Vitamins and Minerals - More Than You Ever Need to Know!
Main points:
Vitamins and minerals primarily help enzymes that are crucial to many different bodily processes. They are very important for health and wellness!
Vitamins are organic compounds that come from plants and animals. Minerals are inorganic elements that reside within the soil and water.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the minimum level that prevents a deficiency for about 97.5% of healthy individuals in a given sex and age group.
The most common vitamin and mineral deficiencies are: Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, and Magnesium.
Deficiencies occur when you:
➡️ Don’t have a varied enough diet that covers multiple different food groups
➡️ Don’t absorb nutrients well due to health issues or old age
➡️ Lose excessive nutrients through bodily fluids (sweating, diarrhea, bleeding, breastfeeding, etc.)
➡️ Have high demand for resources (recovering from an injury, illness, surgery, intense training, or fetus growth during pregnancy)
You can address and prevent deficiencies by:
➡️ Eating mostly whole, minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods
➡️ Taking supplements for the nutrients you’re deficient in
➡️ Testing your nutrient levels and tracking your food intake
Casual thoughts on the topic
I want you to do a quick little experiment with me.
Think of the last nutrition label you’ve looked at. What do you remember from it?
Probably the calories, total fat, since they’re near the top in big bold text. How about the stuff that comes beneath that…like wayyy beneath that??
You know, the vitamins and minerals? If you’re anything like me, your eyes and brain automatically skip over that. Alien gibberish is all that it is!
For a long time, I ignored the vitamins and minerals because they were confusing, there were too many, some were hard to pronounce, and most importantly…I didn’t know why they mattered.
Other than my blanket understanding that they were “good for you” and if the percentage is closer to 100, the better! And if it’s over 100%…well that just means you’ll turn into a mythical chimera of Popeye, Arnold, and Stallone within 60 seconds.
So why the change of heart? Well, now that I’m closely attuned to the passage of time, the subject of my impending decline continually climbs to the top of my mind.
I seek out aches, pains, wrinkles, grays (whether real or imagined) and obsess over them more than I have in the past. Hmmm…I guess this is what they call “health anxiety.”
What if I’m not getting enough vitamins and minerals?
What if that’s gonna cause me to develop something gnarly down the line?
Is that why I have that strange twitch?!
And since you’re still reading, I guess you can relate to my paranoia somewhat. Also, I’m just tired of being ignorant lol! So let’s learn more than we ever need to know about vitamins and minerals!
What are vitamins and minerals, and why should you care?
Contrary to my previous dismissive thoughts on the matter, vitamins and minerals are very, very important for your health and wellness.
They are key contributors to many processes that happen within your body: everything from breathing, digestion, muscle contraction, detoxification, energy production, learning, memory formation, growth, and repair all involve the use of vitamins and minerals.
Their primary purpose is to serve as cofactors for enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that catalyze, or speed up, the many chemical reactions that occur in the body. And enzymes enlist the help of cofactors to become even more effective at their job.
So imagine you were building a shelf, and you were provided a small screwdriver in the packaging. You can barely get a good grip on it, and it slips off the screw often. What a drag.
Screw it! You go and get yourself a power drill. This is your enzyme. It works a lot better, but you realize that you can attach a unique drill bit that’s a perfect fit for the screws you’re using. This is your cofactor.
What would originally take 2-3 hours in assembly now only takes 1 hour thanks to your handy tools! Extrapolate this simple example out to the billions of trillions of reactions occurring every second throughout your body, and you can clearly see that efficiencies really matter.
They can be the difference between a healthy body and a diseased one.
Given how essential these nutrients are to our wellbeing, nature (as well as the government) has ensured that our food, soil, and water supply contain the vitamins and minerals that you need so that it becomes an afterthought. Lucky aren’t ya?
You get your vitamins from food, and your body makes some of them too. Vitamins are organic compounds that come from plants and animals.
Minerals are inorganic elements that reside within the soil and water. Plants and animals consume these minerals, and then pass them on to humans. Except if you enjoy eating soil, which means you get it right from the source!
The amounts you require of each vitamin and mineral is dependent on your sex and the stage of life you are in. An elderly man, a teenage athlete, and a pregnant mother will all have their unique nutritional requirements.
All right…so how much do you need? It’s not the most helpful saying that everyone needs different amounts (although it’s mostly true). There is a more standardized measure that helps you know if you’re in the ballpark of getting what you need: the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA).
The Institute of Medicine established the RDA for most vitamins and minerals by determining the minimum levels that prevent a deficiency for about 97.5% of healthy individuals in a given sex and age group.
Along with minimum levels, they also established the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for most vitamins and minerals, defined as the maximum daily dose unlikely to cause damage for the same 97.5% of the general healthy population.
If the Institute of Medicine doesn’t have enough data to establish an RDA, an Adequate Intake (AI) may be assigned, which estimates a safe and adequate daily amount that an individual may take.
Deficiencies - how they occur, and what they can mean
It was difficult for me to find a universal consensus around how much of the population is deficient in vitamins and minerals, and which specific ones were the most lacking.
I’ve seen enormous figures, such as over 90% of the global population is deficient in at least one. That seems a bit overblown (but possibly true…who knows?).
I’ve also seen that an estimated third of the US population is at risk for a clinical deficiency! By clinical, I mean that clear and obvious symptoms have emerged from what may have been a long term shortfall of essential nutrients.
