Total Vitamin and Mineral Information

Vitamin A Each Day Is An Essential Part Of Reaching Your Health Goals

2006-07-31T07:56:00.000+07:00

Recent government surveys have found that most people do not consume enough Vitamin A in their daily diets. This is unfortunate, because Vitamin A is essential to good health. In fact, serious health problems can result from long-term, serious Vitamin A deficiencies.

Vitamin A is important from the very beginning of life. Pregnant women must be sure to consume sufficient amounts of Vitamin A, which will be more than they needed before pregnancy, because Vitamin A plays a great role in the proper physical development of a baby. It helps to promote proper cell differentiation, which is the specialization of cells upon division to take over certain tasks, meaning that cells for the heart take on their characteristics, those for the liver take on theirs, those for the brain take on their own characteristics and functions, and so on.

Vitamin A also serves in bone growth and development, as well as in the general growth and development of the body.

Vitamin A has a significant part in the quality and functioning of the body’s immune system. One facet of this functioning has to do with the skin and body’s mucus membranes. The skin and mucus membranes serve a very practical purpose for the body.

These operate as barriers against bacteria and viruses, protecting against infection and disease. Vitamin A helps to keep the skin and mucus membranes healthy and able to serve their primary purpose.

As we’ve all heard through the years, carrots are good for the eyes. That is because they are a good source of Vitamin A, which is essential to vision. In fact, a serious deficiency in Vitamin A can result in blindness. Many children living in poverty in developing nations throughout the world have become blind simply because of the lack of Vitamin A in their diets.

Vitamin A also serves to keep the surface linings of the intestinal, urinary and respiratory tracts healthy. This offers protection from bacteria, as well has promotes proper functioning.
One of the more common units of measure for Vitamin A found on packaging labels of food and dietary supplements is the International Unit, or IU. Adult and teenaged males should be sure to consume at total of 3,000 IU of Vitamin A per day.

Adult women and teenaged females should have 2,310 IU per day, 2,565 IU per day if pregnant and 4,300 IU per day if breastfeeding. For children ages 9 through 13, 2,000 IU is the recommended daily intake, with 1,320 IU being sufficient for those aged 4 through 8. From the first year through age 3, 1,000 IU is recommended.

Using dietary supplements to complete a healthy diet can ensure that the body receives the nutrients it needs for optimum performance. However, it is important to heed label and doctor recommendations for the best amount to be taken for your dietary needs.

Proper nutrition is essential to achieving and maintaining health. It is much better to avoid sickness than to recover from it. Taking steps to ensure that you are getting enough Vitamin A each day is an essential part of reaching your health goals.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

2006-07-19T14:06:00.000+07:00

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements: Use With Care

by Mayoclinic Staff

Given the popularity and availability of “high potency” amino acids, antioxidants, enzymes and herbs, it might seem like dietary supplements could replace food as a source of the nutrients the body requires. However, this is not the case. Whole foods — such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables — provide a complex and unique combination of fiber, minerals and vitamins and as well as other substances that promote proper health. Even though most mineral and vitamin supplements fall short of providing all of the nutrients and health benefits of whole foods, they can in deed complement your diet. If you are not getting enough essential nutrients in your diet, you may benefit from supplementing with minerals and vitamins. In order to do this safely and effectively, weigh your nutritional needs, evaluate the merits of taking a vitamin or mineral supplement, and learning how to correctly choose and use nutritional supplements.

Vitamin and mineral ABCs

Both minerals and vitamins are substances your body requires in small but regular amounts for proper growth, health and body function. Together, vitamins and minerals are referred to as micronutrients. The human body is not capable of producing micronutrients, so you must get them from the foods you eat or from dietary supplements.

Vitamins: Partners in regulating body functions

Vitamins are necessary for a plethora of biologic processes in the body, including them digestion, growth, alertness and the ability to fight infection. They also make it possible for your body to process and use proteins, nutrients and fats. Vitamins also act as catalysts — responsible for initiating or increasing chemical reactions. It is important to know that although vitamins are involved in converting food into energy, vitamins do not supply calories. Vitamins are classified as either water-soluble or fat-soluble.

Water-soluble vitamins including Vitamin C, biotin and the seven other B vitamins — thiamin (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6), folic acid (B-9) and cobalamin (B-12) — dissolve in water (water-soluble) and aren't stored in your body in any significant amounts. Water-soluble vitamins that are not immediate used by the body are simply excreted by the body in urine.

Fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin A, D, E or K, unlike water-soluble vitamins, when not used by the body right after ingestion are stored as body fat and in the liver. When taken in excess fat-soluble vitamins can accumulate in the human body and eventually become toxic. The body is especially sensitive to excessive amounts of vitamins D and A. And since vitamins E and K affect blood clotting, it is highly recommended that you talk with a doctor before taking a vitamin or mineral supplement that contains either of these vitamins if you're taking a blood thinner, like warfarin.

