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Updated visitor guidelines. Top of the page. Minerals: Their Functions and Sources. Topic Overview The body needs many minerals; these are called essential minerals.
Credits Current as of: December 17, Top of the page Next Section: Related Information. Previous Section: Related Information Top of the page. Current as of: December 17, Needed for proper fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle contraction. Meats, milk, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, processed foods including soda pop. Occurs in foods as part of protein: meats, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, legumes, nuts.
Your body needs vitamins and minerals to work properly. You get them from the foods you eat every day. Minerals are inorganic elements that come from soil and water, and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. Your body needs larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium , to grow and stay healthy. Other minerals like chromium, copper, iodine, iron, selenium, and zinc are called trace minerals because you need only very small amounts of them. Vitamins and minerals boost the immune system , support normal growth and development, and help cells and organs do their jobs.
For example, you've probably heard that carrots are good for your eyes. It's true! Carrots are full of substances called carotenoids pronounced: kuh-RAH-teh-noydz that your body converts into vitamin A, which helps prevent eye problems.
Vitamin K helps blood to clot, so cuts and scrapes stop bleeding quickly. You'll find vitamin K in green leafy vegetables, broccoli, and soybeans. And to have strong bones, you need to eat foods such as milk, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables, which are rich in the mineral calcium.
Eating well now is especially important because the body needs a variety of vitamins and minerals to grow and stay healthy. Eating a mix of foods is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day.
Fruits and vegetables , whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, and poultry are the best choices for getting the nutrients your body needs.
When deciding what to eat, check food labels and pick items that are high in vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals are often called micronutrients because your body needs only tiny amounts of them.
Yet failing to get even those small quantities virtually guarantees disease. Here are a few examples of diseases that can result from vitamin deficiencies:. Just as a lack of key micronutrients can cause substantial harm to your body, getting sufficient quantities can provide a substantial benefit.
Some examples of these benefits:. Although they are all considered micronutrients, vitamins and minerals differ in basic ways. Vitamins are organic and can be broken down by heat, air, or acid. Minerals are inorganic and hold on to their chemical structure.
So why does this matter? It means the minerals in soil and water easily find their way into your body through the plants, fish, animals, and fluids you consume.
Many micronutrients interact. Vitamin D enables your body to pluck calcium from food sources passing through your digestive tract rather than harvesting it from your bones. Vitamin C helps you absorb iron. And even a minor overload of the mineral manganese can worsen iron deficiency. Water-soluble vitamins are packed into the watery portions of the foods you eat.
They are absorbed directly into the bloodstream as food is broken down during digestion or as a supplement dissolves. Because much of your body consists of water, many of the water-soluble vitamins circulate easily in your body. Your kidneys continuously regulate levels of water-soluble vitamins, shunting excesses out of the body in your urine. Although water-soluble vitamins have many tasks in the body, one of the most important is helping to free the energy found in the food you eat.
Others help keep tissues healthy. Here are some examples of how different vitamins help you maintain health:. Contrary to popular belief, some water-soluble vitamins can stay in the body for long periods of time.
And even folic acid and vitamin C stores can last more than a couple of days. Just be aware that there is a small risk that consuming large amounts of some of these micronutrients through supplements may be quite harmful. For example, very high doses of B6—many times the recommended amount of 1. Rather than slipping easily into the bloodstream like most water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins gain entry to the blood via lymph channels in the intestinal wall see illustration.
Many fat-soluble vitamins travel through the body only under escort by proteins that act as carriers. Fatty foods and oils are reservoirs for the four fat-soluble vitamins. Within your body, fat tissues and the liver act as the main holding pens for these vitamins and release them as needed.
To some extent, you can think of these vitamins as time-release micronutrients. Your body squirrels away the excess and doles it out gradually to meet your needs. Together this vitamin quartet helps keep your eyes, skin, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and nervous system in good repair. Here are some of the other essential roles these vitamins play:.
Because fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your body for long periods, toxic levels can build up. This is most likely to happen if you take supplements. The body needs, and stores, fairly large amounts of the major minerals. Major minerals travel through the body in various ways. Potassium, for example, is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, where it circulates freely and is excreted by the kidneys, much like a water-soluble vitamin.
Calcium is more like a fat-soluble vitamin because it requires a carrier for absorption and transport. One of the key tasks of major minerals is to maintain the proper balance of water in the body.
Sodium, chloride, and potassium take the lead in doing this.
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