Vitamins and Minerals: A to Z

What are vitamins and minerals?

Learn all about them from A to Z in this post!

Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, in contrast to our macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) we need them in smaller amounts.

But they are still essential to health and are necessary for a variety of different functions throughout the body.

We are not able to make most of the vitamins and minerals on our own, in fact the only exception is vitamin K which is made by our gut microbiome, so we have to eat them in our diet on a regular basis.

Vitamins

Vitamins are broken down into two categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble.

Water-soluble vitamins can dissolve in water and are excreted from the body in the urine. This means we need to consume them frequently because we can’t store them in the body.

Fat-soluble vitamins cannot dissolve in water and can be stored in fat, so we don’t excrete excess amounts, but instead can store it.

Water-soluble vitamins include vitamin C and B-complex vitamins.

Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, D, E, and K.

Minerals

Minerals are also broken down into two categories: trace and major.

Trace minerals are required in smaller amounts, but they are still essential to health.

Trace minerals include:

-        Copper

-        Manganese

-        Iodine

-        Zinc

-        Iron

-        Molybdenum

-        Selenium

-        Chromium

-        Fluoride

Major minerals are needed in larger amounts.

Major minerals include:

-        Calcium

-        Sodium

-        Potassium

-        Chloride

-        Phosphorous

Food Sources

Luckily, vitamins and minerals can be found in a wide variety of food sources.

If you consume a variety of different fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and meat products you will be able to meet your vitamin and mineral needs.

How to get what you need

Try to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. This means eating fruits and vegetables that are a variety of different colors.

Different nutrients give fruits and vegetables different colors, so if you eat a variety of colors, you are getting a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Be sure to eat foods from each food group, a great way to do this is to follow MyPlate.

Try to choose nutrient dense foods more often like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Interested in learning more about vitamins, minerals and your individual needs? Check out Dr. Maria’s new basic nutrition course here.