No matter what the right number is, it’s pretty clear to me that getting the proper amount of vitamins and minerals is a deserving area of focus for many people.
Deficiencies typically occur when you don’t have a varied enough diet that covers multiple different food groups: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, eggs, meat, seafood, dairy, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, etc.
The number of reasons for why an individual can’t cover all their nutritional bases is vast:
Lack of education about healthy food choices
Poor eating habits
Restrictive dieting (for weight loss, or for some trendy health ideology)
Lowered appetite due to health issues or old age
Food insecurity (the lack of access to nutritious foods)
Suboptimal food absorption
Excessive nutrient loss through bodily fluids (sweating, diarrhea, bleeding, breastfeeding, etc.)
Situations with high demand for resources (recovering from an injury, illness, surgery, intense training, or fetus growth during pregnancy)
With all that being said, deficiencies are more common among the elderly, pregnant women, athletes, people who intentionally diet and eliminate food groups, and people who live in areas that have limited access to nutritious foods.
I’ve listed below the common vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the US. I found that different sources list out different micronutrients, so the ones below seem to be the most consistent ones that kept reappearing:
➡️ Vitamin B6
➡️ Vitamin B12
➡️ Vitamin D
➡️ Calcium
➡️ Iron
➡️ Magnesium
If your doctor or medical care professional has ever recommended you increase your levels of any of the above, then join the club! The good news is that your body is incredibly well adapted to address these shortages for the short term.
It will either dig into its reserves, or redirect resources to more crucial processes. It’s not ideal, but at least you won’t experience any symptoms for a while. But they will arise when the deficiency becomes severe.
At some point your reservoirs will need rainfall after a long drought! By then, a lot of damage may have occurred without your knowledge. Best not to get to this point!
You’ve got a deficiency, now what?
🔷 Eat mostly whole, minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods
Your first priority is to focus on eating more nutritious whole foods. Include a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, dairy, and whole grains into your diet, and you’ll be several steps closer to resolving your issue.
Not only will you top off the nutrients your body needs, but it also seems that the risk of vitamin and mineral toxicity from overconsuming foods is quite low.
In addition, food provides a more well rounded, complete package of nutrients that result in a synergy that a supplement is unlikely to match. Different food combinations can also enhance absorption.
I’ll be providing whole, minimally processed, nutrient-dense food recommendations for each vitamin and mineral in the detailed summaries later on in this article.
Unfortunately, the way we prepare our food can have a negative impact on the amount of vitamins and minerals we get from them. That’s not to say that cooking is bad.
Cooking foods can make them easier for our bodies to digest and absorb nutrients. It also makes food tastier and more palatable. However, any kind of prolonged heat and water exposure is bound to cause some nutrient loss.
With that being said, cooking methods that use less heat, less time, and less water tend to preserve the most vitamins and minerals. This makes steaming, sautéing, broiling, and grilling some of the better methods to ensure you don’t lose too much of the good stuff!
In the case you need to use higher heat, longer cook times, and more water to cook your meals, try your best to conserve the leftover cooking liquids. Water soluble vitamins (all B vitamins and vitamin C) will drain out into cooking water.
Fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) will drip into and mix with cooking oils. You can save these liquids and juices, and find a creative way to add them back into your meals. Or you can choose to dump them, and eat more nutritious foods.
If you really enjoy a certain way of preparing your nutrient dense foods, and it helps you eat more of them, then stick with it. The trade off is worth it if you are eating more nutritious foods, more often!
🔷 Take supplements for the nutrients you’re deficient in
Okay now that you got that checked off, let’s briefly dive into supplementation. Even if you eat a well balanced diet, you may not hit the RDA for everything. This is where a low dose multivitamin/multimineral supplement may help.
It’ll give you just enough to ensure you cross the RDA threshold, while keeping you far away from the UL. I like the One-A-Day supplement – it gives me 100% RDA on most of the micronutrients, and I get a bottle of 300 for less than $20. What a deal!
Now you’ve probably seen supplements that megadose, providing over 1000% of the RDA. What’s the deal with that? Companies do this to boost perceived value of their products, and the gap between the RDA and UL is fairly large to work with.
Don’t fall for this. More isn’t always better! These megadose supplements can increase the risk of toxicity, and they are probably way, way, way more expensive than the generic ones which provide mostly the same benefit.
Anything that’s excessively more than the RDA is your money going down the toilet, literally! In the worst case scenario, supplements can potentially accumulate in your body to toxic levels.
These include the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as microminerals which are only needed at trace amounts. Fat soluble vitamins are stored in body fat, which we all know sticks around for a while.
Microminerals, such as iron and zinc, are only needed at very small amounts, so stacking a megadose on top of what you already get from your diet can potentially overdo it!
If you are considering taking a high dose supplement, please talk it over with your doctor. Make sure you are actually deficient before supplementing!
🔷 Testing your nutrient levels and tracking your food intake
Finally, the last point I want to discuss is testing and food tracking. If your insurance covers blood testing for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, it wouldn’t hurt to take advantage of that.
Self diagnosing a deficiency based on your subjective take on how you’re feeling is ill-advised. You definitely want to know for sure with testing before you take any supplements!
If you don’t have the option of blood testing, you can also track your food. I do this regularly to get an idea of my daily micronutrient intake. There are many apps online that you can use for free.
