VITAMINS AND MINERALS

VITAMINS AND MINERALS
(Excerpted from Chemistry in the Community-- ChemCom, 4th Ed, Unit 7 D.1 and D.3 pp 534-544.)

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the major building blocks and fuel molecules of life, but alone they cannot sustain
life. Even though your body requires them only in tiny amounts, vitamins and minerals also play vital roles. Small, but
absolutely essential, quantities of vitamins and minerals are supplied by the foods you eat or by appropriate dietary
supplements. What do vitamins and minerals do in the body that is so important?

VITAMINS:

By definition, vitamins are biomolecules necessary for growth, reproduction, health and life. Each vitamin is
required in only a tiny amount. The total quantity of all vitamins required daily by an adult is only about 0.2 g— “a little
goes a long way” with vitamins. How much is “enough” of each vitamin? This wil depend on age and gender.
Vitamins perform very specialized tasks. Vitamin D for example, helps move calcium ions from your intestines
into the bloodstream. Without vitamin D, much of the calcium you ingest would not be used by the body. Some vitamins
function as coenzymes, organic molecules that interact with enzymes and enhance their activity. For example, the B-
vitamin group acts as coenzymes in releasing energy from food molecules.
Long before the term vitamin was introduced early in the last century people had discovered that small quantities
of certain substances were necessary for health. For example, scurvy, a condition characterized by symptoms of swollen
joints, bleeding gums and tender skin, was once common among sailors. As early as the 1500s, scurvy was considered a
symptom of food deficiency. After the mid-1700s seafarers loaded citrus fruits on board before long voyages and ate it
during the voyage to prevent scurvy. It is now know that the disorder is caused by lack of vitamin C, which is present in
citrus fruits. About a dozen different vitamins have been identified.
Vitamins are classified as fat-soluble or water-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins have polar functional
groups that allow them to pass directly into the bloodstream. Due in part to their solubility, water-soluble vitamins are not
stored in the body—they must be ingested regularly. Some water-soluble vitamins, including the B vitamins and vitamin
C, are destroyed by cooking.
Your body absorbs fat-soluble vitamins into the blood from the intestine with the assistance of fats in the food you
eat. Since the non-polar structures of fat-soluble vitamins allow them to be stored in body fat, it is not necessary to
consume fat-soluble vitamins daily. In fact, because fat-soluble vitamins accumulate within the body, they can build up to
toxic levels if taken in excessively large quantities.
To follow a nutritionally balanced diet, you need to know, among other things, which foods deliver adequate
amounts of vitamins you body requires. Although nutritionists are still learning about the kinds and amounts of nutrients
needed for best health, it is a good idea to build a diet around a variety of foods.



MINERALS: An Essential Part of Diets


Minerals are essential life-supporting materials. Some are quite common; others are likely to be found in large
quantities only on research-laboratory shelves.

Some minerals become part of the body’s structural material. Others help enzymes do their jobs. Still others help
maintain the health of heart, bones, and teeth. The thyroid gland, for example, uses only a miniscule quantity of iodine
(only millionths of a gram daily) to produce the hormone thyroxine. The rapidly growing field of bioinorganic chemistry
explores how minerals function within living systems.

Of the more than 100 known elements, only 22 are believed essential to human life. For convenience, essential
minerals are divided into macrominerals, or major minerals and trace minerals. As the name suggests, your body
contains rather large quantities—at least five grams—of each of the seven macrominerals. Trace minerals are present in
relatively small quantities, fewer than five grams each in an average adult. However, in the diet trace minerals are just as
essential as macrominerals. Any essential mineral—macro or trace—can become a limiting reactant if it not present in
sufficient quantity. (A limiting reactant is a starting substance that is used up first as a chemical reaction occurs—limiting
the amount of product.)

The essential minerals and their dietary sources, functions and deficiency conditions are listed on the
accompanying chart. In addition to these, several other minerals—including but not limited to arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd)
and tin (Sn)—are known to be needed by animals. These and perhaps other trace minerals may be essential to human
life as well. You may be surprised to learn that the widely known poison arsenic might be an essential mineral. In fact,
many substances beneficial in low doses are toxic in higher doses.

