Role Of Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants And Phytonutrients On Health
A daily nutrition diet satisfies all of the body's macro and micronutrient requirements. Nutrition is also important for overall well-being and health. It is the substratum of good health.
Your body requires a regular supply of many different basic materials, both macronutrients and micronutrients to maintain your brain, muscle, bone, nerves, skin, blood circulation, and immune system. You require a lot of macronutrients like proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates while only a few micronutrients vitamins and minerals are required.
Aside from that, antioxidants and phytonutrients are important for sustaining health and preventing disease.
Vitamins and minerals are nutrients present in small amounts in our body that are not created by our bodies and must be obtained from the food we eat. They aid in the healing of wounds, repair of bones and the strengthening of the immune system. They also transform food into energy and are essential for cellular repair.
They serve a unique role in energy metabolism; and are necessary as functional components of enzymes that release and store energy.
· Vitamin A contributes to the formation and maintenance of healthy teeth, bones, soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin.
· Vitamin B are necessary for the normal functioning of the body's cells. They aid in the conversion of food into energy, the formation of new blood cells, and the maintenance of healthy skin, brain, and other bodily structures.
· Vitamin C, commonly known as ascorbic acid, is an antioxidant that helps to keep teeth and gums healthy. It aids in the absorption of iron and the maintenance of healthy tissue in the body.
· Vitamin E, commonly known as tocopherol, is an antioxidant. It aids in the formation of red blood cells and the utilisation of vitamin K by the body.
· Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin" because it is produced by the body on exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D plays an important role in calcium absorption in the body which is required for the regular growth and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. It also aids in the maintenance of adequate calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood.
· Vitamin K is required because blood would not hold together without it (coagulate). According to certain researches, it was found that Vitamin K is important for bone health.
Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Iron, Zinc, Iodine, Copper, Manganese, Sulfur, and Selenium are among the 13 important minerals.
Minerals are also very necessary for your body's wellbeing. They are used by your body for a variety of functions, including keeping your bones, muscles, heart, and brain in good functioning order. They are also necessary for the production of enzymes and hormones.
Free radicals are formed when your body breaks down food or is exposed to tobacco smoke or radiation. Free radicals are generally destroyed by the antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase as well as nutrient-derived antioxidant small molecules in the body like vitamin E, vitamin C, carotenes, flavonoids, glutathione, uric acid, and taurine. Normally, a delicate balance exists between free radicals and antioxidants in healthy people. But due to oxidative stress causes antioxidant levels drop below normal in various pathologic diseases, such as diabetes, and in critically ill patients. Antioxidant supplements are believed to be beneficial in such cases.
Phytonutrients are natural compounds or chemicals produced by plants. They help to avoid particular diseases by maintaining and modifying immune function. Carotenoids, ellagic acid, resveratrol, flavonoids, and phytoestrogens are a few examples, and each phytochemical has a different function.
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are among such functions of phytonutrients. They may also improve immunity and intercellular communication, as well as repair DNA damage caused by pollutants, detoxify carcinogens, and change oestrogen metabolism.
All micronutrients, phytonutrients, and antioxidants are essential for the body and are necessary for their respective benefits. The deficiency of each of them develops issues in the body that can sometimes be solved with supplements. Excess of each of them is also not a good sign and causes toxicity in the body which could result in poisoning. Therefore, it is very important to maintain the right amount of micronutrients, phytonutrients, and antioxidants in the body.
