Vitamins and Minerals in Foods
Welcome to our site all about vitamins and minerals in food. You will find a wealth of free information here on the many different vitamins and minerals that your body requires to function effectively, most notably lists of foods that are rich in them. Here on our main page we provide a breakdown of what vitamins and minerals are and what exactly it is that they do for us. Our conclusive list of sub-pages provide information on each of the vitamins and minerals and let you know all about the benefits you will get from them. From foods high in vitamin C to potassium rich foods we have got it covered here so please take a look around. In addition to these essential dietary vitamins and minerals we have information on foods with high protein and high fiber foods, further key elements to a healthy diet.
Many people will know the vitamins or minerals that they are looking for but may be unsure as to where they can find them, or more specifically where they can find them in a naturally high quantity without the need for using countless supplements. This site is designed to provide you with a list of foods to match whichever one, or combination, of these vitamins and minerals in food that you are seeking.
The key to getting all of the vitamins and minerals that you need and in sufficient quantities is through your diet, by eating healthy foods that are high in these vitamins and minerals you can obtain and maintain a healthy body and mind.
What are vitamins?
First of all we are going to answer a few basic questions, starting off with 'what are vitamins?'. Many people will go to their doctors and be told that they need to start taking in more vitamin C, or they may look up a condition that they may have on the internet and read that this can be helped by the consumption of regular vitamin D. This advice is generally acted upon without these people really wondering what vitamins actually are.
If you take a look in the dictionary you will find that the word 'vitamin' is a noun and it represents 'any group of organic compounds that are essential for regular growth and nutrition, required in small amounts in the diet because they cannot be created by our bodies'.
Vitamins are organic substances, meaning that they are made by plants or animals. They derive from different sources and also in different quantities and fall into two essential categories which are fat soluble vitamins and water soluble vitamins, which means:
Fat soluble vitamins - Fat soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E and K will dissolve in fat and they can be stored in the body.
Water soluble vitamins - Water soluble vitamins are vitamin C and also B vitamins, these must dissolve in water before it is possible for the body to absorb them, which means that these vitamins cannot be stored in the body. Water soluble vitamins that are not used by the body will just pass through and are lost most commonly during urination. Because these vitamins cannot be stored it is necessary to have a new supply of them every day to prevent your body from suffering the ill effects of missing them.
The body requires vitamins for the following reasons:
- Vitamins boost and maintain your immune system
- Vitamins help your body to grow and develop
- Vitamins can help your bones stay strong
- Vitamins help in the development of cells that carry oxygen around the body
- Vitamins help the efficiency of your vital organs(and non vital)
- Vitamins can help your blood to clot when it needs to, such as when you cut yourself, this prevents a constant bleed and allows the wound to heal
Here are the vitamins that we cover on this site, all you need to do is click on the one you are looking for and you will be taken to a page with a list of foods that are high or rich in them, along with some basic and useful information on each of them :
If you have been instructed by your doctor or health professional to consume more of any of the above essential vitamins then all you need to do is check out the relevant page and start to compile your own shopping list of the foods that we have highlighted, it really is that simple.
We will now go on to provide you with some information on minerals in food.
What are Minerals?
We have explained about some of the benefits of vitamins and provided some information on what they are, but what are minerals? We have said that vitamins are organic and that means that they are created by animals or plants but minerals on the other hand are different. Minerals are inorganic elements and they derive from the earth and water, they are absorbed by plants that are growing from the ground or by animals that consume them. There are many benefits from keeping up your mineral levels and we have highlighted some of them below. We have pages that cover the essential dietary minerals and the foods that they can be found in as these are the minerals that your body needs more of, for example you will have heard all of your life how important a large amount of calcium is to give you strong teeth and bones. Other minerals, that we also cover on this site, are known as 'trace minerals' because your body requires less of them.
Just to set the record straight before we proceed we have provided two brief lists of these trace minerals and the essential minerals that your body requires more of through vitamins and minerals in food.
Trace minerals:
Essential minerals that we require more of:
The human body requires minerals for the following reasons:
- Minerals help to maintain the nervous system
- Minerals help in the production of hormones
- Minerals aid the efficiency of vital organs such as the kidneys
- Minerals help keep the elasticity in arteries, tissues and veins
- Minerals help regular cell function in the body
- Minerals aid in the formation of blood cells
- Minerals assist in a consistent metabolism
- Minerals are important to maintain a healthy level of insulin that in turn aids your metabolism
- Minerals are important for strong bones
- Minerals are vital for healthy teeth
- Minerals can help the any wounds that you may suffer to heal adequately
As you can see there are many brilliant benefits that minerals can bring us and different minerals are responsible for different benefits. To learn exactly what each mineral can do for you please check out our dedicated pages to each of them.
Below is a list of the minerals that we cover on this site, all you need to do is click on the one that you are looking for and you will be taken directly to our page with a list of foods that are high or rich in them:
In addition to the above pages that have lists of the foods that contain these essential dietary minerals, we also have several addition pages that provide further information on the food groups that contain these minerals, the actual benefits of the minerals and further sources. This site will leave you wanting for nothing and ready to compile your own shopping list for the foods that contain the vitamins and minerals that you require.
More than just vitamins and minerals in food
As we stated earlier on in the page there is more information on our website than information on vitamins and minerals in foods. Our bodies also need a healthy amount of protein and fiber as well in order for them to function effectively. We have further pages on the substance that is fiber and the chemical compound that is protein and the foods that they can be obtained from, these are highlighted below:
There really is a vast amount of information on our website all about vitamins and minerals in food and the many benefits that these bring to the human body. All of the foods that we have covered on our lists are natural and healthy and all you need to do to see the exact amount of vitamins and minerals in each food when you are out shopping is to check the label where there will always be government standard nutritional information. You will find that many of the same foods pop up on several of the lists which means that they are good for you in a multitude of ways.
Not only are the foods that you will find on this site natural and healthy but they also taste fantastic, so there is no need to sacrifice the enjoyment of taste for the benefit of something being good for you.
We hope that you have found our site on vitamins and minerals in food useful and that we have helped you understand what vitamins and minerals are. If you are interested in the benefits of the foods on the lists that we have provided you may also find our site on metabolism boosting foods and calories in food useful as well.