“Eat more Vitamins and Minerals, it’s good for your health.” Really !!! Do you know the role of these 2 nutrients in your body?

Vitamins & minerals these two nutrients are very much important for every human body. Every time our parents, doctors, nutritionist many people are suggesting to eat more vegetables and fruits because they are vitamins & mineral rich foods. So What are Vitamins & Minerals? What is the role of these two? To find those answerer read today’s ‘Healthy’ article.

Vitamins and minerals are kind of essential nutrients that are needed by our body for performing many metabolic activities and building a healthy body. These are acquired by regular balanced diet. When the diet is deficient of nutrients, it cause many deficiency diseases. To avoid getting a body covered around diseases, all should eat the diet full of balanced nutrients. Vitamins and minerals are measured mostly in micro-grams (mcg) or milligrams (mg).

“Vitamins and minerals to the body are like salt and spices to food, they are required vin minute quantities but their presence Or absence can change the whole scenario”.

– Dr. Riya Kumar

Vitamins

Vitamins are complex organic chemicals that are required in our food in small quantities. Most of the vitamins are obtained through the food we eat and others by exposure to some specific things, eg, Vitamin D from sun. Vitamins are categorized as- Fat soluble vitamins & Water soluble vitamins.

Fat soluble vitamins are Vitamin A (Retinol), Vitamin D (Calciferol), Vitamin E (Tocopherol) and Vitamin K (Phylloquinone). They occur in foods containing fats and are stored in the liver or fatty tissue of our body. Food sources for fat soluble vitamins are green leafy vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, fish, butter, soyabean, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and cereals.

Water soluble vitamins are Vitamin B complex, i.e. B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B6 (Pyridoxine), B9 (Folic acid), B12 (Cobalamin) and Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) . These are not stored in our body and excess amount is excreted out. Food sources for Water soluble vitamins are milk, seafood, meat, citrus fruits, yeast and whole grains.

Vitamins are essential for good health, growth, proper vision, normal digestion and synchronized activities of our body. Each vitamin have it’s own specific function in our body. Only two vitamins can be made in our body, they are, Vitamin A and Vitamin D. But overall, all of them in right amount are keeping a healthy body without any deficiency diseases. Therefore, we should eat a varied and balance diet.

Deficiency diseases – The diseases caused due to insufficient amount of nutrients (vitamins) present in our body are called as Deficiency diseases. Each vitamin has its own value and it’s deficiency diseases.

Vitamin	Deficiency disease
Vitamin A	night blindness, Xeropthalmia
Vitamin B1	Beriberi
Vitamin B2	Ariboflavinosis
Vitamin B3	Pellagra
Vitamin B6	Cheilosis
Vitamin B9	Anaemia
Vitamin B12	Pernicious anaemia
Vitamin C	Scurvy
Vitamin D	Osteomalacia
Vitamin E	Growth and fertility disorder
Vitamin K	Hemorrhaging, delayed blood clotting

Minerals

Minerals are inorganic element occurring in the form of salts, and other edible compounds. These are also obtained from the food we eat. There are total sixteen Essential minerals that are required for the body. Minerals are required in specific amount For the body, their excess or deficiency can cause major disturbance in internal wellbeing of our body. These convert our food into energy supplement. These are categorised as- Macro-mineral and Micro-mineral or trace elements. Food sources for these minerals are milk, cereals, salts, fish, fruits, yoghurt, nuts, green vegetable, jaggery, legumes and sea food.

Macro-minerals are required in large amounts in our diet – over 100 mg/day. These are Calcium, Chloride, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium and Sulphur.

Trace elements are needed in small amounts, i.e. only a few mg/day in our diet. These are Chromium, Copper, Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium and Zinc.

Minerals are structural components of bones, soft tissues, teeth, muscles and blood. These are needed for normal functioning and good health of our body. These maintain acid-base balance, water balance and formation of blood in our body.

Deficiency of minerals leads to various health problems,such as-

• Deficiency of iron causes anaemia.
• Deficiency of iodine causes goiter.
• Deficiency of calcium causes hypocalcemia.
• Zinc deficiency
• Magnesium deficiency
• Electrolyte imbalance due to sodium, potassium and other salts.

The sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals are obtained from the balanced diet. Every individual should eat a healthy diet for good health and reduce the chances of getting deficiency diseases.

So now onwards start eating more & more healthy foods with rich of vitamins and minerals.

#stayhealthy #eathealthy

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