Vitamins: Essential nutrient 1 of 6
This is post 1 of 6 dedicated to the 6 essential nutrients. In this post, we are talking about Vitamins! Nutrients can be categorized into two groups, macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Micronutrients are your vitamins and minerals. These 5 nutrients plus water are the 6 essential nutrients your body requires for smooth sailing.
What are vitamins?
Vitamins are an essential micronutrient. They do much to aid in bodily functions and maintaining good health. There are 13 necessary vitamins for the body. They are all necessary, so if you only have 12 out of those 13 you will be in trouble. They can be split into two categories, fat soluble and water soluble.
Water soluble vitamins include:
Vit. B-1 (thiamine)
Vit. B-6
Vit. B-2 (riboflavin)
Vit. B-3 (niacin)
Vit. B-9 (folate, folic acid)
Vit. B-7 (biotin)
Vit. C
A water-soluble vitamin means they dissolve in water. Because they are dissolved in water, and our bodies are constantly consuming and removing water, the body gets rid of any extra water-soluble vitamins in your urine. If they are not adequately replaced in your diet, nutritional deficiencies and related health problems can occur.
Fat soluble vitamins include:
A fat-soluble vitamin means they dissolve in fats. Your body absorbs them with fat globules traveling through the small intestines and then they are distributed through the bloodstream. An excess of fat-soluble vitamins will be stored in the liver and adipose tissues to be used when needed. Because the body does not automatically flush out the excess fat in the body (even if we all wish that did happen sometimes), you can overdose on fat-soluble vitamins. This does not happen from a balanced diet. Overdosing would normally happen from taking an excess of fat-soluble vitamin supplements.
What do vitamins do?
Vitamins help boost the immune system, prevent or delay some cancers, strengthen the skeletal system, encourage healthy blood, aid in metabolizing proteins and carbs, and help in brain and nervous system functioning. Vitamins are essential for healthy vision, skin, and bones.
Lacking in any one vitamin can lead to body failure in some form. Ever heard of scurvy, rickets, beriberi, or osteoporosis? Or maybe too little vitamin D has already impaired your hearing, so you actually have not heard of these before. Well, these are just a few diseases from a great long list that can occur from a single vitamin deficiency.
What are healthy sources of vitamins?
It is both impressive and maybe a little scary that our bodies require all of these tiny nutrients. Some people might have a digestive condition that requires they take a vitamin supplement. Also, there are some who are deficient in a specific vitamin. Luckily there are supplements available when needed.
Most people shouldn't need supplements. How can you keep your vitamin intake consistent, and thus your body in blissful vitamin heaven? Here is my suggestion. Most people who eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can get all the vitamins they require. Keep a balanced nutritious diet and you won't even need to think about your vitamin intake.
I wish I could tell you one superfood you could eat, and you will get all 13 vitamins no problem. Unfortunately, that just isn't realistic when your body requires 13 different vitamins. One way that you can more easily incorporate a wide variety of vitamin rich fruits and veggies is with Thrive freeze-dried food. Thrive makes it easy to add peppers, spinach and broccoli to any meal because there is zero prep involved and it has a 25-year shelf life. They also have a large selection of freeze-dried berries to choose from which hold many essential vitamins. Give it a try and see if you can increase your vitamin selection in your daily diet!
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