Micronutrients
Little things matter
We wrote about macronutrients a few posts ago. While macronutrients are the main source of energy for our bodies, there are some more nutrients that are essential for your wellbeing. These are needed in miniscule quantities, often in milligrams or less. They are collectively known as micronutrients. Even though you only need them in extremely small quantities, lack of these can lead to significant issues including blindness, anaemia, fluid disorder and mental disorder.
If you haven’t already read it, here’s macronutrients again. It might be a good idea to spend three minutes reading it and refreshing your memory:
Minerals such as iron, iodine, sodium, fluoride, selenium, strontium, molybdenum, manganese, cobalt, chromium, copper, zinc, magnesium along with vitamins A, C, D, K, E, B-complex (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12) (whew!) are the micronutrients you need to include in your diet. A list of all the minerals and vitamins is on Wikipedia. You need some omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids (remember a fat molecule is a triglyceride with three fatty acids).
Many of us don’t realize how important these are.
WHO considers iodine deficiency as the world’s most prevalent, yet easily preventable cause of brain damage. You will notice that the common salt or table salt that you buy is labeled iodized salt. A global campaign launched by WHO in the 1980’s started driving countries to combat iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). Since 1993, iodized salt has been helping millions of us get enough iodine.
Vitamin A deficiency can lead to blindness and decreases your ability to counter severe infections. Estimates suggest that between 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind every year. Half of them die within a year of becoming blind.
Iron deficiency is also known as anaemia. It affects a large number of children and women in most developing countries, and the only deficiency to affect people in developed countries. WHO estimates that over 2 billion people are anaemic. That’s a whopping 30% of all humans on earth.
So how do these help you? A detailed list is available at orthomolecular.org, we have listed some of the common ones here.
- Sodium, from the salt you eat, helps maintain the pH levels in your blood. If you haven’t already done so, read our post on salt.
- Iron helps produce red blood cells and lymphocytes.
- Calcium is used for quite a lot of functions in your body include promoting bone strength, healthy gums, blood clotting and stops lead from being absorbed by your bones.
- Chloride is essential to produce hydrochloric acid (HCl) in your stomach that aids in digestion. It also helps regulate water balance, acidity balance and electrolyte balance. You get this too from the salt in your food.
- Fluoride prevents tooth decay and is present in miniscule quantities in your toothpaste.
- Potassium helps maintain fluid balance, normal heartbeat and nerve transmission.
It’s quite easy to get enough micronutrients in your diet if you eat a variety of foods regularly. However, if you’ve had a bad diet for a while and are attempting a transition, you may not be getting enough micronutrients. We suggest a daily multivitamin pill until you settle into a new routine, maybe longer if you need it. As always, consult a doctor if you’re unsure. Vitamin overdosing is rare, but is known to happen.
Your local pharmacy can recommend a good brand of multivitamin and omega-3 pills (typically sold as a fish oil pill).
The jury’s still out on the health benefits of the omega fatty acids as supplements, but it is not known to cause any harm. We strongly suggest that you add these to your daily micronutrient requirement.
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