Vitamins come in so many shapes, sizes, flavors, textures, for men, women, kids, seniors, the list goes on and on.... we all grew up hearing we need to take vitamins but other than that, how much do you REALLY know about them?
After gastric bypass surgery your risk of vitamin deficiencies especially B12, folic acid, vitamin D, and calcium. Meaning, I get to be on a comprehensive vitamin and mineral regimen the rest of my life. So, I am going to dig into the information and share it with you.
Vitamins and minerals perform hundreds of roles in the body.Yet, there is a fine line between getting enough of these nutrients which is healthy and getting too much that can harm you. A healthy diet is the best way to get adequate vitamins your body requires. This include at least 30 vitamins, minerals, and dietary components that a body needs but cannot manufacture on its own. They help strengthen bones, heal wounds, and support our immune systems. They also convert food into energy, and repair cell damage.
Trying to keep track of what all these vitamins and minerals do can be confusing. I have read enough articles now that I have an alphabet swimming in my head. But, I think I can break it down to make it simpler to understand what exactly we need.
Micronutrients play a huge role in the body.Vitamins and minerals are often called micronutrients because your body needs only tiny amounts of them. Yet failing to get even those small quantities virtually guarantees disease. A few examples of diseases that can result from vitamin deficiencies:Scurvy. Old-time sailors learned that living for months without fresh fruits or vegetables—the main sources of vitamin C—causes the bleeding gums and listlessness of scurvy.Blindness. In some developing countries, people still become blind from vitamin A deficiency.Rickets. A deficiency in vitamin D can cause rickets, a condition marked by soft, weak bones that can lead to skeletal deformities such as bowed legs. Partly to combat rickets, the U.S. has fortified milk with vitamin D since the 1930s.Just as a lack of key micronutrients can cause substantial harm to your body, getting sufficient quantities can provide a substantial benefit. Some examples of these benefits:Strong bones. A combination of calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, magnesium, and phosphorus protects your bones against fractures.Prevents birth defects. Taking folic acid supplements early in pregnancy helps prevent brain and spinal birth defects in offspring.Healthy teeth. The mineral fluoride not only helps bone formation but also keeps dental cavities from starting or worsening.
I really didn't know the real difference between vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are organic and can be broken down by heat, air, or acid. Minerals are inorganic and hold on to their chemical structure.So why does this matter? It is tougher to get vitamins from food and other sources into your body because cooking, storage, and simple exposure to air can inactivate these more fragile compounds.
You know the warning labels saying don't take certain medications with others because they can interact with each other? Well, many micronutrients interact this way too. Vitamin D enables your body to pick up calcium from food passing through your digestive tract rather than harvesting it from your bones. Vitamin C helps you absorb iron.The interaction of micronutrients isn’t always positive, however. For example, vitamin C blocks your body’s ability to assimilate the essential mineral copper. And even a minor overload of the mineral manganese can worsen iron deficiency.
Water-soluble vitamins are absorbed directly into the bloodstream as food is broken down during digestion or as a supplement dissolves and because much of your body consists of water, many of the water-soluble vitamins circulate easily in your body. Although water-soluble vitamins have many tasks in the body, one of the most important is helping to free the energy found in the food you eat. Some water-soluble vitamins can stay in the body for long periods of time. You probably have several years’ supply of vitamin B12 in your liver! Generally, though, water-soluble vitamins should be replenished every few days.Just be aware that there is a small risk that consuming large amounts of some of these micronutrients through supplements may be quite harmful. For example, very high doses can damage nerves, causing numbness and muscle weakness.
Fat-soluble vitamins are different. Instead of easily moving into the bloodstream like most water-soluble vitamins, many fat-soluble vitamins travel through the body only when assisted by proteins that act as carriers. Food containing fat-soluble vitamins is digested by stomach acid and then travels to the small intestine, where it is digested further. Bile is needed for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. In most cases, fat-soluble vitamins must be coupled with a protein in order to travel through the body.These vitamins are used throughout the body, but excesses are stored in the liver and fat within your body and release them as needed.To some extent, you can think of these vitamins as time-release micronutrients. But it it's important to remember because fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your body for long periods, toxic levels can build up. This is most likely to happen if you take supplements. It’s very rare to get too much of a vitamin just from food.
One of the key tasks of minerals is to maintain the proper balance of water in the body. Sodium, chloride, and potassium take the lead in doing this. Three other major minerals—calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium—are important for healthy bones. Sulfur helps stabilize protein structures, including some of those that make up hair, skin, and nails. Having too much of one major mineral can result in a deficiency of another. These sorts of imbalances are usually caused by overloads from supplements, not food sources. Here are two examples:Salt overload. Calcium binds with excess sodium in the body and is excreted when the body senses that sodium levels must be lowered. That means that if you ingest too much sodium through table salt or processed foods, you could end up losing needed calcium as your body rids itself of the surplus sodium.Excess phosphorus. Likewise, too much phosphorus can hamper your ability to absorb magnesium.Trace minerals carry out a several different tasks. Examples? Okay.....Iron is best known for pushing oxygen around the body. Just like Fluoride strengthens bones and wards off tooth decay.Zinc helps blood clot, is essential for taste and smell, and bolsters the immune response.Copper helps form several enzymes, one of which assists with iron metabolism and the creation of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood.The other trace minerals perform equally vital jobs, such as helping to block damage to body cells and forming parts of key enzymes or enhancing their activity. A minor overload of manganese can exacerbate iron deficiency. Having too little can also cause problems.When the body has too little iodine, thyroid hormone production slows, causing sluggishness and WEIGHT GAIN as well as other health concerns. The problem worsens if the body also has too little selenium.The difference between “just enough” and “too much” of the trace minerals is often tiny. Generally, food is a safe source of trace minerals, but if you take supplements, it’s important to make sure you’re not exceeding safe levels.
Antioxidant is a catchall term for any compound that can counteract unstable molecules such as free radicals that damage DNA, cell membranes, and other parts of cells.Your body cells naturally produce plenty of antioxidants to put on patrol. The foods you eat—and, perhaps, some of the supplements you take—are another source of antioxidant compounds. Carotenoids (such as lycopene in tomatoes and lutein in kale) and flavonoids (such as anthocyanins in blueberries, quercetin in apples and onions, and catechins in green tea) are antioxidants. The vitamins C and E and the mineral selenium also have antioxidant properties.
Free radicals are a natural byproduct of energy metabolism and are also generated by ultraviolet rays, tobacco smoke, and air pollution. They lack a full complement of electrons, which makes them unstable, so they steal electrons from other molecules, damaging those molecules in the process.Free radicals have a well-deserved reputation for causing cellular damage. But they can be helpful, too. When immune system cells muster to fight intruders, the oxygen they use spins off an army of free radicals that destroys viruses, bacteria, and damaged body cells in an oxidative burst. Vitamin C can then disarm the free radicals.
Antioxidants are able to neutralize free radicals by giving up some of their own electrons. When a vitamin C or E molecule makes this sacrifice, it may allow a crucial protein, gene, or cell membrane to escape damage. This helps break a chain reaction that can affect many other cells.It is important to recognize that the term “antioxidant” reflects a chemical property rather than a specific nutritional property.
Articles and advertisements have touted antioxidants as a way to help slow aging, fend off heart disease, improve flagging vision, and curb cancer. But, results from randomized controlled tests have failed to back up many of these claims. The bottom line? Eating a healthy diet is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals you need......however here are some numbers to look at. You can take individual vitamins to boost the specific levels you are lacking or be like most Americans and pop a multivitamin.
But for those curious....here are some charts for you!
