Good Nutrition Advice

VITAMINS help drive biological processes, help absorb other essential nutrients such as minerals, protect from free radical damage, are involved in hormone production and help release energy from food.

Minerals are also involved in a wide range of important functions in the body and are involved in every tissue. Minerals are divided into two categories: macro-minerals and micro-minerals. Macro minerals are needed in amounts of more than 100mg a day, while micro-minerals are needed in much smaller quantities.

The older we get, the less efficient our bodies become at extracting nutrients from food and absorbing them into the blood.

Fat or Water Soluble

Vitamins are either fat-soluble (A, D, E and K) or water-soluble (the Bs and C). Fat-soluble vitamins are stored by the body, so less are needed, but they can also build up if too many are taken. Water-soluble vitamins pass through the body easily, so daily top-ups may be necessary. They are also easily washed out of foods during preparation and cooking.

Minerals come from the soil and are absorbed by the plants that we eat or are eaten by animals. The mineral content of food depends on where the plants grow and on what the animals are fed. Modern farming methods produce large amounts of food, but much of it does not have the nutrients of the equivalent organic crop or traditionally farmed versions.

Stripped of their Goodness

Fresh food, sold in the supermarkets and stored in chilled containers, can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles and take several days to get to and from distribution centres.

Processing also removes most of the nutrients. For example, white flour, white rice and refined white sugar contain virtually no vitamins at all and only ten percent of the minerals they originally had. Manufacturers compensate by adding back some of the nutrients removed or destroyed, but not all.

The Case for Supplements

Many fruits and vegetables contain a lot less nutrients than they did 40 years ago. For example broccoli and pineapples now have less than half the calcium. Cauliflower now has 40 percent less vitamin C and sweet peppers 30 percent less. Watercress has 80 percent less iron while some oranges have no vitamin C at all.

Specialist diets including low-protein, low-carbohydrate, vegetarian and vegan may contain less of the essential vitamins or minerals than are needed. Research shows that many people do not reach the daily requirement of vitamins and minerals so suffer from minor deficiency symptoms.

For an extensive range of vitamins and supplements go to
www.dietretail.com