Vitamins & Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients because they perform hundreds of roles in the body. There is a fine line between getting enough of these nutrients (which is healthy) and getting too much (which can end up harming you). Eating a healthy diet remains the best way to get sufficient amounts of the vitamins and minerals you need. Every day, our body produces skin, muscle, and bone. It churns out rich red blood that carries nutrients and oxygen to remote outposts, and it sends nerve signals skipping along thousands of miles of brain and body pathways. It also formulates chemical messengers that shuttle from one organ to another, issuing the instructions that help sustain your life. Vitamins and minerals are considered essential nutrientsbecause acting in concert, they perform hundreds of roles in the body. They help shore up bones, heal wounds, and bolster your immune system. They also convert food into energy, and repair cellular damage. Vitamins and minerals are often called micronutrients because your body needs only tiny amounts of them. Yet failing to get even those small quantities virtually guarantees disease.

Some of the most prevalent reasons include an increased need for the mineral, a lack of the mineral in the diet, or trouble absorbing the mineral through food. Mineral deficiencies can cause a number of health issues, including brittle bones, exhaustion, and a weakened immune system. Minerals are certain types of nutrients that your body requires for optimum function. When your body does not get or absorb the required amount of a mineral, you have a mineral deficit. To keep healthy, the human body requires various amounts of each mineral. A deficiency develops gradually over time and can be caused by a variety of factors. Some of the most prevalent reasons include an increased need for the mineral, a lack of the mineral in the diet, or trouble absorbing the mineral through food. Mineral deficiencies can cause a number of health issues, including brittle bones, exhaustion, and a weakened immune system.

Vitamin deficiency is the condition of a long-term lack of a vitamin. When caused by not enough vitamin intake it is classified as a primary deficiency, whereas when due to an underlying disorder such as malabsorption it is called a secondary deficiency. An underlying disorder may be metabolic – as in a genetic defect for converting tryptophan to niacin – or from lifestyle choices that increase vitamin needs, such as smoking or drinking alcohol. Government guidelines on vitamin deficiencies advise certain intakes for healthy people, with specific values for women, men, babies, the elderly, and during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Many countries have mandated vitamin food fortification programs to prevent commonly occurring vitamin deficiencies.

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia, and it occurs when your body doesn’t have enough of the mineral iron. Your body needs iron to make hemoglobin. When there isn’t enough iron in your blood stream, the rest of your body can’t get the amount of oxygen it needs. While the condition may be common, many people don’t know they have iron deficiency anemia. It’s possible to experience the symptoms for years without ever knowing the cause. In women of childbearing age, the most common cause of iron deficiency anemia is a loss of iron in the blood due to heavy menstruation or pregnancy. A poor diet or certain intestinal diseases that affect how the body absorbs iron can also cause iron deficiency anemia.

Fats are the body's most concentrated source of energy (37 kJ/g). They also help to absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K, as well as other fat-soluble biologically active components. Because they are soluble in organic solvents and are absorbed and transported in a way comparable to fats, vitamins A, D, E, and K are known as fat-soluble vitamins. Vision, bone health, immunological function, and coagulation are just a few of the physiological processes that fat-soluble vitamins play a part in. The biochemistry, transport, and functions of these vitamins are discussed in this review, with a focus on deficient disorders and potential toxicities.They absorb in the lymph, are transported in the circulation via carrier proteins, and can be stored in the liver and fatty tissues since they are fat soluble.