Vitamins and minerals make people's bodies work properly. Although you get vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat every day, some foods have more vitamins and minerals than others. Vitamins and minerals boost the immune system, support normal growth and development, and help cells and organs do their jobs. For example, you've probably heard that carrots are good for your eyes.
Nutritional requirements are often slightly different for young children, adolescents, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Eating a variety of foods is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day, as well as the right balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and calories. Whole or unprocessed foods — like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, and poultry — are the best choices for providing the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy and grow properly.
Fat-soluble vitamins are found mainly in fatty foods such as animal fats (including butter and lard), vegetable oils, dairy foods, liver and oily fish.
Your body needs these vitamins every day to work properly. However, you don't need to eat foods containing them every day.
Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body, so you need to have them more frequently.
If you have more than you need, your body gets rid of the extra vitamins when you urinate. Because the body doesn't store water-soluble vitamins, generally these vitamins aren't harmful.
Minerals are essential nutrients that your body needs in small amounts to work properly. We need them in the form they are found in food.
Minerals can be found in varying amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, cereals (including cereal products such as bread), fish, milk and dairy foods, vegetables, fruit (especially dried fruit) and nuts.
Vitamins and minerals aren’t dangerous unless you get too much of them. It would be hard to “overdose” on vitamins or minerals that you get from the foods you eat. But if you take supplements, you can easily take too much. This is even more of a risk if you take fat-soluble vitamins.