I use Cronometer, which shows me a detailed intake of several key vitamins and minerals, and where my levels fall along the RDA and UL scale.
The downside to this is that you don’t know if the levels you’ve tracked were fully absorbed or lost during cooking, which is why blood testing is still the best way to determine where you’re truly at.
Water Soluble Vitamins - Detailed Summaries
Listed and summarized below are all the water soluble vitamins. These are dissolved in water before they are absorbed by your body. When your body’s had enough, it’ll generally excrete the excess in urine.
Because of this, you’ll need to replenish these vitamins on a consistent basis. Some percentage of water soluble vitamins gets lost during cooking depending on the method of preparation.
Vitamin B1 Thiamine
B vitamins play an important role in converting our food into energy. Vitamin B1, thiamine, is no exception. It also helps make DNA and RNA, helps cells grow, and is also involved in appetite and digestion.
Thiamine is also linked to brain and heart health, as both these organs require a considerable supply of constant energy to properly function.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 1.1 milligrams
Men: 1.2 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Many cereals, breads, and rice are fortified with thiamine. It is typically stripped out during food processing, which is why they are added back in. It’s naturally found in whole grains, beans, legumes, fish and meat. Thiamine is found in moderate amounts across many different foods.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency in thiamine is rare in the US, and toxicity doesn’t seem to be an issue either since there isn’t enough data to establish an upper limit. A deficiency can negatively impact the brain and heart.
Cognitive decline, death of nerve cells, and memory loss have been observed in animals lacking B1. In addition, a B1 deficiency is common among people with congestive heart failure – a condition in which the heart can’t pump blood properly.
Vitamin B2 Riboflavin
As part of the B vitamin complex, riboflavin helps with producing energy from the food you eat. It helps your cells grow, helps make red blood cells, helps your liver break down toxins, fats, steroids, medications, and it helps lower nerve inflammation.
Riboflavin is also an antioxidant, which neutralizes free radicals (the normal byproducts of cell metabolism), and prevents them from doing damage to surrounding healthy cells.
It is also linked to heart health, as it plays a role in regulating an amino acid called homocysteine which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Too much homocysteine can produce blood clots, cause oxidative stress, impair blood vessel function, and contribute to atherosclerosis.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 1.1 milligrams
Men: 1.3 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Many cereals and bread are fortified with vitamin B2 riboflavin. Other foods that contain riboflavin include meat, eggs, dairy, almonds, soy, mushrooms, and spinach.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency is rare in the US, and there also isn’t an established UL. It seems like riboflavin toxicity hasn’t been observed in both food and supplements. If you do consume more than necessary, your pee will turn bright yellow!
Vitamin B3 Niacin
As with all B vitamins, niacin is involved in converting nutrients into energy. It is also involved in creating and repairing DNA. Niacin is an antioxidant that protects against free radical damage. It is also linked to nerve and brain health. There are ongoing studies to explore its role in protecting the nervous system.
The thing I find most interesting about niacin is its effect on lipid levels. There are studies showing that niacin can increase HDL cholesterol (the good kind), decrease LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), and decrease triglycerides.
However, the evidence is inconsistent in determining if niacin prevents incidents of cardiac events and deaths. This hasn’t prevented doctors from prescribing nicotinic acid (the same thing as niacin) to help their patients manage their cholesterol and triglycerides!
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 14 milligrams
Men: 16 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
35 milligrams
Food Sources:
Lots of different foods contain niacin. Animal sources include red meat, poultry and fish. Plant sources include green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, turnips, brown rice, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency in niacin is rare since it is found naturally and fortified in many foods. Toxicity is rare from eating foods alone, but can happen when consistently taking high dose supplements. Consult with your doctor if you’re looking to supplement for lipid management purposes.
Vitamin B5 Pantothenic Acid
It’s a B vitamin, so it plays a role in energy production. Pantothenic acid is unique in that it forms a compound called Coenzyme A (CoA), which is a critical component to multiple pathways that break down carbohydrates, proteins, and fats for energy.
All animals use pantothenic acid to form CoA, making it essential to life! In addition, it’s used in making different kinds of hormones, such as sex hormones, stress hormones, and also melatonin, which regulates your sleep-wake cycle. Pantothenic acid also helps form red blood cells.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 5 milligrams
Men: 5 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Since all life forms use pantothenic acid to some extent, you’ll be able to find it in all foods. Meat, dairy, eggs, whole grains, potatoes, green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds…am I missing anything? Krabby patties too I guess!
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Because you can find vitamin B5 everywhere, a deficiency is pretty rare. Toxicity hasn’t been observed in food sources alone, and there isn’t enough data to establish an upper limit.
Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine
You know what I’m going to say: it’s a B vitamin so it’s going to help produce energy somehow. Pyridoxine is involved in breaking down glycogen, liberating glucose for energy.
It plays a role in creating and breaking down amino acids as well. It’s linked to heart health due to its role in regulating homocysteine levels (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke) alongside other B vitamins.
Pyridoxine is also important for brain health. It helps form neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, and it protects nerve cells. Pyridoxine has been linked to cancer prevention, specifically for gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers, but research is inconclusive on this matter.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 5 milligrams
Men: 5 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Pyridoxine can be found in a variety of different foods: beef, chicken, fish, brown rice, whole wheat, potatoes, garbanzo beans, green leafy vegetables, bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, papaya.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Vitamin B6 deficiency is common and affects about 11% of the US population. It often happens when other B vitamins are low, namely B9 folate and B12 cobalamin. Toxicity is unlikely from food sources alone.
Vitamin B7 Biotin
Biotin works with all the other B vitamins to produce energy. It helps our genes and DNA with replication and transcription. It’s best known for keeping your hair, skin and nails healthy.
Other than preventing a deficiency, the research suggests that taking excess biotin doesn’t seem to produce any added cosmetic benefits. So save your money, and skip the biotin supplements!
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 30 micrograms
Men: 30 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
You can get biotin from cooked eggs, salmon, pork, green leafy vegetables, carrots, cauliflower, banana, raspberries, avocado, whole grain bread, sweet potato, nuts and seeds.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency is rare in the US. Symptoms of a biotin deficiency include damaged hair, skin, and nails, which is how it got its reputation. But you can get all the biotin you need from your diet! There isn’t data on toxicity or an upper limit, and generally the excess gets dumped out in urine.
Vitamin B9 Folate/Folic Acid
Folate is a crucial vitamin for growth. It helps create DNA, RNA, and proteins in areas of your body where new cells are constantly being made. It’s involved in making red and white blood cells.
Folate’s been linked to lower risk of breast and colon cancer. It’s also linked with heart health, as it helps break down homocysteine along with other B vitamins.
Getting adequate folate is critical for expectant mothers. A deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects in the nervous system. It’s recommended to get adequate folate levels shortly after conception.
To reduce the risk of birth defects, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required folic acid (the supplemental form of vitamin B9) to be added to commonly eaten grain products since 1998.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 400 micrograms
Men: 400 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
1,000 micrograms
Food Sources:
Folate can be found in green leafy vegetables, asparagus, brussels sprouts, citrus fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, peanuts, and eggs.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency is rare, especially since it’s added to a lot of different foods. Toxicity is also unlikely to come from food sources alone.
Vitamin B12 Cobalamin
Cobalamin helps develop and protect brain and nerve cells. It is an important component behind the formation of blood cells and DNA.
It also helps break down homocysteine, which in excess can lead to atherosclerosis and heart diseases, into methionine, an essential amino acid, with other B vitamins.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 2.4 micrograms
Men: 2.4 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Cobalamin is found naturally only in animal sources: red meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs. There are plant based foods fortified/enriched with cobalamin such as dairy free milk and yogurt, cereal, tofu, nutritional yeast, and more.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Cobalamin deficiency is pretty common. The numbers I’ve seen range between 2% to 15% of the population is deficient. A severe deficiency can result in anemia and neurological issues.
Luckily your body can store years worth of cobalamin, but it’s still recommended to have it as a part of your regular diet. People who don’t eat any animal products are at risk for a deficiency.
Individuals with a condition called pernicious anemia, where the immune system destroys a compound within the gut called intrinsic factor, are unable to absorb cobalamin at all.
Older people above the age of 50 may lack enough stomach acid to extract cobalamin from food. Toxicity hasn’t been observed, as excess amounts are usually passed through urine.
Choline
Choline is important for brain health. It is converted into a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is involved with memory and cognition.
It helps build cell membranes, aids in muscle contractions, and also works alongside the B vitamins to break down homocysteine. Choline is also linked to liver health because it helps with cholesterol metabolism and moves fat out of the liver.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 425 milligrams
Men: 550 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
3,500 milligrams
Food Sources:
Choline is in both plants and animals including beef, chicken, fish, egg yolks, dairy, beans, legumes, and in many fruits and vegetables.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare because your body can make some on its own when you don’t consume enough from food. Toxicity can result from high dose supplementation. Symptoms can include low blood pressure, and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin C Ascorbic Acid
I think this is the most popular and well known vitamin out there. As a little kid, I’d look at the vitamin C content on my orange juice container because my mom kept mentioning it! Well, now I get why vitamin C has such a great reputation.
It supports your immune system by stimulating your white blood cells to fight off pathogens and infections, as well as aid in healing. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, which protects your cells against free radical damage.
It also has varying success against the common cold. Some people say it makes a difference, while others don’t. Vitamin C enhances the absorption of nonheme iron. Nonheme is the form of iron found in plant sources that isn’t absorbed as well as its animal counterpart heme iron.
I believe another reason why vitamin C is so popular is because of the widely known stories about pirates getting scurvy. Pirates used to travel in the sea for months on end, long enough for all their fruits and vegetables to spoil.
Weeks afterward, the pirates would succumb to bleeding gums, open skin sores, infections, and keel over. That’s because vitamin C is necessary for collagen formation.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, and is essential for your skin, bones, and connective tissues. Without it, we’ll fall apart…literally, just as those poor pirates did!
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 75 milligrams
Men: 90 milligrams
Smokers: Add another 35 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
3,000 milligrams
Food Sources:
All fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C, especially citrus fruits like oranges, limes, lemons, kiwi, grapefruit, strawberries. Pirates used to combat scurvy by sucking on limes. Ripe foods contain more vitamin C.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare since it’s in fruits, vegetables, and juices. Toxicity is also unlikely because any excess can pass through urine.
Fat Soluble Vitamins - Detailed Summaries
Listed and summarized below are all the fat soluble vitamins. They need to be dissolved in fat in order for the body to absorb them. Combining foods that contain these vitamins with fat sources (oils, dressings, nuts, cheese, avocado) will ensure the best chance that they get absorbed fully.
Your body can store greater amounts of these vitamins in its fat stores, so you don’t have to eat them as often as water soluble vitamins.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is involved in a lot of different processes and is best known for eye health. Ever hear of carrots being good for your vision? That’s because beta-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A, keeps your eyes moist and helps them adjust to the dark.
It’s also important for the health and function of different organs because Vitamin A helps differentiate cells, ensuring cells mature into their proper form and do what they’re supposed to.
Vitamin A also plays a role within immune functions, such as stimulating white blood cell activity, aiding in healing, and protecting against certain diseases.
Some studies have linked lower rates of lung and prostate cancer to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables high in vitamin A. It’s also linked to better memory, learning and focus.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 700 micrograms
Men: 900 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
3,000 micrograms
Food Sources:
You can find vitamin A in green leafy vegetables, red and yellow vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, beets, liver, eggs, milk and fish oil.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
A deficiency is rare. Toxicity can occur from high dose supplements, and might actually be more common than deficiencies.
Preformed vitamin A, retinol, can easily be overdosed. Beta carotene, found in carrots, has no risk of overdose and can be stored in the body to make vitamin A.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is most prominent for its role in bone health. It helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus, two abundant elements that make up your bones. It can help prevent osteoporosis at older ages. That’s why you’ll see many dairy products, which are naturally high in calcium, being fortified with vitamin D.
It also supports the immune system by fighting against infections. It’s been linked to lower cancer rates and higher cancer survivability. Vitamin D is also essential for muscle growth and development. It plays a role in heart health too.
Vitamin D helps control inflammation related to heart disease and atherosclerosis. It helps prevent arteries from stiffening, a major contributor to high blood pressure. It’s also linked to lower rates of type 2 diabetes.
The thing that impresses me most is that studies show that vitamin D supplementation is associated with a 7% decrease in all-cause mortality. That’s pretty cool!
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women (age 19-70):
15 micrograms
Women (age 70+):
20 micrograms
Men (age 19-70):
15 micrograms
Men (age 70+):
20 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
100 micrograms
Food Sources:
Vitamin D isn’t found naturally in many foods. They are added to dairy products, juices and cereals. Some can be found in egg yolks, fatty fish and fish oils, mushrooms, and beef liver.
The primary source is from direct sunlight exposure on your skin. UVB rays from the sun are converted to vitamin D3 inside of your skin. These UVB rays are blocked out by windows, so indoor sunlight exposure will not suffice.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Vitamin D deficiency is very common. It’s estimated that 1 billion people on the planet have inadequate levels of vitamin D! Many people live in areas of the world where there isn’t consistent sunshine year round.
Plus, most modern lifestyles revolve around indoor activities. Individuals with darker skin tones also convert less sunlight to vitamin D. Sunscreen inhibits the conversion process too. Therefore, it might make sense for many people to get their levels checked, and to consider supplementation if they are indeed deficient.
Toxicity comes primarily from high dose supplementation. It’s hard to get toxic levels from food. Skin stops producing vitamin D after prolonged sun exposure due to excess heat.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antioxidant – a stable molecule that can donate an electron to a free radical. A free radical is an unstable, reactive molecule that is looking for an extra electron and might steal it from healthy surrounding cells, resulting in damage.
Vitamin E, along with other vitamins and minerals, are powerful antioxidants that prevent this damage, and can potentially stave off many chronic diseases.
It’s been linked to a lower risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – a condition that breaks down nerve cells causing progressive muscle weakness. Vitamin E is also linked to slowing cognitive decline, and slowing the development of Alzheimer’s.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 15 milligrams
Men: 15 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
1,000 milligrams
Food Sources:
Vitamin E can be found in plant oils (wheat germ, sunflower, safflower, avocado, soybean), nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare in the US since vitamin E is in many foods and supplements. Toxicity is rare from food sources alone.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is essential for creating proteins that promote blood clotting – a critical function to prevent excess bleeding, and is necessary for healing. It is also important for bone health.
Vitamin K helps build new bone tissue, and has been linked to lower rates of hip fractures. It can also help prevent the stiffening and calcification of arteries, a risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 90 micrograms
Men: 120 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Vitamin K is primarily found in green vegetables. Examples are broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, green beans, green peas, kale, and other green leafy vegetables. It can also be found in soybean and canola oils, and in small amounts in meat, cheese, and eggs.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency in Vitamin K is rare in healthy adults. There is limited data on an upper limit and toxicity.
Macrominerals - Detailed Summaries
Listed and summarized below are all the macrominerals. These are minerals that your body requires in large amounts, which range in between the 300 milligram to 4,000 milligram (4 grams) range.
Calcium
I bet you 20 bucks that calcium is one of the main reasons why you look at the bottom of the nutrition facts. It’s been hardwired into your brain since childhood that calcium is good for bones, and helps you grow big and strong. Drink your milk kids!
Conventional wisdom is not wrong here. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body. It is essential for building your bones and teeth and keeping them strong and healthy. Pretty much all of your calcium is stored in bones. At a microscopic level, bones are always turning over.
New bone is being formed, while older bone is being destroyed. With age, the rate of bone destruction starts to outpace new bone formation, which is referred to as “negative calcium balance.” Getting enough calcium in your diet, as well as consistent physical activity, can help slow this process down.
Calcium serves other purposes too. It is essential for the proper functioning of skeletal muscles. It’s a required mineral for muscle contractions. Calcium is also necessary for nerve and heart health. It’s been linked to lower risk of colorectal cancer. Foods high in calcium have been linked to lowered risk of kidney stones.
Due to all its crucial functions, your body ensures there’s enough accessible calcium supply in circulation. Calcium concentration in the blood is tightly regulated. Your body will leach calcium from bones and teeth if you don’t get enough from your diet. On the other hand, your kidneys will filter out excess calcium, and pass them through urine.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women (age 31-50):
1,000 milligrams
Women (age 51+):
1,200 milligrams
Men (age 31-50):
1,000 milligrams
Men (age 51+):
1,200 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
2,500 milligrams
Food Sources:
Calcium can be found in dairy, fortified foods (plant based milk, orange juice), green leafy vegetables, tofu, sardines, and almonds.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is common and can be a contributing cause to osteoporosis in old age due to the negative calcium balance as discussed above. Muscle aches, pains, fatigue, and bone injuries can result from severe long term deficiency.
It’s common to see women in menopause have a calcium deficiency because of low estrogen levels. Estrogen helps absorb calcium. Absorption of calcium is generally pretty low because it is a large mineral, and isn’t easily broken down during digestion.
Plant sources contain other substances that bind to the calcium, making it even harder to absorb (they’re called “antinutrients”). Consider getting your calcium from a variety of sources in order to maximize your absorption.
Toxicity is also problematic. Long term intakes over the UL of 2,500mg can lead to kidney stones, and the excess calcium can also potentially accumulate in blood vessels. These high doses are hard to achieve through food alone, and are usually attained with the help of supplementation.
Chloride
Chloride is an electrolyte, and is usually paired up with sodium, forming salt (NaCl, or sodium chloride). It helps regulate fluid balance in the body, helps keep pH levels balanced, and helps support nerve and muscle function.
Chloride also helps with digestion. Your stomach uses hydrochloric acid to break down food, and chloride is one of its ingredients.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women (age 19-50):
2.3 grams
Women (age 51-70):
2.0 grams
Women (age 71+):
1.8 grams
Men (age 19-50):
2.3 grams
Men (age 51-70):
2.0 grams
Men (age 71+):
1.8 grams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
You can get chloride from salt. Processed foods and condiments usually contain lots of salt. Meat and seafood also have chloride.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is very rare since most people’s diets contain salt. Toxicity is very rare, and there isn’t enough data to establish an upper limit.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a very important mineral that’s involved in hundreds of different processes across body systems. It helps create and repair DNA, metabolize carbohydrates and fat, build proteins and bone tissue, and contract muscles.
Magnesium has implications for heart health too as it helps regulate heart beat, blood sugar, and blood pressure. It also supports brain health and nerve function. Magnesium has its hands in a little bit of everything, so your body stores a significant amount in reserve in case you don’t get enough from your diet.
Over half of magnesium is stored in the bones, with the rest in other tissues. Although your body has reserve magnesium stores, it’s still a good idea to get adequate levels on a regular basis.
Long term low levels of magnesium have been linked to several health issues such as high blood pressure (hypertension), increased risk of type 2 diabetes, mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and many others.
Magnesium also plays an important role in activating vitamin D, so low levels will decrease vitamin D activity, hindering calcium absorption and increasing risk of osteoporosis.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women (age 19-30):
310 milligrams
Women (age 31+):
320 milligrams
Men (age 19-30):
400 milligrams
Men (age 31+):
420 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
350 milligrams from supplements
Food Sources:
Magnesium is in dark green leafy vegetables, oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, banana, raisins, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is common. Supplements containing organic forms of magnesium (magnesium citrate, lactate, aspartate, and glycinate) tend to be better absorbed than those with inorganic forms (magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride).
Small to moderate deficiency may not produce immediate symptoms, as your body will draw from bones and limit magnesium excretion to make up the difference. Toxicity is rare from food sources because the kidneys will remove excess magnesium in the urine.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the second most abundant mineral in the body after calcium, and is mostly stored in bones and teeth. It is important for bone formation and similar to calcium, blood levels of phosphorus are tightly regulated.
Your body will take some from the bones if phosphorus levels are too low. It is also critical for energy production. ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is your body’s main unit of energy, and phosphorus is a key ingredient for it.
It’s also used to create DNA, RNA, enzymes, and cell membranes. Phosphorus is also involved in heart, nerve, and muscle function.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 700 milligrams
Men: 700 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Age 31-70: 4,000 milligrams
Age 71+: 3,000 milligrams
Food Sources:
You can get phosphorus from eating dairy, meat, fish, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare in healthy individuals since it is contained in many foods. Toxicity is also rare since your body tightly regulates phosphorus levels and excretes the excess in urine.
Potassium
Potassium is an electrolyte and it works with sodium to create an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane. This helps regulate transport of materials and fluid into and out of the cell. Potassium maintains normal fluid levels inside the cell.
Because sodium and potassium work together, your body needs a healthy amount of both. It’s been observed that higher amounts of potassium, more than sodium, provide health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, lowering risk of stroke, higher bone density, and lower risk of kidney stones.
