In this Blog Post we will cover everything you need to know about micronutrients. If you want to improve your health and knowledge, keep reading.
What are micronutrients?
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that are only needed in small amounts. Our bodies are not able to produce all of the nutrients that we need to function properly, so we have to eat them.
Vitamins are compounds which are necessary for our normal growth and function. Most of the compounds needed for our body cells to function properly can be made by our cells from other nutrients. However, our bodies don’t have the ability to make the small number that we call vitamins. We only need a very tiny amount of vitamins. They are still present in ample amounts in various foods, but it is possible to become deficient in vitamins. If this happens, there could be some health issues that arise.
Which vitamins should you eat?
There are 13 vitamins which all interact within our cell enzymes to regulate a variety of essential bodily functions. They are crucial for many metabolic processes such as releasing energy from nutrients, building and maintaining bones, teeth, skin, blood and many other vital body tissues.
There are also two main categories of vitamins fat-soluble and water-soluble.
What is a water soluble vitamin?
Water soluble vitamins are not able to be stored in our bodies for very long. In fact, we pee them out – so we need to eat them almost every day.
The water-soluble vitamins are all of the B vitamins, C vitamins, and also vitamin H. Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in our bodies, so any excess amounts of these vitamins that are consumed are usually removed from our bodies via our urine.
What is a fat soluble vitamin?
Fat-soluble vitamins use the fats that we eat as a transport system to get around our body, and are stored in fatty tissues as well as our liver.
The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K. One reason why we need fat in our diet is that the fat-soluble vitamins are transported with fats in “lipoproteins” in our blood, or with specific transport proteins because they can not dissolve in water or blood. These vitamins operate in cells as well as their membranes. Due to the fact that these vitamins can be stored in our body, excessively high intakes of them can be toxic harmful.
Why are minerals needed in our diets?
To understand why we need to eat minerals, it’s best to first understand what minerals are. Minerals are inorganic substances, which occur naturally in non-living things such as water, rocks, soil, plants, and even animals. Some minerals are required for our cells to function properly, so they are actively taken into plants from the soil and water. We obtain minerals when they eat plants, as well as from water.
What is the use of dietary minerals?
The minerals in our diet are essential for a variety of bodily functions. They are important for building strong bones, teeth, blood, skin, hair, nerve function, muscle and for metabolic processes such as those that turn the food we eat into energy. In simple terms, this means that minerals are needed for the body to work properly for proper health as well as stable growth and development.
Different minerals are required in different amounts, but they are all essential. Minerals are grouped depending on how much they are needed on a daily basis, so the minerals that are needed in bigger amounts are known as the minerals, macro-minerals and major minerals. The minerals that are needed in smaller amounts are known as micro-minerals or “trace elements”.
I hope after reading this you feel like you have learned almost all the important things that there is to know about micronutrients.
-Blake Bernstein Resilient Fitness Personal Trainer