Vitamins and Minerals

What are vitamins and minerals?

Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, substances your body needs in small amounts to work properly. They’re part of your body’s internal chemistry, a complex system of chemical reactions that keep you alive and functioning.

Most vitamins and minerals come from foods you eat. But your body can also make some vitamins under the right conditions. You can also get them from dietary supplements or from medical treatments.

While you often hear them mentioned together, vitamins and minerals aren’t the same.

• Vitamins: These are all organic compounds. That means their structures all revolve around the elements carbon and hydrogen. Organic compounds are the building blocks of all living things.
• Minerals: These are elements your body uses in their simplest forms. Many minerals are also electrolytes, meaning they can have an electrical charge. Your body builds chemical compounds it needs around many of these. For example, hemoglobin in your blood contains iron.

Most vitamins and minerals are essential. That means you can’t live without them.

There are a few nonessential vitamins. They’re ones your body should be able to make on its own. But sometimes, it can’t. If that’s the case, you’ll need to take supplements. Experts sometimes call these “conditionally essential.”

Essential vitamins

There are 13 essential vitamins:

• A (retinol)
• B1 (thiamin)
• B2 (riboflavin)
• B3 (niacin)
• B5 (pantothenic acid)
• B6 (pyridoxine)
• B7 (biotin)
• B9 (folate)
• B12 (cobalamin)
• C (ascorbic acid)
• D (cholecalciferol)
• E (tocopherol)
• K (phylloquinone or menaquinone)

While it isn’t a vitamin, experts often group choline (pronounced “KO-leen”) in with them. It’s an essential micronutrient that works similarly to certain vitamins.

Essential minerals

Experts organize minerals by how much of them you need per day. The seven major minerals are the ones you need more of. They include:

• Calcium
• Chlorine (comes in chloride form)
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Sulfur

Some minerals you only need in tiny amounts. Those are called trace minerals. They include:

• Chromium
• Cobalt
• Copper
• Fluorine (comes in fluoride form)
• Iodine (comes in iodide form)
• Iron
• Manganese
• Molybdenum
• Selenium
• Zinc

Tests for vitamin and mineral deficiencies

Some vitamin and mineral deficiencies show up on standard blood work. Examples include vitamin D, vitamin B12 and iron. Blood tests that check their levels are a common part of an annual checkup.

Your healthcare provider might also recommend testing vitamin and mineral levels when you have:

• A condition or any risk factors that could cause or contribute to a vitamin or mineral deficiency
• A history of a vitamin or mineral deficiency
• Symptoms that could signal a vitamin or mineral deficiency

How do I get vitamins and minerals?

You can get vitamins and minerals in a few different ways:

• They occur naturally in foods. Vitamins and minerals are in just about everything you eat or drink. That’s why experts recommend eating a variety of foods. The variety helps ensure you aren’t missing any vitamins or minerals that your body needs.
• They’re added to make enriched foods. Some foods have added vitamins or minerals. That helps prevent vitamin deficiencies in large populations. Examples include flour with added vitamin A or iodized salt.
• Supplements and medicines. You can also get vitamins and minerals from supplements or medical treatments. You can take iron supplements or get iron injections if your iron levels are too low.

It’s important to remember that supplements aren’t good for you under some conditions. Even ones you can get over the counter can make you sick. Make sure you tell your provider about EVERY supplement you take (no matter how harmless it seems). And it’s best to only take supplements as recommended by your provider.

Excess vitamins or minerals

Some vitamins are harmful if your levels go too high. When they’re too high, that’s called hypervitaminosis. For example, vitamin A in high amounts can actually poison you. And if you’re pregnant, too much vitamin A can cause birth defects.

Minerals can also be dangerous in high amounts. For example, trace elements are those you only need in tiny amounts. Taking too much of them can poison you. For example, chromium, manganese or selenium in excess can cause heavy metal poisoning.

Deficiencies of vitamins and minerals

Vitamin deficiencies are common, especially in certain areas or for certain reasons. The same goes for mineral deficiencies. How severe they are depends on factors like:

• The vitamin you’re low in
• Why you’re low in it
• How long your levels have been low
• Your age
• Your health history

Some vitamin or mineral deficiencies can be extremely dangerous or even deadly. That’s one reason why annual checkups are so important. They can catch many of the more serious deficiencies early.