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VITAMINS AND MINERAL SOURCES AND DEFICIENCY CONDITIONS

VITAMINS
Vitamin (Name)
Main Sources
Deficiency Condition
Water-soluble


B1 (Thiamin)

Liver, milk, pasta, bread, wheat germ, lima beans,

Beriberi: nausea, severe exhaustion,

nuts
paralysis
B2(Riboflavin)

Red meat, milk, eggs, pasta, bread, beans, dark

Severe skin problems

green vegetables, peas mushrooms

Niacin

Red meat, poultry, enriched or whole grains,

Pellagra: weak muscles, no appetite,

beans, peas
diarrhea, skin blotches
B

Muscle meats, liver, poultry, fish, whole grains

Depression, nausea, vomiting
6 (Pyridoxine)
B

Red meat, liver kidneys, fish, eggs, milk

Pernicious anemia, exhaustion
12 (Cobalamin)
Folic acid

Kidneys, liver, leafy green vegetables, wheat germ

Anemia

peas, beans

Pantothenic acid

Plants, animals

Anemia
Biotin

Kidneys, liver, egg yolk, yeast, nuts

Dermatitis
C (Ascorbic acid)

Citrus fruits, melon, tomatoes, green peppers,

Scurvy: tender skin, weak, bleeding
strawberries
gums, swollen joints
Fat-soluble


A (Retinol)

Liver, eggs, better, cheese, dark green and deep

Inflamed eye membranes, night

orange vegetables
blindness, scaling of skin, faulty teeth


and bones
D (Calciferol)

Fish-liver oils, fortified milk

Rickets: soft bones
E (Tocopherol)

Liver, wheat germ, whole-grain cereals, margarine,

Breakage of red blood cells in

vegetable oil, leafy green vegetables
premature infants, oxidation of


membranes
K (Menaquinone)

Liver, cabbage, potatoes, peas, leafy green

Hemorrhage in newborns; anemia
vegetables


MINERALS
Mineral
Main Sources
Deficiency Condition
Macrominerals


Calcium (Ca)
Canned fish, milk, dairy products
Rickets in children, osteomalacia and


osteoporosis in adults
Chlorine (Cl)
Meats, salt-produced foods, table salt
--
Magnesium (Mg)
Seafood, cereal grains, nuts, dark green vegetables,
Heart failure due to spasms

cocoa

Phosphorus (P)
Animal proteins
--
Potassium (K)
Orange juice, bananas, dried fruits, potatoes
Poor nerve function, irregular heartbeat,


sudden death during fasting
Sodium (Na)
Meats, salt-processed foods, table salt
Headache, weakness, thirst, poor


memory, appetite loss
Sulfur (S)
Proteins
--
Trace minerals




Chromium (Cr)
Liver, animal and plant tissue
Loss of insulin efficiency with age
Cobalt (Co)
Liver, animal proteins
Anemia
Copper (Cu)
Liver, kidney, egg yolk, whole grains
--
Fluorine (F)
Seafood, fluoridated drinking water
Dental decay
Iodine (I)
Seafood, iodized salts
Goiter
Iron (Fe)
Liver, meats, green leafy vegetables, whole grains
Anemia; tiredness and apathy
Manganese (Mn)
Liver, kidney, wheat germ, legumes, nuts, tea
Weight loss, dermatitis
Molybdenum (Mo)
Liver kidney, whole grams, legumes, leafy
--

vegetables

Nickel (Ni)
Seafood, grains, seeds, beans, vegetables
Cirrhosis of liver, kidney failure, stress
Selenium (Se)
Liver, organ meats, grains, vegetables
Kashan disease (a heart disease found


in China)
Zinc (Zn)
Liver, shellfish, meats, wheat germ, legumes
Anemia, stunted growth

Excerpted from Chemistry in the Community—ChemCom, 5th Ed, pg.537 and pg544

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