Micronutrients - what the body really needs
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I want to use to talk about something very basic but also very important: micronutrients. There are numerous amounts of food supplements available in the market and some people swear by using them daily while others reject them completely. The question is, what does the body really need and where can we find it?
This is the start of a series of articles about micronutrients. This first article will give you an overview of the different kinds of micronutrients. The following articles will each cover one of the micronutrient families in detail.
It is well known that the human body needs certain vital substances or micronutrients to be capable to run all the required biochemical processes. These micronutrients can be distinguished into:
- vitamins and vitamin oils
- minerals
- trace elements
- phytochemicals
- amino acids
- fatty acids
and also
- lactic acid bacteria
- glyconutrients
- probiotics and prebiotics.
The different micronutrients form a very important part of the entire metabolism. If the body lacks one or several of these micronutrients, a misregulation of enzymatic reactions can be the result, which in turn may lead to chronic disease development.
Several micronutrients act as free radical catchers and antioxidants. Free radicals are metabolic products that act aggressively against different body functions. They are capable to alter tissue structures while impairing vital body functions.
The free radicals derived from internal metabolic processes but also from external influences, some of which are environmental pollution, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, solar radiation, and many more. If there are too many free radicals operating on the body, the body gets oxidative stress, which may lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, and eye diseases.
Micronutrients help the body to catch those free radicals or to transform them. Some of these antioxidative micronutrients are vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotenoids, which all need to be taken in through nutrition. Trace elements like selenium, zinc, and copper also help the body protect itself from free radicals. Iodine, calcium, and lactic acid bacteria are a kind of building material for the body’s tissue structures.