Nutrition is one of the most crucial elements of maintaining proper health. Your body needs a variety of nutrients and vitamins for you to function optimally.
There are essentially two main ingredients to consume when it comes to the food you eat: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients comprise the major food groups in your diet, including proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals primarily, but they can also contain fibre.
Most people have an easy time consuming enough micronutrients in their diets. It is the micronutrients that become an issue since there are so many.
For adequate health and wellbeing, the following are the vitamins and nutrients you should be taking every day:
1. Vitamins
Vitamins are one of the essential micronutrients for the proper functioning of the human body. They offer plenty of health benefits, including a more powerful immune system, healthy skin, strong joints & bones, good blood flow, and proper functioning of the nervous system.
There are plenty of vitamins that you should consume every day. There are about thirteen essential vitamins that you should consume, which nutritionists categorize into two main categories: fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins.
Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Water-soluble vitamins are Vitamin B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, B-6, B-7, B-9, B-12, and vitamin C.
You should receive an adequate amount of the above vitamins if you consume a diet that comprises vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins. If you cannot get all of the above vitamins from your diet, you should consider taking a supplement. For high-quality vitamin supplements, check out SmarterVitamins!
2. Minerals
Minerals are the other type of micronutrients that you should consume every day. There are two main categories of minerals for human consumption: major and trace minerals. It would be best to consume a good balance of both types of minerals to have a healthy body.
Major minerals include magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, potassium, and chloride. The above minerals will benefit the body in various ways, including improving the health of your bones, balancing water levels in the body, and maintaining the health of your skin & hair, among others. You can consume a substantial amount of major minerals.
On the other hand, trace minerals are those that you will find and consume in minuscule amounts. They will help with various bodily functions, including maintaining healthy blood pressure, help the transportation of oxygen in the blood, preventing tooth decay, and aiding the clotting of blood. Trace minerals include iron, selenium, zinc, manganese, chromium, copper, iodine, and fluoride.
Other trace minerals do not occur naturally but can be extracted from plants or directly from the earth, one of them being Berberine. Berberine is a naturally occurring bioactive compound that we can extract from several plants. According to the team at lumanutrition.com, Berberine helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels. It can also help with cardiovascular health and overall health.
By eating a healthy and varied diet, you can get most of the minerals you need from your food. However, supplementation might be necessary for most trace minerals because it is pretty difficult to gain all of them from your diet.
3. Protein
If you have any scientific education, you know that proteins make the building blocks of the human body. They are a macronutrient that each cell in the body requires for proper functioning.
Proteins perform several functions in the body, including promoting the growth of cells in muscles, bones, hair & skin; they are a fuel source for cells & tissues in the body and the formation of essential substances in the body, including antibodies & hormones.
You should effortlessly get enough protein from your diet if you eat lean red meats, poultry meat, fish, legumes, nuts, eggs, and some grains. Although animal sources contain the highest number of proteins, you can still get a sufficient number of proteins from plant sources. If not, there are many protein supplements available on the market.
4. Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates have developed a bad reputation in the recent past, but they are still a vital nutrient that you should consume every day for optimal health. The primary function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide all your cells and tissues with energy.
Most of the confusion around carbohydrates has arisen from people thinking that carbohydrates make you fat. There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates such as bread and rice are easily broken down and absorbed into the blood. The body will convert them into fat if you do not use them as glycogen for energy.
Complex carbohydrates take longer to process and digest. They are the type of carbohydrates that the body needs. Complex carbohydrates will help the body by improving brain function, nervous system processes, digestive function, and boosting metabolism.
5. Fats
Another essential nutrient that most people do not understand is fats. The vast majority of people think that eating fat will make you fat and unhealthy.
On the contrary, fats are vital nutrients that you should eat every day for optimal health. Fats help the body perform a wide range of functions as well as provide the body with energy.
Fats will help the body with blood clotting, cell growth, brain functioning, muscle development, hormone production, immune function, and balancing blood sugar.
However, there are healthy and unhealthy fats. Healthy fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, whereas unhealthy fats are saturated and trans fats.
You can get healthy fats from various sources in your diet, including nuts, fish, seeds, coconut oil, and olive oil.
6. Water
Water is not often considered one, but it is the most crucial nutrient for the human body. The fact that you can only survive a few days without water is evidence of its importance.
Water will help every process in the human body, including shock absorption, removing toxins, lubrication of body parts, and transporting nutrients, among others.
You should get your water from clean, pure sources such as bottled mineral water. You can also get your water from fruits with a lot of water like watermelons.
To conclude, there are many nutrients that the body needs for optimal health. The six vital nutrients for the body are vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and water. If you can consume the above nutrients every day from your diet or supplements, you will have remarkable health and overall wellbeing.
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