A balanced diet that consists of varied foods is important to provide all the essential nutrients your body requires for good health. Vitamins and minerals are important catalysts and compounds for cell and tissue synthesis, red blood cell production, food metabolism and all the body's functions and processes. Combining certain foods provides specific vitamins and minerals that enhance the absorption of other essential nutrients. Combining foods in balanced proportions is important for overall body health and well-being.
Food Pyramid
A healthy diet consists of varied foods that provide balanced nutrition. Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients work together in synergy to maintain and facilitate normal body processes and mechanisms. However, no one food contains all the essential nutrients you require, and combining certain foods and eating the right proportions from each food group is necessary to promote good health. A nutrition pyramid outlines the pieces of a healthy daily diet, which includes fruit and vegetables as the largest portion in addition to lean protein, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats.
Protein
Your body requires 10 essential amino acids that are used for building blocks to produce proteins that make up your skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscles as well as enzymes, DNA and metabolic intermediaries in the body. All essential amino acids are found in meat and meat products. Plant-based foods do not contain all of these required nutrients. However, individuals that are strict vegetarians or vegans can acquire these essential building blocks by combining two or more varied plant-based foods in a meal, including vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and seeds. For example, a meal composed of rice and lentils or oatmeal, a bagel and soy milk contains all the necessary amino acids.
Red Blood Cells
Combining foods that contain iron with vitamin-C-rich foods promotes the uptake of this important mineral. Iron is needed to produce the heme groups in red blood cells, erythrocytes, which are responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the body. Vitamin C, or ascorbate and citrate, found in citrus fruits, kiwis, broccoli and other foods, increases iron absorption by breaking down the metal. Iron is then transferred into the mucosal lining of the duodenum in the small intestine and absorbed into the bloodstream. Hence, combining iron-rich spinach leaves with orange slices in a salad increases iron levels in your body.
Bone Health
Like other beneficial mineral and vitamin interactions, vitamin D plays a key role in the absorption of calcium from the digestive tract and its use in your body. Calcium is essential for developing and maintaining healthy bones and teeth and is also required for muscle and cardiovascular health. Menopausal women with osteoporosis, a disease that causes brittle, weak bones, should take combined vitamin D and calcium supplements. Eating combined foods that contain these nutrients is also beneficial.
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