Minerals: Building blocks for your body

Minerals are the primary components in your bones and teeth, and they are also the building blocks for other cells and enzymes found throughout the human body. Minerals assist in regulating the balance of fluids in the body and affect the movement of nerve impulses. There are even some minerals that help carry much needed oxygen to cells and carry away harmful carbon dioxide.

Minerals fall into two general categories:

Major minerals. These minerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfur and chloride. They are classified as major minerals because most adults require these minerals in relatively larger amounts — that is, more than 250 milligrams (mg) a day.

Trace minerals. These minerals include chromium, copper, fluoride, iron, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc. They are classified as trace minerals because the human body requires them in smaller amounts — less than 20 mg a day.
Whole foods: Your best source of micronutrients

Most experts agree that whole foods are the best sources of the vitamins and minerals the body requires to stay healthy and fit. Whole foods offer three main benefits over vitamin and mineral dietary supplements:

Whole foods are complex. They contain a large variety and unique mixture of the micronutrients your body requires — not just one or two. An orange you buy at the local supermarket, for example, provides not only vitamin C but also calcium, beta carotene and other important nutrients. A vitamin C supplement alone cannot supply the body with these other micronutrients gain by eating a simple orange.

Whole foods provide dietary fiber. Fiber is very important for proper digestion and may also help to prevent a variety of common, yet deadly, diseases including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Sufficient fiber intake also helps prevent constipation, as most of us are already well aware.

Whole foods contain other nutrient that are believed to be important for good health. If you depend on vitamin and mineral supplements rather than eating a variety of nutritious whole foods, you miss the potential benefits that can be derived from the variety of nutrients found in whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
So who needs vitamin and mineral supplements?

The fact of the mater is that a very large number of people don't get all of the nutrients their body needs from their diet because they either can't or don't eat enough, or they can't or don't eat a large variety of healthy foods. For these people, including those on restrictive diets, a good multivitamin-mineral supplement can provide vitamins and minerals that their body is not receiving from their diet. This is especially true for pregnant women and older age adults who have altered nutritional needs.

Vitamins and Minerals for The Eyes

2006-07-18T18:58:00.000+07:00

Vision is one of our most precious senses. One of the things that we can do daily to protect our eyes from harm is to be sure that each day we consume the recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

As with everything about our bodies, proper nutrition plays an invaluable role in keeping our eyes functioning as well as possible. There are certain nutrients that are known to be especially associated with ocular health.

Among these are the anti-oxidant vitamins. The eye, especially the lens and the retina, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of unchecked free radicals, which are a byproduct of oxygen, cellular processes and environmental contaminants. Anti-oxidant vitamins help to combat free radicals.

The primary anti-oxidant vitamins include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. in addition to their important action against free radicals, they promote healthy cells and tissues in the eye. Lutein and Zeaxanthin are two more valuable anti-oxidants that recent research has found to be especially effective in maintaining the health of the eyes.

In addition to the vitamins that promote ocular health, there are several minerals that have been determined to play a significant role in the health of the eye. Among these are zinc, selenium, manganese, and copper. Zinc is an important mineral that serves to regulate sight, smell and taste and the concentration of zinc in the eye is higher than any other part of the body.

One important function of zinc in relation to the eyes is its role in the regulation of the amount of Vitamin A, essential to eye health, from the liver. People who have a deficiency in selenium have been clinically shown to be more likely to suffer from cataracts.

Recent research into the influence of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients upon the health of the eye has turned up a good deal new information. This has led to the development of specialized dietary supplements designed specifically to promote ocular health. The early results of clinical trials concerning the halting and even reversal of macular degeneration and other age-related eye diseases via specialized nutritional treatments look very promising and research continues at a rapid pace.

Those seeking to benefit from dietary supplements designed to promote ocular health and healing should familiarize themselves with the most common vitamins and minerals in these supplements, doing the research to find out what both the optimum and the safest levels of these nutrients are. Consulting an eye care professional and a licensed nutritionist can be very helpful in planning the best dietary supplement regimen suited to individual dietary needs and health goals.

Making sure that you are achieving the recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients is one of the best things you can do for all over health and well being. In terms of eye health, paying close attention to you daily nutrition can make a real difference in the quality of your vision and help to keep your eyes healthy and functioning well for a good, long time. When properly taken, dietary supplements can be a valuable part of any ocular health focused program

Proper Nutrition To Protect Against Aging

2006-07-18T18:51:00.000+07:00

During the past thirty years, there has been a steadily growing body of scientific evidence showing that vitamins and minerals play a much more important role in our overall health than previously acknowledged.

