Cellular Nourishment

Written on June 6, 2009 No Comment

Vitamins

Vitamins & Minerals

A vitamin is an organic molecule that is required in smalls amounts for a living organism to stay alive and healthy. These should be present in the diet.^[1] An organism that does not get a single vitamin for a prolonged period of time will develop symptoms of a disease.^[2]

Minerals are elements that a living organism needs in addition to the four elementary elements (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen) that are essential in organic molecules.^[3]

It is important to note that both, vitamins and minerals, MUST be provided in our diets.^[2] And because we weren’t designed to eat dirt or lab-synthesized chemicals, we must obtain the nutrients from plants (fruits and vegetables).

We need 13 vitamins and 15 minerals.^[4]

The vitamins are listed below with the recommended daily allowance for an adult male 25 years of age^[5]:

Vitamin A – 900µg
Vitamin B

Thiamine (B₁) – 1.2mg
Riboflavin (B₂) – 1.3mg
Niacin (B₃) – 16mg
Pantothenic Acid (B₅) – 5mg
Pyridoxine (B₆) – 2mg
Biotin (B₇, Vitamin H) – 30µg
Folic Acid (B₉, Vitamin M) – 400µg
Cobalamins (B₁₂) – 2.4µg

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) – 90mg
Vitamin D – 200IU
Vitamin E – 15IU
Vitamin K – 120µg

The minerals are listed below with the recommended daily allowance for an adult male 25 years of age^[5]:

Calcium (Ca) – 1000mg
Phosphorus (P) – 700mg
Magnesium (Mg) – 420mg
Chromium (Cr) – 35µg
Copper (Cu) – 900µg
Fluoride (F) – 4mg
Iodine (I) – 150µg
Iron (Fe) – 8mg
Manganese (Mn) – 2.3mg
Molybdenum (Mo) – 45µg
Selenium (Se) – 55µg
Zinc (Zn) – 11mg
Chloride (Cl) – 2300mg
Potassium (K) – 4700mg
Sodium (Na) – 1500mg

Now see why we need to take a dietary supplement.

References:

[1] Answers.com. “Vitamins.” Available at: http://www.answers.com/topic/vitamin.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[2] MedlinePlus. “Vitamins.” Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamins.html.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[3] ScienceDaily.com. “Dietary Mineral.”
Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/d/dietary_mineral.htm.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[4] Walter, Patrick. “Food Supplements Directive valid, rules ECJ.” July 2005. Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5255/is_200507/ai_n20265686. Accessed August 13, 2008.

[5] Wikipedia. “Dietary Reference Intake.” Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Reference_Intake.
Accessed August 13, 2009