Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are necessary for good health. Our body needs vitamins to function efficiently. They play important role in metabolism , immune system and digestion. There are two types of vitamins our bodies need.

• Fat soluble vitamins
• Water soluble vitamins

Fat soluble vitamins like a,d,e and k rely on fats to be digested. A lack of healthy fats in the diet can lead to deficiencies of fat soluble vitamins. But if taken in excess these can be harmful to the body as these cannot be excreted easily.

Water soluble vitamins include vitamin-b complex and vitamin-c. Excess intake is excreted in the urine. Because our bodies can't store these vitamins, we need to take them regularly
.

Minerals Moreover, the important minerals required by our body during different stages of life are calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium. A healthy balanced diet normally provides all these minerals in sufficient amount. With small changes in our eating habits, we can meet the daily requirement without resorting to supplements.

Who requires vitamin and mineral supplementations :

Stressed individuals : vitamin-b complex supplements help if you are under stress.
After 60 : supporting health with good quality supplements such as digestive enzymes, vitamins and minerals can be very beneficial for elder people.

Those suffering from a prolonged illness : For such persons, vitamin and minerals supplementation are required according to the type of illness and medication they are taking.

Here is list of certain foods if taken daily would provide the vitamins and minerals to our body. Such as vitamin a, e, k, b complex and vitamin-c and minerals like zinc, calcium, iron and magnesium. For vitamin-d half an hour exposure to sun.

• Low fat milk                 1 glass
• Curd/yoghurt                1 cup
• Wheat flour                  75 gm
• Brown rice                    50 gm
• Egg                                one
• Olive oil                         30 gm
• Jaggery                          30 gm
• Rice flakes                     30 gm
• Raisins                           30 gm
• Lemon                            one
• Amla                               one
• Pumpkin                        100 gm
• Soya bean                      30 gm
• Watermelon seeds.        30 gm
• Almonds                        30 gm
• Tomato                           50 gm
• Spinach                          100 gm
• Mint leaves                     25 gm

Add condiments and spices like red and green chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric and cardamom for additional minerals. You can also use millets like jowar, maize and ragi in your daily diet.

• Drink atleast 4-5 liter water to digest all these.