The proper balance of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients has been linked to health benefits that include stronger immune system response, prevention of many degenerative diseases, and the slowing of the daily wear and tear that is the aging process. A well balanced diet, rich in the necessary nutrients, while difficult to achieve in our fast paced culture, has a wide range of benefits.

It is essential to overall health and longevity to keep the immune system functioning well. There are a number of nutrients that have been shown be necessary to our immune function. Antioxidants, such as the vitamins A, C, E, beta carotene, and selenium have been shown to boost immunity.

The minerals zinc and magnesium are also important for immune function. To ensure a beneficial intake of these antioxidants, you must include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. Zinc and magnesium can be found in dairy products, and seafood.

Certain vitamins and minerals have been shown to aid in the prevention of some degenerative diseases, and aging disorders. Antioxidants can help to lower the risk of cataracts, and macular degeneration, which are conditions associated with aging. It is also suggested by experts that they can help slow the aging process by reducing the daily cell damage done by environmental pollution, and time.

Vitamin E has been linked with a lower risk of heart disease. Niacin, a B vitamin can help in reducing the level of cholesterol. Some other nutrients that are helpful in protecting against age related disorders are selenium, cartenoids, flavinoids, and some Amino acids.

Proper nutrition via the diet, while definitely achievable, is often a difficult process in today’s fast paced culture, particularly in combination with the social changes we’ve experienced. People often work longer and harder, and the two income family reigns supreme, followed closely by the single parent family unit.

Another difficulty involved in achieving the standard recommended daily intake levels of essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients each and every day has to do with food quality. As minerals are depleted from the soil, due to growing practices that include single crop plantings and failure to rotate crops or let field remain fallow to rest and regenerate, as well as through the erosion of topsoil, the mineral content of food is not always what we think it is.
Nutritional supplements offer a reliable and safe means of ensuring that we reach our nutritional goals. Nutritional supplements are not meant to substitute for a good diet, but rather to complement it.

In fact, they tend to perform much better when they have real food to interact with. If you are inexperienced with nutritional supplements, you may benefit from a consultation with a licensed nutritionist who will be able to help you to devise a nutritional supplement plan best suited for your dietary needs and health goals.

Copper for Optimum Health and Performance

2006-07-18T18:45:00.000+07:00

Copper is a trace element mineral that serves a wide variety of purposes within the body, both on its own and as a cofactor, meaning it is an essential part of chemical processes that involve other vitamins, minerals, other nutrients or other substances. Although the body requires a comparatively tiny amount of copper per day, even that little bit is essential to optimum health and performance.

Copper came to be recognized as in the 1870’s as a basic part of our blood. This mineral is called an elemental because it is a metal. In terms of concentration, it is the third greatest metal present in our bodies.

Copper is present throughout the body, and serves many purposes that influence physical and mental health and function. In addition to the influence it has independently, it acts as a cofactor, or partner, in many enzymes and processes, affecting a wide variety of bodily functions and systems.

Copper works with Vitamin C in the production of collagen and elastin, which are connective tissues that, quite literally, hold the body together. In addition to this aspect of wound healing, copper also has a role in the first step to wound healing – blood clotting.
It also partners with iron in the making of red blood cells, which serve the essential purpose of bringing oxygen throughout the body, as well as helps the body to absorb and use iron. It is helps to make bones, working with calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, Vitamin D and Vitamin C.

Melanin, the substance that gives skin and hair their color, requires copper for its production. Copper has a role in the production of hormones that come from the thyroid, and thus is important to the body’s rate of metabolism, which in turn affects body weight. Body weight affects the start of puberty and the onset of sexual maturity.

Copper has a role in the nervous system, as well. It is necessary in the creation of the myelin sheath, which protects nerves and enhances their communication. The connective tissues and nerves in the brain require copper for both structure and function. Copper also serves as a cofactor in the production of the body’s important antioxidant enzymes, making a significant contribution to the control of damaging free radicals.

Copper has a role in each of the body’s major systems and processes. As a trace element, the body requires just a tiny bit of copper daily. Adults should have just 1.5mg to 3mg per day. It is important to note that too much copper can be toxic to the body’s system. The body’s systems are basic are regulated by chemical reactions, and the chemicals in the body are a delicately balanced group.

Nutritional supplements can offer a safe and reliable means of making sure that the body receives all the nutrients that it needs daily. However, when using supplements, it is important to be aware of the upper levels of tolerance, and to make sure that your dietary supplement dosages fall within that range, staying well below toxic points and maintaining the system’s healthful balance.

Be Sure To Get Your Calcium

2006-07-12T20:54:00.000+07:00

We’ve heard it from the days of childhood – calcium is good for the teeth and bones. While it is true that calcium is absolutely necessary to the health and strength of bones and teeth, this essential mineral also serves several other important purposes in the body. Yet, many people routinely fail to consume enough calcium in their daily diets.

