The body needs a range of micronutrients to function properly and remain healthy. While most people are probably more familiar with macronutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, these aren’t directly used by the body’s cells for energy production or tissue repair. Rather, it takes other substances like vitamins and minerals in small quantities to make that happen which is why they’re referred to as “micronutrients.”

In this article, we shall discuss the different types of micronutrients required by the body to function properly.

Micronutrients required by the body

Water Soluble Vitamins

Water-soluble vitamins are those that dissolve in water, so they can travel throughout your body quickly and efficiently. These include Vitamin B and Vitamin C, which are involved in everything from red blood cell formation to collagen production. All these vitamins are easily available from natural sources. Even nutrients like Vitamin B12 naturally occur in animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy but can also be found in some plant foods like nutritional yeast.

Fat Soluble Vitamins

Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are essential for overall health too but require fat for absorption. Meaning, you need to include some food that has fat in order to get these micronutrients into the bloodstream. Fat-soluble vitamins support good vision, and immune system functioning and even aid in calcium absorption needed for strong bones. Examples of foods containing fat-soluble vitamins include carrots (vitamin A), mushrooms (vitamin D), kale (vitamin E), and broccoli (vitamin K).

Macro Minerals

Macro minerals include sodium, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, and phosphorus. They are required in large amounts for the body. Macro minerals serve a wide variety of functions including helping create nerve impulses or maintaining acid-base balance within cells among other things. You can usually find an adequate supply of macro minerals through food sources since they tend to occur naturally in many fruits, vegetables, and grains. Also, there are supplements like Qummune for extra supplementation if necessary due to lifestyle or medical concerns.

Trace Minerals

Trace minerals on the other hand only required in small amounts but still play critical roles when it comes to supporting overall health. It helps in regulating hormones, enabling efficient energy metabolism from food, etc. Trace minerals can be commonly found in foods such as seafood (selenium) or dark leafy greens (manganese).

Conclusion

Micronutrients are essential for overall health as our bodies use these tiny molecules for energy production, repair processes, and cellular function among many other tasks. So it’s important to ensure that we get adequate levels either through dietary sources or appropriate supplementation where necessary. It is important to take both water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamin varieties plus macro minerals & trace minerals too.