Vitamins and minerals are nutrients that our bodies require to grow and develop. Vitamins are organic substances made by plants and animals, and each vitamin has an important role to play in our health.
Tales of early sailing excursions often contained reports of sailors and pirates succumbing to a mysterious illness called scurvy. The victims would develop suppurating sores, and their teeth began to fall out. After many years it was discovered that the disease resulted from a lack of vitamin C. The early ships had no refrigeration systems, which made it impossible to keep fresh fruit and vegetables for any length of time. This problem had a limiting effect on long-distance marine travel. Thankfully for sailors (and the rest of the world!) refrigeration has become commonplace.
Another important vitamin is D, which helps the body absorb calcium for strong bones and teeth. We can get this vitamin from food sources, but another good supplier is the sun. Low vitamin D has become more of a problem in the recent years, as people are now careful to wear sunscreen when out of doors. This is of course good for the skin as it protects it from the sun’s harmful UV rays, but the unfortunate side effect, is that we cut out a god source of this important vitamin as well. Good food sources for D are salmon, cod liver oil and enriched milk.
Other important vitamins are Vitamin A, B6, B12, E, and K. We can acquire most of these vitamins by eating nutritious food and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Without question, the best place to get vitamins and minerals is natural sources.
If you find you are low on a certain vitamin, you can consume more of the food which contains it, or take a daily vitamin supplement such as the high quality supplements from Nature’s Sunshine or any other high quality supplement supply organization. Supplements are a great way to get the essential vitamins that you need in your diet. Here is a complete list of all of the essential vitamins and minerals you need daily:
I hope that you found this information helpful!
Comments
2 responses to “Essential Vitamins and Minerals”
This is one awesome article.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Wow, awesome blog structure! How long have you ever been running a blog for? you made running a blog look easy. The whole look of your website is excellent, as neatly as the content!