The answer is…
YES!
Vitamins and minerals (also known as micronutrients) are essential to help our bodies properly function day-to-day! The realization of just how important micronutrients are occurred in the early 1800’s when British sailors were dying at sea from an unknown cause. A physician realized if the sailors sucked the juice from limes, they could prevent what was later discovered as scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency.
But what exactly are vitamins and minerals? Let’s take a look…
Vitamins vs. minerals:
- Vitamins are organic and can be broken down by heat, air, or acid
- Minerals are inorganic and hold onto their chemical structure
Vitamins:
- Needed for normal function, growth, and maintenance of body tissues, and regulate and support chemical reactions in the body
- The type of solubility has to do with how the vitamins are absorbed and transported, whether or not they can be stored in the body, and how easily they are lost from the body
Water-soluble:
- Water-soluble vitamins are easily dissolved and can be excreted in the urine
- If taken in excess, the body will not store extra but will instead excrete it through urine
- The one water-soluble exception to the rule is B12, which is stored in the body.
Fat-soluble:
- Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissues
- Since these vitamins can be stored, they can build up to toxic levels when consumed in excessive amounts
13 Vitamins:
9 Water-soluble vitamins and 4 Fat-soluble vitamins
Water-soluble vitamins:
- Biotin (vitamin B7)
- Folic acid (folate, vitamin B9)
- Niacin (vitamin B3)
- Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
- Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- Thiamin (vitamin B1)
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin C
Fat-soluble vitamins:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
Minerals:
- Essential for bone health and cellular activity
- Comes directly from plant sources and indirectly from animal sources
Major minerals:
- Major does not mean they are more important than trace minerals, but rather they are found in greater abundance in the body and are required in greater amounts (greater than 100mg/day)
Trace and ultra-trace minerals:
- Required in smaller amounts, typically 1-100mg/day
- Ultra-trace minerals are required in amounts of 1mg or less/day
Minerals:
Major minerals
- Calcium
- Chloride
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Sulfur
Trace and ultra-trace minerals
- Boron
- Chromium
- Cobalt
- Copper
- Fluoride
- Iodine
- Iron
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Nickel
- Selenium
- Silicon
- Vanadium
- Zinc
Looking for a handy table to identify what foods contain which vitamins and minerals? Check out the table below!
If your looking for a quick video overview of Vitamins and Minerals, this video does a great job explaining both in a relatively short amount of time (under 6 minutes).
Now let’s discuss supplements…
There is a lot of controversy over vitamin supplements and if they are really necessary. A majority of people are capable of getting the necessary micronutrients from a nutrient-dense diet full of whole foods, fruits, and vegetables. In some cases, supplements may be necessary for people who have specific nutrient deficiencies. However, multivitamins are often not necessary and can even be “overkill” for some specific nutrients. While an excess of water-soluble vitamins will simply exit the body via urine, fat-soluble vitamins can build up in the body and create toxicities.
The best way to determine if you are getting enough vitamins and minerals in your diet is to track your food consistently for at least four days (ideally a combination of week day and weekends to get the most accurate depiction). Find a tracking app that will show you the breakdown of all the vitamins and minerals so you can determine where you are may be lacking. I highly recommend MyNetDiary. Once you determine which nutrients you aren’t getting enough of, find foods that are rich in these nutrients and regularly add them into your diet. Overall, you want to ensure you are getting plenty of variety in your diet. After all, variety is the spice of life!
Key Words: Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements
References:
Gropper, S.S., & Smith, J.L. (2018). Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Whitney, E., & Rolfes, S.R. (2019). Understanding Nutrition (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning