http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/node/109 Understanding your label: vitamins,
minerals and nutrients explained! Supplement labels can be puzzling, I mean
macro vs. micro-nutrients; vitamins vs. minerals. What do they all mean? Why
do we need them? What do they do? Understanding your label can sometimes be
frustrating if you don’t know what all the different things are. In this
post I’ll try and break down the different components of your nutritional
supplements so you have a better understanding of what you’re taking and
why. I’m going to start by talking about minerals and what they are, where
they come from and what they do. The Linus Pauling Institute (which is part
of Oregon State University) tells us /“minerals are elements that originate
in the Earth and cannot be made by living organisms.”/ So, as human beings,
we need minerals (either from our diets or supplements) because we are unable
to produce them ourselves. Some of the best sources of minerals are plant
based foods because /“plants obtain minerals from the soil, and most of the
minerals in our diets come directly from plants or indirectly from animal
sources,”/ according to LPI. Examples of minerals that are necessary for
proper health include calcium [1], iodine, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium,
selenium, sodium, and zinc. Each mineral plays a different role in
maintaining proper health. For example, magnesium is used in our body’s
production of energy, while zinc plays an important role in the release of
certain hormones. Another category of minerals is trace minerals. Trace
minerals include (but are not limited to): Boron, Carbon, Chloride, Chromium,
Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, Gold, Iron, Molybdenum, Nickel, Rhodium, Silver,
Sodium, Sulfur, Tantalum, Titanium, Tungsten, and Zirconium. People can
sometimes be apprehensive about the listing of trace minerals on their
supplement. The thing about trace minerals is that if the product you’re
taking has any kind of plant source ingredient, sea vegetation, etc. in it
then the trace minerals are coming from that ingredient. These ingredients
that come from the ground receive these trace minerals from the soil they
grow in. According to www.health-report.co.uk, /“Plants take up the
minerals, we eat the plants, our bodies take in the minerals because they are
bio-available and excrete the ones we don't need on a regular daily
basis.”/ The Linus Pauling Institute says vitamins are /“organic
compounds required by humans in small amounts from the diet. An organic
compound is considered a vitamin if a lack of that compound in the diet
results in overt symptoms of deficiency.”/ While most vitamins include the
word “vitamin” in their popular name (such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B12,
etc.) there are a couple of necessary vitamins that do not. These vitamins
are commonly known as Folic Acid (vitamin B9), Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
and Biotin (vitamin B7). The other vitamins required by our body to function
are: Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E and K. Vitamins are classified
as either water-soluble or fat soluble, meaning the vitamin is dissolved in
either water or fat before it is absorbed into the body (more on this here
[2]). Vitamins play an important role in many functions and systems within
our bodies ranging from our metabolism to the formation of blood cells to the
maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. Lastly, I’ll address the topic of
nutrients, namely macro vs. micro-nutrients. Onegreenplanet.org says,
/“macro-nutrients are those that provide energy (calories), and include
carbohydrates, protein and fat.”/ On the other hand, most every other
vitamin and mineral is considered a micro-nutrient. Micro-nutrients /“are
needed only in minuscule amounts, these substances are the “magic wands”
that enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances
essential for proper growth and development,”/ according to the World
Health Organization. This has only scratched the surface of explaining about
minerals, vitamins, *macro vs. micro-nutrients*, and all their necessary
functions. In the future I may write more in depth articles on each topic,
but I hope, for now, this has helped to clear up some of the confusion you
may have felt when trying to decipher your multivitamin [3] label. While it
may seem daunting, when you break it down there are just lots of things the
human body needs in order to operate properly. [1] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/liquid-calcium-magnesium
[2] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/content/fat-soluble-vs-water-soluble-vitamins
[3] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/Complete-multivitamin-liquid-vitaminshttp://liquidhealth.posterous.com/new-content-from-liquid-health-35812 http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/node/109 Understanding your label: vitamins, minerals and nutrients explained! Supplement labels can be puzzling, I mean macro vs. micro-nutrients; vitamins vs. minerals. What do they all mean? Why do we need them? What do they do? Understanding your label can sometime ... http://liquidhealth.posterous.com
minerals and nutrients explained! Supplement labels can be puzzling, I mean
macro vs. micro-nutrients; vitamins vs. minerals. What do they all mean? Why
do we need them? What do they do? Understanding your label can sometimes be
frustrating if you don’t know what all the different things are. In this
post I’ll try and break down the different components of your nutritional
supplements so you have a better understanding of what you’re taking and
why. I’m going to start by talking about minerals and what they are, where
they come from and what they do. The Linus Pauling Institute (which is part
of Oregon State University) tells us /“minerals are elements that originate
in the Earth and cannot be made by living organisms.”/ So, as human beings,
we need minerals (either from our diets or supplements) because we are unable
to produce them ourselves. Some of the best sources of minerals are plant
based foods because /“plants obtain minerals from the soil, and most of the
minerals in our diets come directly from plants or indirectly from animal
sources,”/ according to LPI. Examples of minerals that are necessary for
proper health include calcium [1], iodine, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium,
selenium, sodium, and zinc. Each mineral plays a different role in
maintaining proper health. For example, magnesium is used in our body’s
production of energy, while zinc plays an important role in the release of
certain hormones. Another category of minerals is trace minerals. Trace
minerals include (but are not limited to): Boron, Carbon, Chloride, Chromium,
Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, Gold, Iron, Molybdenum, Nickel, Rhodium, Silver,
Sodium, Sulfur, Tantalum, Titanium, Tungsten, and Zirconium. People can
sometimes be apprehensive about the listing of trace minerals on their
supplement. The thing about trace minerals is that if the product you’re
taking has any kind of plant source ingredient, sea vegetation, etc. in it
then the trace minerals are coming from that ingredient. These ingredients
that come from the ground receive these trace minerals from the soil they
grow in. According to www.health-report.co.uk, /“Plants take up the
minerals, we eat the plants, our bodies take in the minerals because they are
bio-available and excrete the ones we don't need on a regular daily
basis.”/ The Linus Pauling Institute says vitamins are /“organic
compounds required by humans in small amounts from the diet. An organic
compound is considered a vitamin if a lack of that compound in the diet
results in overt symptoms of deficiency.”/ While most vitamins include the
word “vitamin” in their popular name (such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B12,
etc.) there are a couple of necessary vitamins that do not. These vitamins
are commonly known as Folic Acid (vitamin B9), Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
and Biotin (vitamin B7). The other vitamins required by our body to function
are: Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E and K. Vitamins are classified
as either water-soluble or fat soluble, meaning the vitamin is dissolved in
either water or fat before it is absorbed into the body (more on this here
[2]). Vitamins play an important role in many functions and systems within
our bodies ranging from our metabolism to the formation of blood cells to the
maintenance of healthy teeth and bones. Lastly, I’ll address the topic of
nutrients, namely macro vs. micro-nutrients. Onegreenplanet.org says,
/“macro-nutrients are those that provide energy (calories), and include
carbohydrates, protein and fat.”/ On the other hand, most every other
vitamin and mineral is considered a micro-nutrient. Micro-nutrients /“are
needed only in minuscule amounts, these substances are the “magic wands”
that enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances
essential for proper growth and development,”/ according to the World
Health Organization. This has only scratched the surface of explaining about
minerals, vitamins, *macro vs. micro-nutrients*, and all their necessary
functions. In the future I may write more in depth articles on each topic,
but I hope, for now, this has helped to clear up some of the confusion you
may have felt when trying to decipher your multivitamin [3] label. While it
may seem daunting, when you break it down there are just lots of things the
human body needs in order to operate properly. [1] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/liquid-calcium-magnesium
[2] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/content/fat-soluble-vs-water-soluble-vitamins
[3] http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/Complete-multivitamin-liquid-vitaminshttp://liquidhealth.posterous.com/new-content-from-liquid-health-35812 http://www.liquidhealthinc.com/node/109 Understanding your label: vitamins, minerals and nutrients explained! Supplement labels can be puzzling, I mean macro vs. micro-nutrients; vitamins vs. minerals. What do they all mean? Why do we need them? What do they do? Understanding your label can sometime ... http://liquidhealth.posterous.com
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