Nowadays more and more people are keen to improve or maintain their health. To achieve psychophysical well-being, it is necessary to provide our body – in addition to macronutrients such as carbohydrates and sugars, proteins, and fats – with all the micronutrients, i.e. vitamins and minerals it needs. Vitamins and minerals are molecules with potent health benefits. Let’s get to know them better.Nowadays, more and more people are keen to improve or maintain their health. Our bodies need macronutrients such as carbohydrates and sugars, proteins, fats, and all the micronutrients like vitamins and minerals to maintain peak physiological health. This article will focus on the molecules found in vitamins and minerals. Let’s get to know them better
What are vitamins?
Vitamins are organic compounds needed by the body in small quantities (micronutrients); they are essential for the growth and normal functioning of the body. Our bodies cannot produce vitamins, so we need to get them through a healthy and varied diet, rich in fruits and vegetables and, when necessary, through high-quality supplements. Vitamin D and K are the only two vitamins partially dependent on food consumption because the body partly synthesizes them.
What is the difference between water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins?
Vitamins are generally divided into two categories:
- Water-soluble vitamins (Vitamin C and B-complex vitamins) that dissolve in water.
- Fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamin A, D, E and K) which dissolve in fats (lipids).
Fat-soluble vitamins can accumulate in body tissues but water-soluble vitamins do not and must be taken continuously.
Vitamins and minerals are indispensable to human life.
What are minerals?
Minerals are inorganic substances in non-living matter (for example rocks, raw metals, seawater) that enter the food chain through dispersion in the soil where plants grow. Humans consume minerals directly by feeding on plants, or indirectly, by consuming animal proteins that in turn, feed on plants.
Minerals, like vitamins, are also indispensable in small quantities and the body cannot function properly without them as they are essential for biological functions and growth. Minerals are present in the solid state (in the form of crystals) in bones and teeth and dissolved in intra and extra-cellular fluids. In this dissolved form, minerals regulate your body’s water and salt balance, activate, and regulate numerous metabolic pathways, and are determining factors for the growth and development of tissues and organs.
Unlike macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats), minerals do not directly provide energy, but their presence allows, among other things, the performance of functions that release energy.
What is the difference between minerals and trace elements or trace minerals?
Minerals are typically divided into:
- Real minerals include potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, sulfur, and phosphorus.
- Trace elements or trace minerals such as copper, chromium, fluorine, selenium, and zinc that our bodies need in even smaller doses than real minerals.
When is it necessary to supplement vitamins, and minerals? Or both?
Theoretically, a balanced diet provides all the vitamins and minerals essential to maintain good health. Even so, most individuals will find supplementation helpful at some point in their lives. Here are a few examples: athletes, smokers, pregnant, menopausal, and post-menopausal women, elderly, vegetarians, vegans or others who follow special or restrictive diets, those under prolonged exposure to stress, or those with irregular eating habits or who lead a sedentary lifestyle.