- What Vitamins do we need?
- What minerals do we need?
- How do nutrients get into our foods?
- How did we discover our need for vitamins?
How did we discover our need for vitamins?
In the 1700’s, sailors would often be struck with a strange disease. Their gums would begin to bleed, muscle would ache with pain, and some even got so weak they would die. The disease was called Scurvy. Scurvy would strike not only sailors, but also in prisons, in hospitals, and it would also strike the military.
The sun didn’t set on the British Empire and their sailors traveled the world. The British government was the leader of world trade at the time. A sailor sick with Scurvy couldn’t put in a good day’s work on the high seas. So the British began to commission research into the cause of this crippling disease.
A Scottish doctor, James Lind discovered a French explorer in the 1500’s, Jacques Cartier. Cartier’s crew was crippled by this disease now called Scurvy. Landing in Canada the local Indians began to treat the crew with water infused with pine needles. The crew recovered. James Lind realized this disease could be related to diet.
One common thread ran through every one that was struck with Scurvy. The sailors, soldiers, and prisoners were all commoners. Their diet consisted of the most economical foods available. Fruit and green vegetables were a staple of the higher classes. But commoners had to survive on the cheapest diet available. And Scurvy was linked to the diet of the commoner.
James Lind found the patients that recovered the quickest were those who were served citrus juices. Lind uses juices made of lemons, limes, and oranges. The British government required lime to be carried on all their ships. If crew members became sick they were served lime juice and quickly recovered. I always wondered why the British were called Limeys in the old WWII movies, now I know why.
Today we know limes provide Vitamin C and scurvy is called by deficiency of vitamin C. But in the 1700’s the realization that a person’s diet could be tied to disease was revolutionary. If you look at the modern diet of most people – you would have to conclude that forgetting that our nutrition is tied to our health is still a revolutionary idea for many people.
What Vitamins do we need?
We know that as humans we need at least 13 different vitamins. Vitamins are divided into two groups water soluble and fat soluble. Water soluble vitamins are absorbed directly into the blood, needed in frequent doses , and the excess water soluble vitamins are secreted in the urine. Fat soluble vitamins dispersed are stored in fat and are stored in our body.
Water Soluble
• Vitamin B (water soluble):
? B1 – Thiamine
? B2 – Riboflavin
? B3 – Niacin
? B6 – Pyridoxine
? B12 – Cyanocobalamin
? Folic acid
• Vitamin C (water soluble) – Ascorbic acid
• Pantothenic acid (water soluble)
• Biotin (water soluble)
Fat Soluble
• Vitamin A (fat soluble) – Retinol from beta-carotene in plants
• Vitamin D (fat soluble) – Calciferol
• Vitamin E (fat soluble) – Tocopherol
• Vitamin K (fat soluble) – Menaquinone
What minerals do we need?
Minerals fall into two categories – macrominerals and trace minerals. Your body needs more macro minerals than trace minerals. I guess that is why they are classified and macro and trace minerals.
Macrominerals are:
Calcium
Phosphorous
magnesium
Sodium
Potassium
Chloride
Sulfur
Trace Minerals are:
Iron
Manganese
Copper
Iodine
Zinc
Cobalt
Fluoride
Selenium
Most of our needs for minerals can be met from the food we eat every day. Good sources of calcium are nonfat or low-fat yogurt, nonfat or low-fat cheese, low- fat milk, fish, beans, spinach, and oatmeal. Potassium can be found in sweet potatoes, bananas, skim milk, beans, yogurt, fish, and tomato paste. Spinach, pumpkins, nuts, bran, brown rice, and beans are a good source of magnesium.
How do nutrients get into our foods?
Most of our nutrients come to us from plant life, sometimes through the meat of an animal that was fed on plants or grains. The plant’s root system reaches into the soil to access nutrients stored in the earth. Soil is composed of decomposing materials, water, oxygen, and organic materials.
Think of a place where there is no soil – just barren rock. There are no plants, just barrenness; therefore it is an area that can’t produce plant life or support. Soil that is over farmed becomes depleted of natural vitamins and minerals and not matter how good it looks, can’t provide the nutrition we need.
When our diets or the earth where our food grows no longer provide the minerals and vitamins we need we need to consider supplementing our diets.
Further Research
Soils, Weathering, and Nutrients. http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/soils/soils.html.
The Hippie Herbalist: How Did We Find Out About Vitamins? http://hippieherbalist.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-did-we-find-out-about-vitamins.html.
“What are vitamins and how do they work?” 01 April 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question129.htm> 12 November 2011.
Vitamins and Minerals: How to Get What You Need — FamilyDoctor.org http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/prevention-wellness/food-nutrition/nutrients/vitamins-and-minerals-how-to-get-what-you-need.printerview.all.html
Minerals: MedlinePlus. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/minerals.html.