Vital Micronutrients you should be consuming

In this blog, I am going to explain about some Vital  Micronutrients you should consider consuming for Good Health.

There are two broad categories of micronutrients in nutrition i.e. Minerals(which are inorganic), Vitamins(organic).

MINERALS

Minerals are those inorganic things that are on periodic table. It is divided into two categories:

1. Macro-minerals(needed by body in large amount)
2. Trace-minerals(needed by body in smaller amounts)

Macro-minerals include calcium, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur, sodium, chlorine and magnesium. A lot of these are electrolytes, which tie into our fluid intake and balance.

The trace minerals are elements such as iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, molybdenum, iodine and selenium.

VITAMINS

Vitamins are classified into two categories:

1. Fat soluble
2. Water soluble

These category names refer to way that these different vitamins can be absorbed into body.

Fat soluble vitamins are absorbed with assistance of fat via the small intestine and tend to stick around in our bodies much longer than water soluble ones.

Water soluble vitamins are quickly excreted through our sweat and urine, which is why we need to consume them more often.

The fat soluble vitamins are A,D,E,K and the rest of vitamins are water soluble. The water soluble vitamins consist of 8 different forms of vitamin B and vitamin C.

Because we drink and urinate all day long, we have a large amount of water processing through our body constantly. So, it is rare to overdose on water soluble vitamins because you can urinate and get rid of excess.

The converse is true for fat soluble vitamins. It is easier to overdose because they stay in our body for longer and thus they’re harder to eradicate. And it is more unlikely to that you’ll be deficient unless it’s a consistency issue.

DEFICIENCY EFFECTS

1. Iron deficiency which is especially common in female athletes. In one study, on a group of female volleyball players who were supplemented with iron, it was found that during strength testing the iron supplemented group displayed greater total strength across a range of barbell lifts compared to the control group that did not receive iron supplementation.
2. Zinc deficiency can negatively impact your metabolism.
3. Calcium deficiency can negatively impact bone health.
4. Vitamin deficiency effects – check here.

HOW TO OBVIATE DEFICIENCIES?

The premier way to keep track of your micronutrients consumption is to ensure that you’re consuming 1 serving of fruits and vegetables per 1000 calories that you ingest per day.

For example, if your daily calorie intake is 2000, you should aim to consume 2 servings of fruits and fibrous vegetables per day.

On the flip side, a very huge or proactive individual who regularly consumes 4000-5000 calories per day might face difficulties if she or he has to consume 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. In that case, getting 3 or even just 2 serving would be suffice in order to prevent excessive bloating or fullness.

So, that's all about this blog. I've explained you most of the vital micronutrients you must or should consider consuming for robust health.