Sound health and a sound mind is the ultimate gateway to a balanced, healthy and prosperous lifestyle. We indeed often hear and see people demonstrating such quotes and facts about health and a balanced lifestyle but on the other hand, we are very ignorant while updating this very fundamental rule of a balanced life in our lifestyle. Every single meal we take and every single activity we perform has a direct or indirect effect on us. Just as we know smoking and excessive drinking causes extreme deterioration effect slowly not immediately, similarly, healthy food habits, a balanced nutrient-rich diet and exercise also have a strengthening effect on the core. But we tend to ignore even this very basic fundamental of a healthy lifestyle.
A balanced diet itself has more power to nourish your body than providing with any surplus diet. A balanced diet is a diet containing all the essential nutrients a human body requires in the required amount. A balanced diet contains carbs, fats, proteins, fibre, water and minerals, roughage in some adequate amount as needed by an individual. Just as all nutrients provide specific enrichment for the body, so does vitamins.
Vitamins and minerals are altogether termed up essential nutrients. They perform innumerable vital roles in our bodies. From repairing cellular damage to healing wounds and strengthening bones, they provide the essential growth a human body requires. Vitamins and minerals are together coined as micronutrients.
There are two categories of vitamins – water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins. We will read about their benefits one by one in detail.
Water-soluble vitamins
Our body is made up of 70 per cent of water and hence it is easy for the body to consume, utilize and transport water-soluble vitamins in the body. Water-soluble vitamins are those watery portions of the vitamin-rich meal we eat. They are thus easily infused into the bloodstream as soon as the food gets broken down or the food substance dissolves. Water-soluble vitamins are - B vitamins, Biotin (vitamin B7), Folic acid (folate, vitamin B9), Niacin (vitamin B3), Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), Riboflavin (vitamin B2), Thiamin (vitamin B1), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C.
Benefits of water-soluble vitamins
· Energy breakdown from food one of the most important work water-soluble vitamins do is that they extract energy from the food that we eat.
· Release energy vitamin B and other related enzymes are the key factor for producing energy from the food.
· Build protein and cells water-soluble vitamins helps in activating amino acids for building protein substances and helps body cells in the cell multiplication process.
· Energy production various other vitamins like Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Pantothenic acid, and biotin help in the energy production process.
Fat-soluble vitamins
These vitamins do not get directly into the bloodstream; rather they enter the system through infusing with the lymph channels present in the walls of the intestine. In some cases of fat-soluble vitamins, proteins act as vitamin carriers. Fatty foods and oils are sources of such vitamins and these are stored in liver and fat tissues and will be used when needed. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E.
Benefits of fat-soluble vitamins
· Repair fat-soluble vitamins help keep your eyes, skin, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and nervous system in good repair.
· Improves eyesight vitamin A helps in providing good eyesight.
· Strengthen bones vitamin A, D, K helps in providing overall strength to the bones.
· Provide anti-oxidant vitamin E acts as an antioxidant and helps in the protection of damage against complex molecules.
So now you see vitamins are in much essential need for the body. Although every nutrient is essential for a balanced and healthy body and mind, as we already discussed that vitamins are well known as an essential nutrient that's why it is very crucial to take proper and balanced vitamin intake.
