A topic in nutrition gaining quick currency is micronutrients.
If you are among the many fretting about your calorie intake, it is time to stop worrying
and concentrate on this aspect of food.
They are often the most ignored aspect of a balanced diet.
Micronutrients are minerals and vitamins that can be taken through food or dietary supplements.
The nutritional needs of each person would be different depending on their health conditions,
sex, and age.
Various multivitamins address few of these differences.
There are specific formulas that are meant only for women or those above 50.
Here is a primer on what are micronutrients and the best ways of adding them to our diet.
All foods include micronutrients and macronutrients.
While micronutrients are minerals and vitamins, macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates,
and fats.
These together comprise nutrition.
A human body needs everything in significant amounts in each meal.
There are specific requirements on what kind of nutrient is required and in what proportion
to make one’s diet a balanced one, and these specifications are based on a person’s sex
and age.
Vitamins take part in the metabolic process of digestion, growth, energy transfer, immunity,
and repair, among others.
It is important to note that the human body cannot make most of the vitamins on its own
which is why it is important to include them in our diet.
Vitamins and minerals are categorised as either water soluble or fat soluble.
Water-soluble micronutrients are actively or passively absorbed in our GI tract.
It is difficult to store these because we are drinking and excreting water continuously.
That is why it is necessary to consumer these more often, like vitamin C and vitamin D.
The fat-soluble ones are absorbed in the GI tract more passively and enter the body through
dietary fat.
If the intake of dietary fat is not enough, the body might not be able to adequately absorb
these vitamins.
Fat-free craze that began in 1950s has been replaced with more informed choices of healthy
fats.
And the vitamins that healthy sources of fat add to the body are vitamins A, D, E, and
K.
Most nutritionists believe that eating a wide range of food helps these micronutrients to
enter the body.
These foods would include vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meats.
Foods from which trace minerals can be given to the body include spinach, legumes like
peanuts, and nuts like cashews.
Foods that have water-soluble vitamins include bell peppers, eggs, leafy greens, whole grains,
lean meats, and fish.
Those that have fat-soluble vitamins are almonds, milk, sweet potato, soyabeans, and leafy greens.
Apart from vitamins, minerals are also another component of micronutrients.
Bananas, fish, black beans, and dairy products have microminerals.
Other foods that have microminerals are dairy products, black beans and lentils, bananas,
and fish.
‌
In case your diet is not giving you enough micronutrients, you can consult a doctor who,
after conducting necessary tests to understand what kind of deficiency your body is going
through, could prescribe supplements.
The most common form of supplement used to get more micronutrients is multivitamins.
However, remember that supplements can be a part of a healthy diet and make up for certain
deficiencies.
But they cannot replace a healthy diet that is rich in micronutrients.