1 | V i t a m i n s a n d m i n e r a l s
VITAMINS AND MINERALS
- Are essential nutrients because they perform hundreds of roles in the body
- Eating healthy diet remains the best way to get sufficient amounts of the vitamins and mineral you need
- Are often called micronutrients because your body needs only tiny amount of them;
- Yet failing to get even those small quantities virtually guarantees disease
3 CHARACTERISTICS
- They’re natural components of foods; usually present in very small amounts
- They’re essential for normal physiologic function (eg., growth, reproduction, etc.)
- When absent from the diet, they will cause a specific deficiency
Ex: DISEASES | VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES
SCURVY – insufficient vitamin C in the body, causes the bleeding gums and listlessness od scurvy
Blindness – vitamin A deficiency
Rickets – vitamin D deficiency, soft, weak bones that can lead to skeletal deformities such as bowed
legs
SOME EXAMPLES OF BENEFIT OF VITAMINS
STRONG BONES – VITAMIN D, K, MAGNESIUM, AND PHOSPHORUS
PREVENTS BIRTH DEFECT – FOLIC ACID SUPPLEMENTS : prevent brain and spinal birth defect in
offspring
HEALTHY TEETH – MINERAL FLOURIDE
RELEASE ENERYGY – VITAMIN B
PRODUCE ENERGY – THIAMIN, RIBOFLAVIN, NIACIN, PANTOTHENIC ACID, AND BIOTIN
BUILD PROTEINS AND CELLS – VITAMIN B6, B12, AND FOLIC ACID
MAKE COLLAGEN – VITAMIN C
Vitamins
- Organic and can be broken down by heat, air, or acid
- Complex substances that regulate body processes
- Coenzymes (partners) with enzymes in reactions
- No calories, thus no energy
