Micronutrients

The foods we eat contain nutrients. Nutrients are substances required by the body to perform its basic functions. Nutrients must be obtained from diet, since the human body does not synthesize them. Nutrients are used to produce energy, detect and respond to environmental surroundings, move, excrete wastes, respire (breathe), grow, and reproduce.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are nutrients required by the body in lesser amounts, but are still essential for carrying out bodily functions. Micronutrients include all the essential minerals and vitamins. There are sixteen essential minerals and thirteen vitamins. In contrast to carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, micronutrients are not directly used for making energy, but they assist in the process as being part of enzymes (i.e., coenzymes). Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in the body and are involved in all aspects of body functions from producing energy, to digesting nutrients, to building macromolecules. Micronutrients play many roles in the body.

Minerals

Minerals are solid inorganic substances that form crystals and are classified depending on how much of them we need. Trace minerals, such as molybdenum, selenium, zinc, iron, and iodine, are only required in a few milligrams or less and macrominerals, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and phosphorus, are required in hundreds of milligrams. Many minerals are critical for enzyme function, others are used to maintain fluid balance, build bone tissue, synthesize hormones, transmit nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and protect against harmful free radicals.

Minerals and their major functions:

Macro:

• Sodium Fluid balance, nerve transmission, muscle contraction

• Chloride: Fluid balance, stomach acid production

• Potassium: Fluid balance, nerve transmission, muscle contraction

• Calcium: Bone and teeth health maintenance, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood clotting

• Phosphorus: Bone and teeth health maintenance, acid-base balance

• Magnesium: Protein production, nerve transmission, muscle contraction

• Sulfur: Protein production

Trace:

• Iron: Carries oxygen, assists in energy production

• Zinc: Protein and DNA production, wound healing, growth, immune system function

• Iodine: Thyroid hormone production, growth, metaboli

• Selenium: Antioxidant

• Copper: Coenzyme, iron metabolism

• Manganese: Coenzyme

• Fluoride: Bone and teeth health maintenance, tooth decay prevention

• Chromium: Assists insulin in glucose metabolism

• Molybdenum: Coenzyme

Vitamins

The thirteen vitamins are categorized as either water-soluble or fat-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and all the B vitamins, which include thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyroxidine, biotin, folate and cobalamin. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K. Vitamins are required to perform many functions in the body such as making red blood cells, synthesizing bone tissue, and playing a role in normal vision, nervous system function, and immune system function.

Vitamin deficiencies can cause severe health problems. For example, a deficiency in niacin causes a disease called pellagra, which was common in the early twentieth century in some parts of America. The common signs and symptoms of pellagra are known as the “4D’s—diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death.” Until scientists found out that better diets relieved the signs and symptoms of pellagra, many people with the disease ended up in insane asylums awaiting death (see Note 1.19 "Video 1.1"). Other vitamins were also found to prevent certain disorders and diseases such as scurvy (vitamin C), night blindness (vitamin A), and rickets (vitamin D).

Vitamins and Their Major Functions:

Water-soluble:

• B1 (thiamine): Coenzyme, energy metabolism assistance

• B2 (riboflavin): Coenzyme, energy metabolism assistance

• B3 (niacin): Coenzyme, energy metabolism assistance

• B5 (pantothenic acid): Coenzyme, energy metabolism assistanceB6 (pyroxidine):

• Coenzyme, amino acid synthesis assistance

• Biotin: Coenzyme

• Folate: Coenzyme, essential for growth

• B12 (cobalamin): Coenzyme, red blood cell synthesis

• C: Collagen synthesis, antioxidant

Fat-soluble:

• A: Vision, reproduction, immune system function

• D: Bone and teeth health maintenance, immune system function

• E: Antioxidant, cell membrane protection

• K: Bone and teeth health maintenance, blood clotting