Dear Healthy Chatter
When people mention vitamins and minerals, I think of vitamin C or the commercials reminding me to get some sun or to eat some butter. Will drinking orange juice, eating a buttered bun while sitting in the sun be enough for me? Please let me know as I do want to live healthily and happily into my old age – Tara Croton.
Hello Tara Croton
Thank you for your question and it is true there are many other vitamins and minerals most people might be missing in the rush of daily living and haphazard eating. Some we need daily and more than others and to make sure you stay healthy, happy and in one piece. I have taken the time to make a list of all the lovely vitamins and minerals for you and to make sure you can find the ones lacking from your daily or weekly diet. Let us start at the very beginning and work our way through the alphabet while I keep it simple and light enough to understand and remember. A healthy does of edible vitamin a day does keep the age and dementia at bay.
Vitamin A:
Is also called retinol and helps the body to grow and develop, keep the immune system in shape and makes sure your eyesight stays good and perfect into your old age. It is also useful to keep skin looking great. We get two types of Vitamin A, one from the animal kingdom and other from plants.
The foods that you should be eating are tomatoes, seaweed, pumpkin, spinach, broccoli, carrot, sweet potatoes, peas, kale, apricot, mango, butter, eggs, milk and cheddar cheese. Eat beef, chicken or turkey liver unless you are a vegetarian.
Vitamin B:
Did you know there are eight B vitamins which make up the vitamin B complex, though each function differently in the body? Their main use in the body is cellular metabolism which basically means repairing the wear and tear of daily living, hard work and stress. They also cannot be stored in the body so we do need to eat them daily and need these beauties below to cope. They can be found in whole unprocessed foods and vegetables.
Vitamin B1: Helps your nerves and muscles tissue stay strong
Vitamin B2: Makes the skin, eyes and nerves stay in shape
Vitamin B3: Ensures your nerves and digestion works well
Vitamin B5: Releases energy from the food you eat
Vitamin B6: Makes haemoglobin, to carry oxygen in your body
Vitamin B7: Releases energy from healthy foods you eat
Vitamin B9: Works with vitamin B12 to make red blood cells
Vitamin B12: Too little causes vitamin B deficiency anaemia
These can be found in: Pork, chicken, turkey, fish, kidney, beef, bread, oatmeal, wheat germ, rice, eggs, vegetable, soya beans, peanuts, milk, potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, spinach, asparagus, chickpeas, brown rice and porridge.
Did you know – vitamin B9 is important in pregnant women to prevent spinal bifida and other central nervous defects at birth!
Vitamin C:
Is also called ascorbic acid and protects body cells by keeping the connective tissue strong to support organs and is important for wound healing. A lack of this vitamin causes scurvy which makes you lethargic and lazy and you might get spongy gums and bleeding from mucous membranes. Not a good look.
This well known vitamin cannot be stored in the body so you need it every day and is found in many fruits and vegetables, oranges and orange juice, red and green peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, parsley, guava, kiwi fruit, brussels sprouts and potatoes.
Vitamin D
Also called the sunshine vitamin, as we get most of it from natural light – but beware of too much hot sun on the skin. The main function is to absorb calcium, zinc, iron, phosphate and magnesium from the gut to keep our bones and teeth healthy. Too little of this vitamin in children causes bone deformities called rickets, while in adults the bone pain and tenderness is osteomalacia. You do not want to feel old before your time.
Good sources of this sunny vitamin are salmon, sardines, mackerel, eggs, powdered milk, fortified breakfast cereals and spreads also provide some extra vitamin for you.
So when you read through these four initials vitamins it is easy to see how one can get all into a daily meal.
A glass of milk, a slice of bread, a banana and one egg packs all the vitamins in one sitting. But remember you need a certain amount as we age, but any amount is better than none. So make a list of the foods at hand in your fridge and kitchen and make sure to include one from each list. And remember variety is the spice of life to keep the healthy eating habit from getting monotonous. It is a way of life and needs some serious dedication and motivation, so get cracking on filling up on the vitamins A to D, while I prepare you for the next dose of wholesome vitamins you will need.
