Why are Vitamins and Minerals necessary for health?
Vitamins and minerals are crucial to almost every process that occurs in our bodies; growth, development, the release of energy from foods, the use of energy by muscles and other body organs, and the protection of cells and tissues from the effects of unstable by-products (free radicals) of the chemical reactions taking place in our bodies.
Vitamins
They are needed to make many of our enzymes, the proteins that regulate the chemical reactions in the body. They are also vital for the formation of some of our hormones, the chemical messengers that co-ordinate events around the body.
Vitamins are classed as being either 'water soluble' or 'fat soluble', depending on whether they dissolve in water or fat. Whether a vitamin is fat or water soluble affects the way it is absorbed from the diet and whether or not it can be stored in the body.
The B vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble; vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble.
A healthy, colourful and balanced diet will mostly contain adequate amounts of all the vitamins. But if our diet is restricted or becomes poor for a period of time, we may start to run low on some vitamins - and at times like these, a good supplement is an easy answer.
Minerals
As with most nutrients, minerals have a wide range of roles in the body. Zinc for example, is an antioxidant mineral needed for a healthy immune defence system, and for the repair and renewal of skin cells. A diet even marginally lacking in zinc can lead to problems such as increased infections, reduced appetite and poor sexual development. Calcium is another good example, needed for growth and development of healthy bones and teeth, whereas iron is vital to make haemoglobin, the red pigment of blood.
Minerals, many of which are metals, are not found by themselves in foods or food supplements. Most minerals exist as mineral salts - and it is in this form that they are used in supplements, as they are better absorbed and tolerated by the body.