Unfortunately, most Americans eat a diet that’s the reverse – high in sodium and low in potassium. This has been linked to a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease (such as heart attack and stroke), and a higher all-cause mortality risk.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women (age 14-18):
2,300 milligrams
Women (age 19+):
2,600 milligrams
Men (age 14-18):
3,000 grams
Men (age 19+):
3,400 grams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Potassium is found in all kinds of fruits and vegetables. It’s also in beans, lentils, nuts, dairy, chicken, and fish.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
It’s rare to have a potassium deficiency, although many people may benefit from increasing their vegetable and fruit intake to ensure that their potassium to sodium ratio is high.
Magnesium deficiency can impact potassium levels because it helps reabsorb potassium in the kidneys. Toxicity is rare from diet alone because healthy people will get rid of excess potassium through urine.
Sodium
Sodium is an electrolyte that helps maintain fluid levels outside of cells. It works with potassium to maintain an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane, which allows active transport of materials from low to high concentrations.
Sodium is also involved in muscle and nerve function. It’s a necessary mineral for survival, and the body can make do with a small amount (~500 milligrams). Most Americans get way more than that! Like way way more.
On average they consume over double the recommended adequate intake – 3,400mg vs 1,500mg! Long term excess sodium can lead to a number of issues. It disrupts fluid balance by drawing in more extracellular water to dilute the excess sodium.
This extra water increases blood volume and blood pressure, forcing the heart and kidneys to work harder. Over time, this state can lead to cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease.
Excess sodium can also promote calcium loss, increasing the risk for osteoporosis. To make things worse, high sodium levels have also been linked to stomach cancer. Yikes!
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 1,500 milligrams
Men: 1,500 grams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Not determined
Chronic Disease Risk Reduction (CDRR)
2,300 milligrams
Food Sources:
Sodium is in most processed foods, and in salt. Most sodium intake comes from processed and restaurant foods (~77%). Meals that you make from scratch, and the salt that you add while cooking or eating, make up a smaller portion (~11-23%).
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is very rare since it’s added to many foods. Toxicity can happen in cases when there’s excess water loss due to sweating or diuretic use.
No upper limit has been established, but it’s a good idea to be mindful of your sodium levels. See where your levels stand against the CDRR, and increase your potassium levels to maintain a healthy potassium to sodium ratio.
Sulfur
Sulfur is the third most abundant element in the body, behind calcium and phosphorus. It helps create and repair DNA, and supports liver metabolism and detoxification. Sulfur also helps create collagen, and supports skin, tendon, and ligament health.
It’s found in two amino acids: cysteine and methionine. Methionine is essential, meaning that your body can’t make it, and it must be consumed in your diet. Cysteine can be created by your body using sulfur as an ingredient.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
None for sulfur.
There is one for methionine, the essential amino acid where sulfur is found, at 1,000 milligrams.
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Sulfur is found in meat, eggs, fish, garlic, onions, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, leafy green and cruciferous vegetables.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, as it’s found in most animal protein sources and a variety of plant sources. Toxicity hasn’t been observed from food sources.
Microminerals - Detailed Summaries
Listed and summarized below are all the microminerals. These are minerals that your body requires in trace amounts, which range in between the 25 microgram to 45 milligram range.
Chromium
Chromium supports insulin in regulating blood sugar. It has been linked to improved insulin sensitivity in those who are deficient.
Chromium also helps metabolize carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Vitamin B3 (niacin) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) help absorb chromium.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women (age 31-50):
25 micrograms
Women (age 50+):
20 micrograms
Men (age 31-50):
35 micrograms
Men (age 50+):
30 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Unknown
Food Sources:
Chromium can be found in beef, poultry, egg yolks, fish, whole grains, coffee, broccoli, potatoes, apples, bananas.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, although people who eat lots of sugar in their diet may excrete more chromium. Toxicity is rare. Very low rates of chromium are absorbed in the gut (~5% or less).
Copper
Copper helps form an antioxidant called superoxide dismutase that your body uses to neutralize free radicals. It is also involved in energy production. Copper helps form collagen, connective tissue, proteins and red blood cells.
It also helps break down iron and absorb it. It also plays a role in building neurotransmitters, supporting brain health and development.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 900 micrograms
Men: 900 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
10,000 micrograms
Food Sources:
Copper can be found in liver, oysters, salmon, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, potatoes, beans, and cashews.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, but it can happen for people with Crohn’s and celiac disease due to an inability to absorb copper. Toxicity is rare as your body will excrete the excess.
Fluoride
Fluoride is not an essential nutrient, but it does help build strong teeth and bones. It helps kill the bacteria responsible for tooth decay and cavities. Fluoride also stimulates osteoblasts and insulin-like growth factor to help bone growth.
Since 1945, the US has added fluoride to the water supply at 0.7mg per liter, which is a sufficient level to fight cavities, and low enough to steer clear of toxicity.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 3 milligrams
Men: 4 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
10 milligrams
Food Sources:
Fluoride can be found in the communal water supply, toothpaste, brewed black coffee and tea, oatmeal, raisins, and potatoes.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Since fluoride is not essential, there’s no imminent danger if someone is getting low amounts of fluoride. That seems unlikely though since fluoride is in water and toothpaste. Toxicity is also rare.
Iodine
Iodine is necessary for the production of thyroid hormones, which are important regulators of your metabolism. Low amounts of iodine can lead to impaired thyroid function, and can disrupt normal energy levels, heart rate, body weight, and body temperature.
