Micronutrients are essential vitamins and minerals your body requires daily to maintain health and wellness.
These nutrients are only required in small amounts but are crucial in all physiological processes and bodily functions. These essential micronutrients are necessary for a healthy immune system, detoxification, energy production, disease resistance, supporting growth and development, and so much more.
Vitamins and Minerals are Essential Micronutrients
A healthy diet means more than eating many fruits and vegetables, leaner protein, and less fat.
In the bigger picture, you must consume adequate amounts of essential micronutrients in your diet.
Many people are surprised that their nutritional status is poor, although they feel they eat good everyday foods. These can include those who eat a “healthy diet” but lack the essential micronutrients the body needs to keep them functioning correctly.
Why are Some Foods Depleted in Essential Nutrients?
There can be different reasons why foods are depleted in essential micronutrients.
- The Food is Grown in Soils Depleted in Nutrients.
It is important to remember that plants don’t make minerals; they absorb them in differing amounts from the soil. So, soil health is important. - The Food is Picked Months Before it is Available for You to Buy.
It is common practice for fruit to be picked unripened and stored away for months until it is released to the shops and available for purchase. The aged fruit and vegetables can lose many of their essential micronutrients in that time. It is possible to buy a piece of fruit that was picked a year earlier. Not naturally being able to ripen also means nutrients are lost. - The Amount of Processing of the Food. The processes foods go through to end up in a box ready for you to purchase usually result in essential nutrients being depleted in the process. It also means there are many additives in the food, many of which may be detrimental to health.
- Stress Depletes many of your essential micronutrients and therefore, increases the body’s requirements
Importance of Micronutrients To Health
It is easy to see the importance of micronutrients to health and the significance of your food choices.
Micronutrients provide the fuel for all body systems to function as they should.
Without optimal levels of micronutrients, you will gradually become fatigued, and the body’s systems will start to lose efficiency.
The elements of the body that make it structurally acceptable and internally well-maintained are called nutrients, which are micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients
Daily Nutrition Intake of Micronutrients
Too much or too little of anything can be harmful. That’s why a deficiency or overdosage of Micronutrients can cause various disorders.
Deficiencies of Micronutrients
These may result in goiter, scurvy, osteoporosis, certain cancers, poor immunity, low energy, heart disease, and more. Excess levels of these nutrients can also be detrimental to health. Higher dosages than normal can be toxic to your body’s cells and organs. High doses of selenium, for example, may cause kidney damage and heart problems.
There are different ways to check micronutrient status in the body. Serum blood tests can be helpful. Hair analysis and organic acid testing can also be beneficial.
Vitamins for Sleep and Anxiety
There are some vitamins and minerals that, if lacking, can contribute to poor sleep and anxiety.
These include calcium, magnesium, and the B-group vitamins. Including foods in your diet rich in these micronutrients can be beneficial, and taking supplements can also be helpful.
Best Micronutrients for Weight Loss
All micronutrients influence weight loss to some degree due to their wide-ranging influence on metabolism, inflammation, and blood sugar stability.
The best micronutrients for weight loss include magnesium, chromium, vanadium, iodine, iron, vitamin D, and Vitamin C.
All these micronutrients strongly influence hormones, blood sugars, inflammation, and metabolic rate.
Foods Rich in Micronutrients
Food is your best source of the essential micronutrients. Fresh and, ideally, organic foods provide the highest levels of micronutrients. Growing food in your own garden can be the best food source for you and your family. If you don’t have room for a garden, growing food in pots also works well.
Some foods are particularly nutrient-rich. These include berries, green leafy vegetables, avocadoes, microgreens, and fish.
The Two Essential Micronutrients are Vitamins and Minerals.
Vitamins, Minerals, and trace minerals are the micronutrients vital for all health aspects.
You will be familiar with many of these vitamins and minerals but may not know their significance in keeping you healthy and well.
All Vitamins are divided into fat-soluble and water-soluble classes.
Vitamins
All Vitamins are Considered Essential Micronutrients.
Some examples include
Vitamin A
Getting enough Vitamin A is important for good eyesight, appropriate immune function, and growth of tissues.
The B group Vitamins
B Vitamins are essential for energy metabolism in the body. They also assist in blood cell development, production, and other metabolic actions. They also keep the nervous system functioning normally.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential for a healthy immune response and in repelling germs and cancers. It is also vital in producing collagen that keeps the skin healthy. Vitamin C improves iron absorption.
Vitamin D
Essential for healthy bones, Vitamin D maintains the calcium and phosphorus levels in the body. Vitamin D also helps control inflammation and is necessary for a healthy immune system.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antioxidant, reducing free radical damage in the body. Vitamin E plays a role in immunity and healthy blood flow.
Minerals
These can be macrominerals or microminerals.
Macrominerals or “bulk minerals” are required in relatively higher quantities than microminerals. Some are necessary for cell structure, while others act as electrolytes.
Microminerals are trace minerals that are required in minimal amounts.
Some Important Minerals
- Calcium keeps the bones strong and can help prevent osteoporosis.
Iodine helps in producing thyroid hormones that are necessary to grow healthy. It also helps in normalizing the nervous system. - Iron is necessary for creating hemoglobin, the protein in the blood that carries oxygen throughout the body.
- Zinc is required for healthy-looking skin, infection prevention, and wound healing.
- Antioxidants and phytochemicals are two other important Micronutrients in the body. They protect the cells from damage and influence bodily functions.
- Selenium acts as an antioxidant but is also essential for detoxifying heavy metals and other toxins from the body.
To ascertain that a person’s nutritional status is good and that their bodily functions are normal, eating a “healthy diet” is not enough. A “balanced diet” of food rich in different macronutrients and micronutrients should be consumed as balanced amounts of every nutrient are key to living a long and healthy life.