Videl's Health World
Vitamins and Minerals
Samll quantities of vitamins are necessary for growth and maintenance of health throughout your life. Vitamins do not supply energy, but they are essential for the proper functioning of all the body's systems. There are two basic forms of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins are not stored for any period in the body (excess amounts are simply excreted), and so they must be taken daily in your diet. They are easily destroyed by cooking and food processing, so fresh food is likely to be the highest-quality source of most water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins are also destroyed by heat, light, air and cooking. They are stored in the fatty tissues of your body, so excess doses may build up and eventually cause toxic reactions. you do not need to take great quantities of them on a regular basis, since your body uses its store of these vitamins as and when it needs them. In recent years, vitamin pills have become a multi-million pound industry. However, no pill can duplicate the
very delicate relationship that exists betwen different vitamins in nature, and taking mega-doses of synthetic vitamins is never preferable to getting a good supply of natural vitaims from a well-balanced diet.
Every tissue in the body contains minerals and every bodily process and action requires minerals to be present in adequate supply. some minerals - such as calcium, potassium and magnesium - are present in relatively large amounts in the body, but others (called trace minerals) are only present in very small amounts. A varied diet, with plenty of fresh food, will provide you with all the vitamins and minerals you are likely to need.
Vitamin A
Vitamins A is a fat-soluble vitamin which is essential for the countinuous repair and replacement of cell tissues throughout your body. An excellent vegetable source of vitamin A is carotene, which is a plant pigment (present in carrots and may yellow- or orange-coloured vegetables). Carotene is converted in the human body into vitamin A (retinol), which is stored in the liver, kidneys, lungs and eyes. Cooked vegetables are often higher in usable vitamins A than raw ones, because the plant cell membranes are destroyed during cooking, thus making more carotene available for our bodies to utilize. However, high-temperature cooking will tend to destroy or degrade it. Best sources are carrots, spinach, brococoli and other leafy vegetables.
Vitamins B Complex
This collection of water-soluble vitamins includes thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid and niacin. They work to maintain the health of your nervous system and your circulatory system. Many of them can be found in yeast products (brewer's yeast, or yeast extracts), and whole-grain cereals are another good source. Other foods rich in B vitamins include wheatgerm, nuts and seedsm, eggs, milk and soya products.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is another water-soluble vitamin that strengthens blood vessels and provides resistance to infection. Citrus fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C, and other good sources include red and green peppers, bean sprouts, potatoes, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprouts. Your need for vitamin C may increase with age, since the body has a greater need to regenerate its collagen (connective tissue). Cigarette smoking will rob your body of vitamin C, and a dirty environment - such as the urban pollution that most of us now have to put up with - may also increase your need for this vitamin.
Vitamin D
This has been called the sunshine vitamin, because the sun's rays act on a fat contained in our skin and convert it into vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is therefore more common in failure to absorb calcium and phosphorus, causing faulty formation of bone (rickets). In your diet, this vitamin can be obtained from fortified products (such as margarine) or dairy products.
Vitamin E
Vitamin e is a fat-soluble vitamin which protects red blood cells, improves their, capacity to transport oxygen and prevents impaired flow of blood through clotting. It enhances the action of other major nutrients by preventing them from breaking down before your body can use them (this is called oxidation, therefore vitamin E is an anti-oxidant). The main sources are cereals and vegetable oils, including wheatgerm, sunflower oil, soya oil, and most nuts and seeds.
Calcium
Everyone knows that calcium is necessary for the development of strong and healthy teeth and bones. However, many people who eat a typical junk food diet could be at risk from calcium deficiency. Calcium is present in milk, cheese, soya products, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruits, sea vegetables (such as kelp and kombu), almonds, molasses and a great many other delicious foods - but it is not present in the kind of snack food that many young people are, unfortunately, inclined to eat. This is one more reson to prefer nutritious home cooking to expensive and unhealthy fast food.
Iodine
Iodine is a trace mineral which helps the thyroid gland to grow and function. It's easy to get enough iodine if you eat mushrooms, sea vegetables, sea salt or iodized table salt, and sunflower seeds.
Iron
Lack of iron is the one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the West and, once again, the fundamental cause is a poor basic diet that relies too heavily on highly processed junk food. Iron combines with protein in the body and, when further combined with copper, creates haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the red colouring of your blood and supplies oxygen to all your body tissues. Iron also helps many of the vitamins and minerals do their work and builds your resistance to infection and disease. Foods containing vitamins C and E help the body to absorb iron in the diet, and the use of iron cooking utensils may also provide a boost to iron availability. The main sources of iron in the diet are bread, flour and other cereal products, potatoes and green leafy vegetables, and in particular, prune juice, rolled oats, brewer's yeast powder, dried apricots, raisins, plain chocolate and broccoli.
Magnesium
Magnesium helps your body to process carbohydrates, and plays a part in the development of bones, teeth, muscle and nerves. It is supplied in a healthy diet by nuts and seeds, fresh green vegetables, fruit, whole grains and molasses.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus works with calcium to develop bones and teeth and to maintain them in good repair. This mineral is important to the contraction of muscles - even those you don't see, such as the heart - and is used in nearly every function that your body performs. Phosphorus is generally found in protein foods such as dairy produce, nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans and lentils. You need to have calcium and vitamin D in adequate supply to ensure that phosphorus will be absorbed from your diet. A high-fat or high-sugar diet will reduce the amount of phosphorus you are able to absorb and should therefore be avoided.
Potassium
Potassium works together with sodium to keep the fluid (water) inside and outside the cell walls in balance. Your heart, nerves, kidneys and skin especially rely on an adequate supply of potassium, but all metabolic processes require it to be present in balance with sodium. Magnesium helps maintain correct levels of potassium. Potatoes and oranges, sunflower seeds and green, leafy vegetable are also good sources.
Zinc
Zinc plays an important role in digestion and the absorption of vitamins, and also has a beneficial effect on fertility, growth and heading. Yeast products, grains and seeds are tasty foods with useful quantities of zinc.