Iodine is important during pregnancy. The demand for iodine may increase for proper development and growth of the fetus. Children also need iodine for proper physical and mental development.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 150 micrograms
Men: 150 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
1,100 micrograms
Food Sources:
Iodine is in iodized salt, seaweed, fish, eggs, and dairy.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare. Most people get it from salt and dairy. Toxicity is rare in healthy individuals, but can occur from overconsuming iodized salt, high dose supplements, and foods rich in iodine like certain seaweeds.
Iron
Iron is crucial in forming hemoglobin, red blood cells, and blood vessels. Hemoglobin is a protein in blood cells that carries oxygen. It’s responsible for delivering oxygen throughout the body. Iron also forms myoglobin, a protein that carries and stores oxygen within muscle.
There are two kinds of iron found in food: heme and non-heme. Heme iron is contained in animals and is well absorbed by your body. Non-heme iron is in plants, and isn’t as well absorbed as heme iron.
You’d need to consume more non-heme iron to ensure you absorb enough. Combining non-heme iron with vitamin C in the same meal can help maximize absorption.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women (age 31-50):
18 milligrams
Women (age 51+):
8 milligrams
Men (age 31-50):
8 milligrams
Men (age 51+):
8 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
45 milligrams
Food Sources:
You can find heme iron in red meat, liver, organ meat, poultry, oysters, clams, mussels. Non-heme iron can be found in beans, lentils, spinach, brown rice, nuts, seeds, fortified cereals and bread.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is very common, and it ranks as the most common one across the globe. It’s observed mostly in children, pregnant women, and people who eat low iron diets.
Vegetarians and vegans are at risk for deficiency, and need to carefully plan their intake. They may need to consume levels above the RDA to ensure that enough non-heme iron is being absorbed.
Toxicity is rare through food alone. Attaining toxic levels of iron usually requires the use of high dose supplementation.
Manganese
Manganese helps break down carbohydrates, protein, and cholesterol. It also supports bone formation.
Manganese works with vitamin K to help with blood clotting, an important step for healing. It also supports the health of the immune and reproductive systems.
Adequate Intake (AI)
Women: 1.8 milligrams
Men: 2.3 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
11 milligrams
Food Sources:
Manganese is found in black tea, nuts, legumes, brown rice, oatmeal, shellfish, green leafy vegetables, berries, and pineapple.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, and there’s limited data on manganese toxicity from food.
Molybdenum
Molybdenum supports four different enzymes in breaking down several substances in your body. It helps break down alcohol, drugs, and toxins within the liver.
It also helps with breaking down proteins and DNA. The enzymes used to break down purines and sulfites also need molybdenum to function properly.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 45 micrograms
Men: 45 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
2,000 micrograms
Food Sources:
Molybdenum can be found in legumes, whole grains, dairy, potatoes, and bananas.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, and toxicity is rare from food alone.
Nickel
Nickel doesn’t seem like an essential nutrient, along with fluoride on this list. So far, it looks like it’s involved in some chemical reactions in the body, but they’re not clearly understood yet.
Nickel is a component in some enzymes, and some nickel is stored in the thyroid and adrenal glands. It might help with iron absorption.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Not enough data to establish one
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
Not enough data to establish one
Food Sources:
Nickel is found in legumes, nuts, seeds, chocolate, oats, and soybeans.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
There’s no measure for a deficiency, since there’s no RDA, and low intakes of nickel doesn’t seem to have negative health impacts. There’s also limited to no data on toxicity. Nickel isn’t absorbed well, and most of it gets excreted.
Selenium
Selenium is very important for thyroid health. Your thyroid has the highest concentration of selenium. It’s used to create substances called selenoproteins that help activate thyroid hormones.
Intakes of selenium and iodine (another mineral necessary for thyroid health) need to be balanced, otherwise an excess of one will cause an insufficiency of the other.
Selenium can also function as an antioxidant to remove free radicals and excess hydrogen peroxide that form during the synthesis of thyroid hormones.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 55 micrograms
Men: 55 micrograms
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
400 micrograms
Food Sources:
Selenium can be found in fish, poultry, red meat, eggs, whole grains, beans, and lentils. Brazil nuts contain a lot of selenium, with a single nut almost doubling the RDA! You can reach toxic levels by consuming too many of these.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare. Low selenium can lead to autoimmunity (Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease), where the immune system attacks the thyroid gland.
Toxicity is not common, but it can occur from eating too many brazil nuts and high dose supplementation.
Zinc
Zinc is involved in a lot of different processes such as helping grow cells, build proteins and DNA, immune function, neurological function, reproduction, taste, and smell.
It’s very important for pregnant mothers, young children, and adolescents – all of whom are in life stages where growth and development are crucial. Zinc keeps immune cells healthy so they can fight off pathogens. It also helps lower acute inflammation, heal, and repair damaged cells and tissues.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Women: 8 milligrams
Men: 11 milligrams
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL)
40 milligrams
Food Sources:
Zinc can be found in meat, shellfish, legumes, nuts, seeds, spinach, mushrooms, and whole grains.
Deficiency and Toxicity:
Deficiency is rare, but can occur for individuals who have digestion issues and have a hard time absorbing zinc. No toxicity reported from food. Toxic levels are attained from supplementation.
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