Health Your Self by Nic Gill

Author:Nic Gill
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143772125
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

These are by no means all the roles that vitamins play in your body, but it should be enough to show you just how essential it is to eat a diet that provides these micronutrients.

MINERALS

If you reduced a human body to its basics, you’d end up with a lot of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, and a pile of assorted minerals. Those minerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sulphur, sodium and chloride, which together form the majority of our little pile. There are also small amounts of a wide range of other minerals – boron, cobalt, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium, zinc and more.

All of these minerals play a role in keeping your body healthy – either because they are part of the structure of your cells, or because they’re involved in the various metabolic reactions that go on every minute of your life. Here are some of the many roles of some important vitamins:

# Boron – required for building strong, healthy bones. It is most abundant in fruits, vegetables and nuts.

# Cobalt – needed for the formation of vitamin B12. It is most usefully found in animal-based foods, as there it’s already in the form of vitamin B12. Cobalt is also present in fruits and vegetables, but not in the form of B12.

# Copper – essential for the development and maintenance of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and helps with iron absorption. Copper is present in many foods, although it is low in dairy products.

# Fluoride – increases the strength of teeth and bones. It mainly comes from fluoridated water, and from plants grown in soil that contains fluoride.

# Iodine – a component of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism and growth. It’s mainly found in seafood and iodised salt.

# Iron – mainly used as the central component of haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying substance in our red blood cells. Dietary iron comes from meats, dried fruit, legumes, dark green leafy vegetables and prune juice.

# Manganese – is involved in the formation of various tissues, including connective tissue, bone, proteins and blood clotting factors. It is provided by spinach, tea, whole grains, legumes, nuts and some fruits.

# Selenium – an antioxidant, and also important as part of an enzyme that protects red blood cells against damage. It’s found in grains that were grown in selenium-rich soil and also in meats.

# Zinc – plays multiple roles in human health, including the detoxification of alcohol in the liver, wound healing and the functioning of insulin. Good sources include oysters, lean meat, poultry and fish. Wholegrain bread and cereals also provide some zinc.

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