The pace of life has increased over time for both work and leisure. Sad but true, this change has lead to many health problem, either because of stress, not eating on time, not resting enough or even not having time to exercise. One of the solutions to solve these problems is to take supplements in order to compensate for the things that the body is missing. I do not recommend or support taking supplements as I think it is not the right solution to solve the problem in the long term. However, if it becomes necessary it is important that we know how to take supplements properly and for the most benefit. But in this article I will talk about vitamins and minerals which are the nutrients that our body cannot live without.
Vitamins are the nutrients which our body needs and requires to work properly, but our body only needs vitamins as micronutrients. This means the need for smaller quantities than other nutrients such as fat, protein or carbohydrates. We receive vitamins from the food that we take and from the synthesis system within our own body. The main purpose of vitamins is to create or transport other nutrients for the body to use. For example; vitamin D is one of the vitamins which pass on calcium for our body to build bones and vitamin K is a part of the process of blood clotting when our body has a wound. Therefore a deficiency of vitamins will cause our body to be malfunction. Vitamins can be divided into two types. The first type is Fat Soluble Vitamins which are vitamin A, D, E and K. These vitamins can be saved and stored in our body. The second type is Water Soluble Vitamins which are vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B11, B12, B15 and vitamin C.
These vitamins are excreted from the body quickly causing a deficiency of these vitamins very easily as they cannot be saved and stored. Minerals ( or inorganic compound ) are elements in food. Minerals play many important roles in our body e.g. being a body structure; an element of cells, tissues and nerves; an element of enzymes, hormones and vitamins. Minerals also control the operation of every muscle in every organ of our body. However, in the same way as vitamins, minerals are only needed as micronutrients. If we do not receive enough minerals, our body will not grow properly which might cause some disorders/malfunctions. The most basic source of minerals is food. Examples of minerals which are important for our body are calcium, iodine or iron. Minerals can be divided into a macro minerals type and a trace minerals type. Macro minerals are the minerals that our body needs in a quantity of more than 100 mg per day.
These minerals are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulphur and chloride. Calcium is the mineral which can be detected the most in our body as it’s the composition of our bones. Other minerals that can be detected are phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and sodium. Trace minerals are the minerals that our body needs in a smaller quantity of less than 11 mg per day. These minerals are iron, zinc, selenium, manganese, copper, iodine, chromium, cobalt, fluoride, molybdenum and vanadium. Even though our body only needs these minerals in a small quantity, they are still important to our body. The details of the benefits, the sources or the types of food which contain vitamins and minerals will be shared in the next article. Should you have any query or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact “Healthlab Medical Laboratory”; the blue building located next to PTT gas station.
