Vitamins & Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are irreplaceable building blocks for the body to function.

Vitamins

Vitamins consist of organic (i.e. carbon-containing) compounds. As so-called micronutrients, they do not serve our body as energy carriers, unlike macronutrients, but they are nevertheless indispensable for various functions of the body. Since the body cannot produce vitamins itself in sufficient quantities, they are essential. This means that they must be supplied through the diet. Basically, vitamins are divided into lipophilic (fat-soluble) and hydrophilic (water-soluble) vitamins. Some of these vitamins are supplied to the body in an ineffective preliminary stage as a so-called provitamin in food and are only formed into the effective vitamin in the body.

An undersupply of the various vitamins can result in a number of health-damaging deficiency symptoms and a wide variety of clinical pictures, and in the most extreme case can even lead to death. In an industrial society with high food security such as Germany, however, this is extremely rare. On the contrary, there can also be an oversupply of fat-soluble vitamins. The water-soluble ones, on the other hand, are simply excreted by the kidneys. However, such an over-supply is also relatively rare. You can find more detailed information in our entries on the respective vitamins.

Minerals

Unlike vitamins, minerals are inorganic compounds. The organism cannot produce them itself, so like vitamins they must be supplied through the diet. Minerals themselves, like vitamins, are not energy carriers, i.e. they make no or only an insignificant contribution to energy metabolism. Some minerals are toxic in their elemental form (e.g. chlorine), but essential as a compound - chloride, e.g. in sodium chloride (table salt). When subdivided according to tasks, a distinction is made between building and regulating substances. Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are building materials, while iodine, sodium, potassium, iron and chlorine are regulators. However, some minerals have both properties at the same time. Phosphorus, for example, is involved in building bones and teeth and at the same time in regulating the acid-base balance. Minerals are also colloquially referred to as bulk elements.

When subdividing according to tasks, a distinction is made between building and regulating substances. Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are building materials, while iodine, sodium, potassium, iron and chlorine are regulators. However, some minerals have both properties at the same time. Phosphorus, for example, is involved in building bones and teeth and at the same time in regulating the acid-base balance. Finally, there is the division into essential and non-essential minerals, i.e. vital and non-essential. You can find more detailed information in our entries on the respective minerals.