Being healthy is not a crash course, but a lifestyle. Besides healthy food and exercise, personal hygiene and social distancing also help protect from diseases.

A Guide to Essential Vitamins and Micronutrients and Should you be Taking Them?

Mass consumption of vitamin and mineral supplements doesn’t confer any real health benefits and might even be harmful.

Types

The booming health and fitness industry, diets (fad or otherwise), and holistic living practices have introduced plenty of terms in our daily life that may sound like gibberish to the common man. What is nutrition? What is a nutrient?&nbsp; Nutrition is anything you put in your body allowing it to repurpose it for survival, development and help it function normally. This is delivered via nutrients which are of two kinds:&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">

Macronutrients

<h5 style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Macronutrients:</h5>Proteins, fats and carbohydrates. As can be understood by the name, they are needed in bulk and are necessary for the growth and functions of a human body.

Micronutrients

<h5>Micronutrients:</h5>

Vitamins and minerals. Only needed in trace quantities, these play a crucial role in many essential bodily functions.

&nbsp;

Micronutrients and what they do

Vitamins

<h5 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; line-height: 1.295;">Vitamins:</h5>Vitamins are organic compounds our bodies can’t produce on their own. Your body needs 13 of these in total. These can be either fat soluble (A, D, E and K) or water soluble (All eight types of vitamin B and C). Let’s quickly dive into what these vitamins do for us:

Vitamin A

<h5 style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Vitamin A:</h5>Widely known for its major role in fortifying our vision, this is also necessary for immune function, bone health, fetal development and fighting certain cancers. Found in fish meat liver, eggs, milk, vegetables such as squash, carrots and spinach. Vitamin A rarely runs out since most foods contain this compound, but if it does ever happen such as in low-income countries like Nigeria, it will lead to night blindness.

Vitamin D

&nbsp;

<h5><a href="https://merisehat.pk/disease/vitamin-d">Vitamin D</a>:&nbsp;</h5>

This &lsquo;sunshine vitamin&rsquo; is absorbed through the skin. It&rsquo;s necessary for bone strength and deficiency at any stage of life can have detrimental effects. Rickets in the young and osteomalacia in the elderly, both of which lead to a loss of structural integrity of bones. Salmon, butter and milk are great resources to get this from and so is regular exposure to sunlight.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Vitamin E

<h5 style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Vitamin E:</h5>An antioxidant that functions mainly to protect other vitamins and certain molecules from being damaged. It has been known to help in Alzheimer’s disease. You can get this from vegetable oils, leafy greens, whole grains and nuts.&nbsp;

Vitamin K

<h5 style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Vitamin K:</h5>This plays a major role in blood clotting. Cabbage, liver, broccoli and kale are rich in this, and bleeding occurs if there’s a deficiency.

Vitamin Bs

<h5 style="line-height:1.295;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12:</h5>Essential for energy, red blood cell production, healthy skin, nervous system function and hormone production. These can be obtained from salmon, soy products, whole grains, leafy greens, poultry, mushrooms, potatoes, peanut butter, broccoli avocadoes, tomatoes, fish chicken eggs legumes bananas. A lack of B6 and B12 can lead to anemia whereas if you’re low on B1 and B3 you might experience mental confusion.

Vitamin C

<h5>Vitamin C:</h5>We all remember how this one found its popularity at the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic. This was owing to the fact that it fights infections. Apart from this, it helps grow and repair tissues, protects against certain cancers and cataracts and has antioxidant properties. Get it from peppers, broccoli, guavas, papaya, kiwi, oranges and strawberries. Deficiency may lead to a disease called Scurvy. You can get bleeding gums, loss of teeth, brown spots on your skin and even death may occur if it’s severe enough.

Minerals

Minerals are chemical elements, hence less likely to be degraded by cooking, boiling etc. We have two types of these on the basis of how much our body needs these. Some of the major mineral are calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, chloride. Trace minerals are iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, fluoride etc. They take part in all kinds of bodily functions such as:&nbsp;<ul></ul><ul><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Water balance</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Blood cell production</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Cognitive benefits</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Blood sugar regulation</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Immune function</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Bone health</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Nerve conduction</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Hormone production</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Enzyme activation and so much more.</li></ul>Some of the natural resources of these minerals are dairy products, tofu, kale, fish meat eggs poultry nuts cheese, salt, nuts beans, whole grains and legumes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The growing conscientiousness about health in the general public has led to almost everyone consuming some kind of a multivitamin supplement. It’s mostly bought for all the claims we see on the packaging. These claims range from “fights oxidative stress” to “improves immune system” and “supports cardiovascular health”. There are several reasons why that might not be the case however:&nbsp; <ul></ul><ul><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Gives you a false sense of security where you might feel like now that you have everything in this little pill, you don’t ever need to buy another vegetable ever again.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">They might interfere with the effectiveness of some drugs such as insulin, Xanax etc.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Fat soluble vitamins may build up in local fat stores and lead to trouble down the road.</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">They are not FDA approved! Yes. These supplements are not highly regulated and any one can manufacture and market them as they please with all kinds of lofty claims.</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">There has been research that suggests linkage between cancer and high dosages of certain vitamins.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Some of these vitamins and minerals, when taken together can be counterproductive to each other.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Research has shown that rates of cancer, heart attack and mental decline were found to be similar in people who take vitamins and those who don’t.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">The very real risk of toxicity. It might seem far-fetched but such cases are well documented in medical literature. This is especially true for vitamin E and beta carotene (A) supplements.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Now there are certain situations in which it makes sense to consume these supplements such as:&nbsp;<ul></ul><ul><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Your doctor found out you have a deficiency for a certain vitamin, such as a Vitamin D deficiency is quite common.</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">You have a condition that doesn’t allow your body to absorb vitamins and minerals from your food (malabsorption syndrome).&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">You’re pregnant. Pregnancy increases the nutritional demands of the body. Pre-natal supplements and folic acid helps replenish the resources that are essential for the healthy development of the baby.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 1.295; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">You’re vegan. Chances are you might be running low on your vitamin B12 stores and it’s wise to obtain it from an alternate source.</li></ul>

Bottom line

So, bottom line, if you do want to start living a healthier lifestyle it would be smart to start with consuming a healthy diet overall. Naturally replenishing your vitamin and mineral stores eliminates much of the trouble that comes with these synthetic cocktails. If you still think you’re lacking something then it would be wise to consult your doctor before buying the first multivitamin that your guy at the pharmacy raves about.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s always better to be safe and careful with what you put inside your body.

A Guide to Essential Vitamins and Micronutrients and Should you be Taking Them?

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