The Ninth Weight Loss Basic:
Vitamins And Minerals
Although there are many vitamins and minerals required to keep our bodies healthy, in Understanding Weight Loss Basics – 7: Vitamins And Minerals, let’s take a look at the thirteen vitamins and sixteen minerals that are essential in any diet, weight loss or otherwise, that keep our bodies healthy and working efficiently.
Understanding Weight Loss Basics – 7: Vitamins and minerals: Why Are They Essential To Our Health?
Weight Loss Basics – 7: Vitamins. Vital for our growth and development and helping release the energy contained in the food that we eat and digest.
They also play a major part in help preventing many disabling or life-threatening diseases.
Weight Loss Basics – 7: Minerals. Found in soil and water, and as a result, in the food that we eat. Unlike vitamins, minerals are inorganic and do not supply any of the energy we need daily but are vital in many of the body’s physiological functions,
healthy bones and teeth, controlling the nervous system, maintaining the correct water balance, to name a few.
Although, as previously mentioned, there are many vitamins and minerals that we need to keep us healthy, there are thirteen vitamins and sixteen minerals that are recognized as being essential.
They are each divided into two groups, the vitamins being fat-soluble and water-soluble and the minerals being micro and macro.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins come in the form of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and there is no need to consume them on a daily basis as they are stored in the body’s fatty tissue and sufficient amounts can normally be obtained in a healthy diet, weight loss or otherwise.
Avoid excessive consumption of fat-soluble vitamin supplements as they can have harmful effects on your body, particularly vitamins A and D. See Superfoods: Antioxidants. If pregnant, consult your medical practitioner before taking vitamin A supplements.
Water-Soluble Vitamins
The nine water-soluble vitamins consist of eight B vitamins: B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12, also known as B-complex; plus vitamin C. Different from fat-soluble vitamins, apart from B12 which can be stored in the liver for many years, they cannot be stored by the body and must be replaced on a daily basis as your body will use what it needs and the rest will be passed out in normal bodily functions.
Overdosing on B vitamins is unlikely, although excessive use of some B vitamin supplements can lead to a deficiency in other B vitamins. Also excessive alcohol consumption will destroy most B vitamins. Again, a healthy weight loss diet should supply your body’s daily requirements.
Although there are around eighty minerals your body needs to function efficiently, as previously stated there are sixteen minerals classed as being essential, consisting of two groups: macro and micro.
Macro Minerals
So called because they range from the recommended daily allowance from milligrams to grams, the seven macro minerals consist of Calcium, Chloride, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium and Sulfur.
Micro Minerals
The nine micro minerals consist of Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, Manganese, Iodine, Iron, Selenium and Zinc and range from the recommended daily allowance from micrograms to a milligram.
Together with the seven macro minerals, they make up the sixteen essential minerals. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) will give you the recommended minimum daily allowance for all the above vitamins and minerals.
I, personally, have never used vitamin or mineral supplements as I feel that a well-balanced healthy and varied diet will supply all the necessary vitamins and minerals that is needed for maintaining a healthy body, although, as always, it is down to personal preference.
If you do decide to take dietary supplements it is always advisable to consult you medical practitioner, who will advise you as to what vitamin or mineral supplement you need, if any.
This is particularly applicable to vegans who, through a strict vegetarian diet, may not get the minerals and vitamins they need on a daily basis. For instance, apart from sunlight, the only source of vitamin D for vegans is mushrooms. I hope your found the information, Understanding Weight Loss Basics – 7, helpful.