Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properly.
Most people should get all the nutrients they need by eating a varied and balanced diet.
What are vitamins?
There are two types of vitamins: fat-soluble and water-soluble.
Fat-soluble vitamins are found mainly in fatty foods and animal products, such as vegetable oils, milk and dairy foods, eggs, liver, oily fish and butter. While your body needs these vitamins every day to work properly, you don’t need to eat foods containing them every day. This is because your body stores these vitamins in your liver and fatty tissues for future use. These stores can build up so they are there when you need them. However, if you have much more than you need, fat-soluble vitamins can be harmful.
Fat-soluble vitamins are:
- vitamin A
- vitamin D
- vitamin E
- vitamin K
Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body, so you need to have them more frequently. If you have more than you need, your body gets rid of the extra vitamins when you urinate. As the body does not store water-soluble vitamins, these vitamins are generally not harmful. However, this doesn’t mean that all large amounts are necessarily harmless. Water-soluble vitamins are found in a wide range of foods, including fruit, vegetables, potatoes, grains, milk and dairy foods. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, they can be destroyed by heat or being exposed to the air. They can also be lost in water used for cooking. This means that by cooking foods, especially boiling them, we lose some of these vitamins. The best way to keep as many of the water-soluble vitamins as possible is to steam or grill foods, rather than boil them, or to use the cooking water in soups or stews rather than pouring it away.
Main water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C, the B vitamins and folic acid.
What are minerals?
Minerals are necessary for three main reasons:
- building strong bones and teeth
- controlling body fluids inside and outside cells
- turning the food you eat into energy
Minerals are found in foods such as meat, cereals (including cereal products such as bread), fish, milk and dairy foods, vegetables, fruit (especially dried fruit) and nuts. Essential minerals include calcium and iron, although there are also many other types of minerals that are an important part of a healthy diet.
What are trace elements?
Trace elements are also essential nutrients that your body needs to work properly, but in much smaller amounts than vitamins and minerals. Trace elements are found in small amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, fish, cereals, milk and dairy foods, vegetables and nuts. Examples of trace elements are iodine and fluoride.
Which Vitamin is Good For and Where Found in?
Let’s look deeper to essential vitamins. Which one does what and where are they found in?
|Vitamin||Good for:||Found in:|
|Vitamin A||Cell growth and development, the eyes and immune system||Carrots, Pumpkin, Spinach|
|Vitamin C||Bones, gums and teeth, cell repair, collagen production||Fruit and vegetables|
|Vitamin D||Bones||Fish, eggs, mushrooms and the sun!|
|Vitamin E||Cell protection, red blood cells||Fruits and vegetables|
|Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)||converting carbs into energy, the heart, muscles and nerves||Rice, veg, potatoes, eggs|
|Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)||Vision, turning carbs into energy||Dairy, bananas, popcorn|
|Vitamin B3 (Niacin)||skin, nerves, turning food into energy||Meat, fish, eggs, veg|
|Vitamin B5||Acne, making red blood cells||Meat, broccoli, avocados|
|Vitamin B6||brain and nerve function, red blood cells||Meat, veg, bananas|
|Vitamin B9 (Folate/Folic acid)||Making red blood cells, and DNA||Leafy veg, pasta, bread, cereal|
|Vitamin B12||Nerve cells, producing red blood cells||Meat, dairy, animal products|
Which Mineral is Good For and Where Found in?
Let’s look deeper to essential minerals. Which one does what and where are they found in?
|Mineral||Good for:||Found in:|
|Calcium||Bones and teeth||Diary, leafy veg, soy|
|Phosphorus||Bones, teeth, energy||Most foods|
|Magnesium||Muscles, nerve function, regulating heart rhythm, energy||Potatoes, beans, milk, chocolate|
|Sodium||Balancing water and blood||Salt|
|Potassium||Muscle and nerve function, balancing water in the body||Bananas, citrus, peas, potatoes|
|Iron||Transport oxygen around the body||Meat, fish, poultry, beans, vegeatbles|
|Iodine||Thyroid function, regulating oestrogen, metabolism, creating foetal nervous systems||Cabbage, sprouts, seaweed|
|Manganese||Brain function, bones||Tea, nuts, spinach, pineapple|
|Zinc||Growth, immunity, cell repair||Red meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, wholegrain|
RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) and Toxic Effects
Recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is the amount of nutrient and calorie intake per day considered necessary for maintenance of good health, calculated for males and females of various ages and recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, USA. Many people think that if some is good, a lot is better. This is not always the case. High doses of certain vitamins can be toxic. Ask your health care provider what is best for you. If you are using a supplement than do not take more than 100% of the RDA
|Nutrient||RDA||Potential toxic effects at overdoses|
|Vitamin A||Men: 3,000 IU
Women: 2,300 IU
|Liver toxicity, dry rough skin and cracked lips, irritability, headache, birth defects|
|Beta carotene (as mixed carotenoids)||N.D.||Possibly increased lung cancer in smokers, harmless orange skin colour|
|Vitamin D||9-50 years: 200 IU
51-70 years: 400 IU
> 70 years: 600 IU
Osteopenia or osteoporosis: 1,000 IU
|Heart/liver/kidney toxicity, hypercalcemia (excess calcium in the blood)|
|Vitamin E||22 IU||Possible increase in heart disease, excess bleeding|
|Vitamin K||M: 120 mcg
W: 90 mcg
|Interaction with blood thinners|
|Vitamin C||M: 90 mg
W: 75 mg
smokers add 35 mg
|Pro-oxidant, excess iron absorption, diarrhea|
|Thiamine (B1)||M: 1.2 mg
W: 0.9 mg
|Very high doses may promote tumour growth|
|Riboflavin (B2)||M: 1.3 mg
W: 1.1 mg
|Niacin (nicotinic acid)||M: 16 mg
W: 14 mg
|Itching, skin flushing,
Liver toxicity, insulin resistance
|Vitamin B6||M: 1.3-1.7 mg
W: 1.3-1.5 mg
|Nerve damage (neuropathy)|
|Folate||0.4 mg||High dose can mask B12 deficiency leading to nerve damage|
|Vitamin B12(cobalamin)||2.4 mcg||Rare cases of eye damage|
|Calcium||1,000-1,200 mg||Calcium deposits in soft tissues|
|Magnesium||M: 400 mg
W: 320 mg
|Diarrhea, decreased calcium absorption|
|Iron||M: 8 mg
W: 18 mg
|Iron overload disorders, heart disease, liver cirrhosis|
|Zinc||M: 11 mg
W: 8 mg
|Immune suppression, nausea, metallic taste, copper deficiency|
|Selenium||55 mcg||Brittle hair and nails, irritability, garlic breath, fatigue, nausea|
|RDA: recommended daily allowance (from all sources)
** There is little to no evidence of efficacy for these doses. Discuss your options with your physician and dietitian.
The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins reflect how much of each vitamin most people should get each day.
- The RDA for vitamins may be used as goals for each person.
- How much of each vitamin you need depends on your age and gender. Other factors, such as pregnancy and your health, are also important.
The best way to get all the daily vitamins you need is to eat a balanced diet that contains a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, fortified dairy foods, legumes (dried beans), lentils, and whole grains. Dietary supplements are another way to get the vitamins you need if the food you eat is not supplying enough vitamins. Supplements can be helpful during pregnancy and for special medical problems. If you take supplements, DO NOT take more than 100% of the RDA. Be very careful about taking large amounts of fat-soluble vitamin supplements. These include vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins are stored in fat cells, and they can build up in your body and may cause harmful effects.
About Vitamin toxicity, you can visit to Medscape Web Page.