The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals

1. The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals

2. Discovering Vitamins • As it turns out, the term "limey" originally applied to British sailors. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors suffered terribly from scurvy, a condition caused by a lack of vitamin C.

3. Discovering Vitamins • Vitamin Ccomes mainly from fresh fruits and vegetables, but these foods aren't exactly easy to come by when you're at sea for months at a time. • So the Royal Navy prescribed lime juice for all sailors to help ward off scurvy -- hence the nick name "limeys."

4. Vitamin C is required for correct collagen synthesis in humans. • The scientific name of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus. • Scurvy leads to the formation of liver spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from all mucous membranes. • The spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized.

5. In advanced scurvy there are open wounds and loss of teeth.

6. Beriberi • Beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamine (vitamin B1). • It is common in people whose diet consists mainly of polished white rice, which is very low in thiamine because the thiamine-bearing husk has been removed.

7. Beriberi • It is also seen in chronic alcoholics with an inadequate diet, as well as being a rare side effect of gastric bypass surgery. • This vitamin (thiamine, B1) is often added to staple foods to ensure the prevention of the disease.

8. Rickets • Ricketsis a softening of the bones in children potentially leading to fractures and deformity. • Osteomalaciais the term used to describe a similar condition occurring in adults, generally due to a deficiency of vitamin D.

9. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries. The predominant cause is a vitamin D deficiency, but lack of adequate calcium in the diet may also lead to rickets.

10. The majority of rickets cases occur in children suffering from severe malnutrition, usually resulting from famine or starvation during the early stages of childhood.

11. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness in developing countries. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and is found mainly in fish liver oils, liver, egg yolks, butter and cream, green leafy and yellow vegetables.

12. So Which Vitamins do I Need?

15. Essential Minerals Potassium • is the major mineral in, and primary regulator of fluids inside cells along with sodium. • Critical to the transmission of nerve impulses, muscle contractions and maintenance of normal blood pressure. • Potassium deficiency • is rare in healthy people, but is a very common side effect of two widely abused modern drugs, chemical laxatives and diuretics. • also be caused by excessive vomiting, chronic diarrhea or kidney failure. • Signs of deficiency may include muscle weakness, intestinal problems, heart abnormalities and respiratory weakness.

16. Essential Minerals Foods high in potassium: • All meats, poultry and fish • Apricots, Avocado, Banana, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Kiwi, Lima beans, Milk, Oranges and orange juice, Prunes • Potatoes, Spinach, Tomatoes, Vegetable juice, Winter squash

17. Essential Minerals Iron • carries oxygen to the cells and is necessary for the production of energy, the synthesis of collagen, and the functioning of the immune system. • Iron deficiency is common only among children and pre-menopausal women. Great care must be taken not to take too much iron, as excess amounts are stored in the body’s tissues and adversely affect the body’s immune function, cell growth and heart health

18. Essential Minerals Iron • Iron is found in meat, fish, beans, spinach, molasses, kelp, brewer’s yeast, broccoli and seeds. Iron from plant sources is not as well absorbed as that from animal sources, some experts recommend that vegetarians supplement with, or eat foods high in, vitamin C as it enhances iron absorption.

19. Essential Minerals Zinc • supports the health of the immune system, normal synthesis of protein, and the health of reproductive organs (especially in men). • Zinc deficiency is common, and can adversely affect normal physical growth, skin and nerve health, natural healing ability, and immune function, especially in infants. • Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption adversely affect zinc levels.

20. Essential Minerals Zinc Can be found in: • Meats, fish, beans, whole grains, pumpkin seeds, shellfish, oysters, wheat bran, mushrooms and brewer’s yeast

21. Assignment: • Create a three course meal. • Include recipes for each menu item, these may be researched on the web. • Include a non-alcoholic beverage. • Identify the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that contribute to health that appear in each of your courses. • 10 marks each course; 5 for recipe, 5 for nutrients identified. • 30 marks total