After reading All about Nutrition - Part I, Are you curious to know why Micronutrients (Vitamins and Minerals) are important?
It's a beautiful Sunday and you probably curious to know it's Importance.
We will be talking about Micronutrients and the classifications.
If you haven't been through All About Nutrition - Part I, I highly recommend having a peek at it.
Let's get started!
Micronutrients are nutrients which are available in our food in small proportion yet it has a significant contribution towards our Personal Health and Well being.
There are 2 types of Micronutrients:
Vitamins.
Minerals.
Vitamins:
The term Vitamin was previously known as "Vitamine". Vitamine was a combination of two words, Vital and Amines.
Vital means important and Amines is an atomic structure which includes a Nitrogen atom paired with 2 Hydrogen atom and a lonepair.
Later they dropped the e from the Vitamine.
List of Vitamins:
Vitamin A.
Vitamin B Complex (B1,B2,B3,B5B6,B7,B9 and B12).
Vitamin C.
Vitamin D.
Vitamin E.
Vitamin K.
Only some vitamins can be internally developed by us (i.e. Vitamin D and Vitamin K)
While some supplementation of Vitamins like (Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Vitamin E) is required to complete our nutritional requirements.
The most common vitamin deficiencies are Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) and Vitamin A.
If you are a Vegetarian, You might probably be deficient in Vitamin B12 as it is majorly available in animal meat.
A journal, "How prevalent is vitamin B(12) deficiency among vegetarians?" mentions that,
"Higher rates of deficiency were reported among vegans compared with vegetarians and among individuals who had adhered to a vegetarian diet since birth compared with those who had adopted such a diet later in life. ".
If you are a vegetarian or a vegan, I would recommend supplementing Vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 is important when it comes to Blood Formation and Neural Functioning and our body does not produce Vitamin B12.
Vitamins can be further be classified into 2 categories:
Fat-soluble vitamins (ADEK).
Water-soluble vitamins.
Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E and Vitamin K are examples of Fat-soluble vitamins.
Vitamin B complex (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12).
Fat-soluble vitamins are stored within the tissues of our fat cell.
So that our body can make use of it whenever required.
Water-soluble vitamins are not stored within our body and requires water for its metabolization.
Minerals:
These are the trace elements which are required for building a strong structure within us to perform necessary functions for life.
If you can stand strong, contract muscles and have a rhythmic heartbeat, let's take a moment and appreciate the minerals within us.
List of Minerals:
Calcium.
Iron.
Zinc.
Sodium.
Potassium.
Phosphorus.
Chlorine.
Iodine.
Copper.
Manganese
Molybdenum.
Chromium.
Selenium.
Cobalt.
Sodium.
Potassium.
Magnesium.
Our Human body requires a small portion of Minerals for Proper
Calcium gives you strong bones.
Iron promotes building new RBC's (Red Blood Corpuscles) which is responsible to carry oxygen across our body.
Zinc strengthens our immune system, Promotes cell growth and cell division and heals wounds.
The most common mineral deficiencies are Iron, Iodine, Zinc and Magnesium.
Thank you for reaching till here, I hope you have a Nutritious Sunday.
Till then I would urge my readers to please keep coming back for more fun articles and do share your love, comment, criticism and don't forget to tap on that Heart below.❤
Hope you have an awesome Nutritious Sunday.
Comments