind oxygen and carbon dioxide. Iron and zinc are the most common trace mineral deficiencies in developed countries, the Merck Manual reports.
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