Vitamins and Minerals: Why You Need Them

You hear it all the time: “This will give you all the vitamins and minerals your child will ever need!” But do you really need all these vitamins and minerals to keep yourself going? The short answer: yes.

Every living thing on this planet needs vitamins and minerals to survive. A vitamin is defied as an organic compound, required as nutrient that has to be obtained from diet.

Vitamins are divided into two types: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins that are stored in the fat tissues of your body and in your liver after they are ingested. They hang around until you need them – anywhere from a few days to 6 months. Vitamins A, D, E and K are examples.

Water-soluble vitamins don’t stick around that long. When you eat foods that contain them, they tend to get used up very fast because instead of being stored somewhere, they travel through your bloodstream. If not used, they leave your body as waste. Vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, folic acid and B12 are examples.

But why do you need a certain vitamin or mineral? Well, Vitamin A is the key to vision health. It helps you see color, grow properly, and aids in keeping your skin healthy. Milk, liver, orange fruits and vegetables like cantaloupe and carrots, and dark leafy greens like spinach all contain vitamin A.

The Vitamin B group is important in metabolic activity – making energy. It also aids in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout your body. Whole grains (wheat and oats), fish and other types of seafood, poultry and meat, eggs, and dairy products are all rich in B vitamins.

Vitamin C is important to your body tissues like gums and muscles, and can be found in fruits and vegetables. Vitamin D, found in milk, is vital to your bones and teeth. Vitamin E maintains body tissue and can be found in whole grains, nuts and seeds. Vitamin K helps make sure your blood clots, and can be found in vegetables and dairy products.

When you think about minerals, you’re probably thinking rocks, right? Well, when you’re thinking about what your body needs, bits of rock won’t help much. But dietary minerals will. The list of minerals to go along with vitamins is pretty long, but you need them all.

Potassium can be found in tomatoes, legumes and bananas. Chloride is needed for production of hydrochloric acid, and is found in table salt. Sodium can be found in table salt, milk and spinach. Calcium is needed for muscle, heart healthy, building bones and supporting blood cells, and can be found leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds. Magnesium can be found in nuts, soy beans and cocoa; manganese helps in enzyme functions. Copper, iodine, and selenium are also necessary. And iron, which is required for many proteins and enzymes, is found in red meat, eggs, dried fruits, whole grains and fish.

It may seem like a bit much when you look at all the vitamins and minerals your body runs on, but really, you eat most of those foods in your everyday life – and most of them are pretty tasty! Making sure that your body has the vitamins and minerals it needs to function is pretty simple when you think of what it all comes down to: making sure to eat good meals!