For this entry I wanted to talk about vitamins and minerals on a general level and why someone like me might take supplemental vitamins every day. In my senior year of high school I took a nutrition class at my local college and the information I took away from that class has stuck with me into my adult years. It is by far one of the most informative classes I haven taken!

IMPORTANCE OF VITAMINS & MINERALS

Vitamins and minerals are organic micronutrients that are essential for life. They help the body carry out everyday functions, such as fighting infections, building bone, healing wounds, regulating hormones and are needed for energy metabolism. Simply, they keep us healthy and help us perform everyday tasks. Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients which means they are needed in small amounts compared to macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein).

Different vitamins serve different purposes and contribute to different bodily functions. There are 13 vitamins in total and 8 of these come from the B-group of vitamins. These 13 different vitamins can be found in a variety of vegetables, meat, fruit, grain, crabs and dairy. Its important to also know that some vitamins are water-soluble which means that they pass freely through the body, kidneys and urinary system. Water-soluble vitamins need to be replenished every day since they leave your body through urine. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your bodies cells and are not passed out of the body. (This will be important later!)

If you are eating a balanced diet then you should be getting the daily recommend intake of your vitamins and minerals. However there are so many new diets, allergies, and food rules these days it might be a challenge to meet the daily recommend intake.

READING FOOD LABLES

To understand why you might start taking supplemental vitamins you’ll want to get a grasp on how balanced your personal diet really is. Food labels are a consistent and reliable source when it comes to counting the micro and macro nutrients your body receives everyday.

At the top of the food label you’ll see calories, which are the amount of energy you gain from your macronutrients. There are mathematical formulas (just some basic multiplication and addition) that can help you break down how much percentage of your calories come from each macronutrient. On the left side of the label there are all of the nutrients with the corresponding daily value percentages on the right. You will also usually find a list of ingredients at the bottom. The order of ingredients are listed from the most amount to the least amount in the product. (For example in cookies, flour is listed first since there is more of it compared to a smaller ingredients in the cookies like vanilla extract or salt.) What I focus on however is the daily value percentage. It tells you how much a nutrient is contributing to your daily standard diet. When you reach 100% of the your intake it means you’ve reached the standard recommended amount you should be getting every day.

DEFICENCIES AND TOXICITIES

When you lack a certain vitamin its a deficiency and usually a sign you need to change your diet or start taking supplements. However its important to know that some vitamins when taken in high doses can lead to a toxicity. Both of these go hand-and-hand with each other and I wanna go over some basics before we get into specific vitamins and my personal examples.

First we need to go back to water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins. There are 9 water-soluble vitamins which include vitamin C and all of the B vitamins: thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pathogenic acid, biotin, vitamin, B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Water-soluble vitamins need to be taken every day! Which means its really hard to get a toxicity since you pee them out. (It easier to get a deficiency.) Vitamin A, E, K and D are the fat-soluble vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins are stored away in something called dietary fat. If you end up eating a lot of produce that has vitamin K one day you might not need to replenish that stored amount for a few.

Vitamin deficiency is pretty common if you have a restricted diet. There are lots of reason why you might have a restricted diet, health and preferences are the most common contributes. I personally don’t eat red meat like beef and pork, and find myself not consuming dairy on a regular basis. This means that I sometimes take supplements.

LACK OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

As I have been working in public hospitals with the community, I’ve noticed the lack of education many US citizens have. It is by no means their fault they lack the knowledge. Many people do not know how vitamins and minerals work OR how to read a food labels because they were never taught this in their primary education. And their is little advocacy for health literacy. I was only exposed to these concepts by going to college and taking a college level class. However, that also means you can learn the fundamentals of nutrition at your local community college.

Health literacy is the ability for people to learn, understand and apply health care knowledge to their daily lives. Roughly 50% of US citizens are illiterate. Weather its the lack if knowledge, ways to learn or not knowing how to effectively apply the knowledge.

WHY I TAKE VITAMINS

For example vitamin B12 and B2 (cobalamin and riboflavin) are found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy. If you’re like me and don’t eat meat and most dairy then you might consider taking a supplement. I also take iron supplements for the same reason since I am very unlikely to meet the nutritional goal every day.
Another supplement I take half of the year is vitamin D. You can get vitamin D from egg yolks, fish, and mushrooms but you can also naturally get it from the sun! Just standing out in the sun with exposed skin for 15 minutes is enough to meet your daily needs. However I live in the pacific north west, which means we don’t get adequate sunlight from November to April.

Something else which impacts our diets that isn’t talked about enough is our income. I live on a tight budget as a 19-year-old living out on there own. This means I don’t necessarily have the money to fund a diet full of variety. My meals can often times give me enough carbs, protein and fat but not enough vitamins and minerals. If you’re like me you might consider taking supplemental vitamins if you know your meals wont satisfy your daily nutritional needs.

I’ve found that taking the right amount of supplemental vitamins has many benefits. Firstly it adds routine in your life and makes you feel good knowing you are putting effort towards your personal health. I have also noticed, clearer skin, faster hair growth and more energy. A good starting point if you want to get into improving or enhancing your health is taking multivitamins instead of jumping into very specific doses or vitamins that can often be expensive!

I honestly could have talked about vitamins for ages. I didn’t even get to touch on reproductive health or minerals as much as I wanted to. Once I write more ill link those other posts about vitamins below!