In addition to the benefits to teeth and bones, calcium plays a role in helping the blood to clot when it needs to, helping the nerves and muscles to perform their tasks, and the maintenance of cell membranes.

It is also important to the prevention of debilitating bone diseases, such as osteoporosis.

Despite the importance of consuming adequate amounts of calcium daily, some studies have found that as much as 75% of people in the United States do not have a sufficient daily intake of calcium. Those following strict vegetarian diets, especially vegan, must be particularly careful concerning calcium intake levels.

Fortunately, there are several varieties of calcium supplements on the market. Adults need between 1000 mgs and 1300 mgs of calcium per day, and should not supplement beyond 2500 mgs, as that can cause other health problems.

Your health care professional can help you to choose the amount that you need daily, as preexisting conditions, such as bone loss or damage due to previous deficiencies, can make a difference in how much you should be taking daily.

Some types of calcium supplements are absorbed more easily by the body than others. However, some may be preferable for other reasons. The most common calcium supplements include calcium citrate, calcium carbonate, oyster shell or bone meal based calcium supplements, coral calcium, and calcium gluconate and calcium lactate based supplements.

In choosing your supplement, you should be aware of how to read the label to ensure that you are getting the amount of calcium that you think you are. Elemental calcium is the term used for the calcium that your body will be able to absorb. Some supplements have this and other types of calcium, but it is only the elemental calcium that can count towards your daily intake. Calcium is absorbed best in acidic circumstances, which is why many supplements are recommended for use after meals, when the stomach acids are at higher levels.

Current research has found that calcium citrate is the most efficient of the supplements, meaning that the body absorbs it easily. However, although it is absorbed easier and can be taken at any time of day, whether or not there is food in the stomach, this type often contains less of the elemental calcium, and thus more pills daily will be needed. Calcium carbonate is the most common over the counter calcium supplement and should be taken after meals, because of the increased stomach acid. These, however, should be watched for sodium content.

Calcium is essential for good health and supplements are an excellent way to ensure that you are not among the many people who regularly do not consume the amount of calcium needed daily. There are a variety of factors to be taken into account when choosing a calcium supplement. A little research and consultation with a nutritional specialist can help you to choose the best calcium supplement for your individual needs.

Vitamins and Minerals for the Immune System

2006-07-12T20:52:00.000+07:00

Many of us, parents especially, waver during cold and flu season when it comes to making the decision on whether or not to get the flu shot. Each new flu variation that hits the news, especially ones that sound dangerous, such as the avian flu, gives us something new to worry about.

Whatever our yearly decision may be concerning the flu shot, there are proactive things we can do to reduce the risk of colds, flu types and other illnesses and diseases for ourselves and our families.

One of the most important of these is using proper nutrition to promote the optimum performance of the body’s natural immune system.

The simple fact of the matter is that, in the rapid pace of modern life, most of us do not eat properly. As we speed through our busy days, too often we succumb to the temptations of drive through cuisine or overly processed, prepared and packaged convenience foods. Most of these types of foods lack the nutrients most important to the healthy functioning of the body’s natural immune system or present them in forms that are inefficient or damaged via processing or cooking.

Vitamin C is one of the many nutrients that are thought to stimulate and strengthen the immune system. This water-soluble anti-oxidant vitamin washes out of the body daily with the release of urine. Thus, the body’s supply of this vital nutrient must be renewed daily. Vitamin C has been shown to help in the production of the white blood cells responsible for fighting infection and illnesses.

Vitamin A, another important anti-oxidant, also plays a role in the production of white blood cells and anti-bodies. Its action against free radicals makes it important to general health, as well as to the proper functioning of the immune system.

The Vitamin B complex is known for its far-reaching positive effects on the health and well being of both mind and body. In addition to its very real influence on the immune system, especially with its role in the levels of a protein called glutathione throughout the cells of the body, it is also good for counteracting the effects of stress on the body. Stress has been shown to be a significant factor in the occurrence and severity of many illnesses and diseases.

Zinc is an important mineral, especially for the immune system. Recent research has shown that even relatively small deficiencies of zinc can have a negative effect on the function of the immune system. In addition to playing a key role in the activation of almost one hundred different enzymes in the body, it also serves in the production of white blood cells and their ability to successfully fight off infection.

These are just a few of the nutrients that play a role in the body’s natural immune system. A little research or a brief consultation with a nutritionist can help you to devise a list of vitamins and minerals that you should pay careful attention to if you are seeking to see to it that your body’s immune system operates at peak performance levels. For children that lean towards fussy eating habits, or adults that struggle to eat a balanced diet, supplements may be the best option. Prevention is always the best choice and meeting the recommended daily nutritional requirements is an excellent way to stay healthy.