Must Know Facts about Vitamins and Minerals

What are Minerals?

Minerals are inorganic substances that we get from food and water. Minerals form only a small percentage of our total body weight, about 4-5%, yet they are very necessary for human metabolism and for maintaining normal health (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Minerals

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What are Vitamins?

Vitamins are organic compounds essential for our body’s normal growth and maintenance. They can be fat-soluble or water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Water-soluble vitamins like the B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, B12) and vitamin C (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Vitamins

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Health Facts about Vitamins and Minerals

Statistics on Vitamins and Minerals

Key Facts about Minerals

1. Calcium is the most abundant mineral found in the body. Natural sources of calcium include milk, yogurt and cheese. It is also found in canned salmon and sardines with bones, and green leafy vegetables like broccoli (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   22 Calcium-Rich Foods
   
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2. Only 1% of the total body calcium is needed for metabolic functions, while the remaining 99% is utilized to provide strength and structure for the bones and teeth (4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Overview of Calcium
   
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3. Phosphorus works in conjunction with calcium to form bones, teeth, and nerve cells.
4. Potassium is mainly involved in building proteins and muscles, controlling acid-base balance, and electrical activity in the heart (5^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Potassium Homeostasis, Oxidative Stress, and Human Disease
   
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5. Potassium is found in meats and fish like salmon, cod, flounder, and sardines. Some fruits and vegetables are also rich sources of potassium (6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Potassium
   
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6. If you have potassium deficiency (hypokalemia), it may cause muscle weakness, abnormal heart rhythms, and a slight rise in blood pressure (7^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Symptoms of Low Potassium (Hypokalemia)
   
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7. Iron is the most important mineral for your body. Major functions of iron include oxygen transport, regulation of cell growth and differentiation.
8. Iron deficiency may restrict the supply of oxygen to cells, which ultimately results in fatigue, poor performance at work and decreased immunity. Too much of iron may also be harmful to your body (8^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Iron-Deficiency Anemia
   
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9. Iron: Healthy adults absorb about 15-35% of heme iron while the absorption of non-heme is only 2-20% (9^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Iron Absorption: Factors, Limitations, and Improvement Methods
   
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8. Infants absorb about 50% of iron in the breast milk while only 12% is absorbed in infant formula. Infants poorly absorb iron in cow’s milk and it may also lead to gastrointestinal bleeding in infants (10^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Comparing Infant Formulas with Human Milk
   
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9. WHO estimate shows 41.8% of pregnant women worldwide are anemic and at least half of this anemia burden is assumed to be caused by iron deficiency (11^✔ ✔Trusted Source
   Anaemia
   
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10. Hemoglobin contains about two-third of total iron in the body (12^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Iron
    
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11. Heme and non-heme are the two forms of dietary iron. Animal foods such as red meat, fish, and poultry are good sources of heme iron. Sources of non-heme iron include lentils and beans (13^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    The Nutrition Source
    
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Key Facts about Vitamins

11. Vitamin A:Preformed vitamin A and provitamin A are the two different types of vitamin A. Meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products are some of the examples of preformed vitamin A, while the latter is rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based products (14^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Vitamin A and Carotenoids
    
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12. Vitamin E is essential to boost your immune system, widen the blood vessels and prevent blood clots. It is found in foods like vegetable oil, nuts, seeds, and green vegetables (15^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Vitamin E
    
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13. Vitamin B12 plays a major role in the formation of red blood cells, synthesizing DNA and proper functioning of neurological system. Deficiency of vitamin B12 may lead to megaloblastic anemia, fatigue, weakness, constipation, loss of appetite and weight loss. It can even cause numbness and tingling in the hands and feet (16^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Vitamin B12 Deficiency Anemia
    
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14. Animal based food like fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk and milk products are the best sources for vitamin B12 (17^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Vitamin B12
    
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15. Vitamin E and vitamin C act as an antioxidant that helps prevent cell damage caused by the action of free radicals.
16. Vitamin C is naturally found in fruits and vegetables like citrus fruits (orange and grapefruit), broccoli, strawberry, cantaloupe, baked potatoes, and tomatoes to name a few (18^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    Vitamin C
    
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17. Vitamin C requirement is increased by 35 mg for smokers and those who are exposed to second hand smoke (19^✔ ✔Trusted Source
    About Vitamin C
    
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