Saturday, May 28, 2016

Importance of Vitamins and Minerals for Health

 
Food is energy. Food is also seen as medicine.  We feel well and energetic only if we are healthy. And we take medicine when we are not healthy. Even the Hippocrates, being considered the father of the modern or western medicine, is reported to have propounded Food as Medicine. He is believed to have always propagated the message that eating wholesome food is the basis for good health.

What is this wholesome food? There are macro elements- carbohydrates, proteins, fats. Then there are micronutrients. They are micro only in terms of quantity and not at all in terms of quality. They play very essential role in terms of upholding our health. They perform multitude of functions, playing a macro role in our health. They help in converting food into energy and also help in repairing cellular damage and sustain life and human body.

Every day skin is replaced and muscle recovered. They help to strengthen bones, heal wounds and boost the immune system for the young to grow, for the elderly to sustain and the old to carry on. Some minerals help in carrying all the chemical messages in the body to comprehend situations and sustain life. Most of these vitamins & minerals which are so fundamental for life are not manufactured in human body and have to be taken in the form of food or medicines.

It may be no exaggeration, if we say that that most medicines that people take in terms of quantity these days are vitamin and mineral supplements. This is what Hippocrates might have meant when he said- “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Most elderly, who can afford costs, take calcium supplements, a mineral for strong bones to prevent fractures in the old age. In fact for healthy baby mother needs to take folic acid for sufficient supply of iron. Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium and Sulfur are some other important minerals that are compulsive and are to be in right proportions in a human body for a healthy life. Sodium, Potassium and Sulfur help us in maintain proper balance of water in the body. Calcium, Phosphorous and Magnesium are important for healthy bone the mainframe of the human body. Sulfur helps us to stabilize protein structures including those in the hair, skin and nails. Sodium helps in neural signaling.

Some of these minerals, which are essentially needed for sustenance of life, but are needed only in small amounts for human body are called trace minerals. These are inorganic and are available in abundance in the non living world like- Chromium, Copper, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, Zinc etc,. But some of these minerals get excreted from the body and are to be replenished. Iron carries oxygen in the body. Other elements help in similar crucial roles for the sustenance of life. They need to be in right proportions and excess presence of these minerals also could cause problems.

Unlike minerals, vitamins are organic that is they are extracted from living matter or sometimes synthesized. There are various vitamins like A, B, C, D.  Again there are different kinds of vitamin Bà like B1, B2. B12 and are created. They are not only helpful for proper vision, healthy gums but even for very fundamental requirements like production and release of energy. While vitamins like Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, panthothenic acid and biotin help in energy production while several B vitamins form key components some coenzymes that play a role in release of energy. Vitamins like B6 and B12 help in cells to multiply and life to be sustained.

Undisputedly, Vitamins and minerals are essential for us to live well. So, let us have them-vitamins and minerals, as required to be active and productive for life.

Vitamins and minerals are essentialà They make us live well. They are not only required to be active and productive but for the life to be sustained. While some vitamins help in energy production others also play a role in release of energy. Some minerals and vitamins also help in repair and replenishing of cells. So let us take them.

Food is seen as medicineà We take medicine, when needed while the food is taken all the while. But we need certain very essential elements which we may not get if we do not eat wholesome food. While we always eat, we do not care to see if it is wholesome. Our bodies also need these elements differently at different ages and depending. So let us eat wholesome or when required take food supplements- that is vitamin and mineral consisting medicines.

0 comments:

Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Happy Samal | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Facebook Themes