Minerals and vitamins play vital roles in your body to sustain health; support growth and development; enhance cellular, tissue and organ function; and prevent disease. Certain minerals and vitamins are also enzyme co-factors, also called co-enzymes, which are substances that assist enzymes in accelerating the rate of a chemical reaction. Consult your doctor about the health benefits of mineral and vitamin enzyme co-factors.
Zinc
Zinc is a trace metal that participates as a co-factor in many chemical reactions in your body. These reactions include immune response to infections, neurological function and reproduction. Inside cells, zinc is acts as a co-factor in chemical reactions that build and maintain structure, regulate gene control and cell signaling and breakdown of substances. Zinc is found in whole grains, eggs, meat and seafood.
Iron
Iron is a trace metal that plays an essential role in red blood cells. Iron is part of hemoglobin, a substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to your cells. Iron acts as a co-factor in involve chemical reactions that transport and store oxygen, cellular energy production, antioxidant protection of cells and DNA synthesis. Iron is found in red meat, seafood, dried beans, dried fruit and fortified cereals.
Vitamin B-6
Vitamin B-6 is a water soluble vitamin present in vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry and red meat. Your body converts vitamin B-6, also called pyridoxine, from food into pyridoxal-5-phosphate, a coenzyme for many important reactions that involve protein metabolism, including synthesis of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, red blood cell formation and assists the body in metabolizing fats. Although most Americans fulfill the Recommended Daily Allowance of between 3.0 to 4.9 mg of vitamin B-6, certain subpopulations, such as the elderly, smokers, non-Hispanic blacks and current and past users of oral contraceptives, are deficient in pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, according to scientists at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts and published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in May 2008.
Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is a water soluble vitamin that contains the mineral cobalt. Vitamin B-12, also called methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosyl cobalamin, is a co-enzyme that transfers a methyl group during chemical reactions that involves synthesis of an amino acid called methionine, an amino acid and DNA in helping to prevent cancer. Vitamin B12 is found exclusively in animal products, such as shellfish and meat and is absent in plant-based foods. Vegetarians and the elderly may have a vitamin B-12 deficiency due to insufficient dietary intake and malabsorption of the nutrient, respectively.
References
- McKinley Health Center University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Vitamins and Minerals; 2008
- Linus Pauing Institute at Oregon State University; Zinc; Emily Ho; February 2008
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University; Iron; Marianne Wessling-Resnick; August 2009
- Colorado State University; Water Soluble Vitamins; 2010
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Plasma Pyridoxal 5'-Phosphate in the Us Population: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2004; Martha Savaria Morris, et al.; May 2008
- Linus Pauling Institute Oregon State University; Vitamin B12; Victoria Drake; August 2007
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