Lifestyle: Getting Fit in Association With Green Healthy Living

By STEVEN SWANSON

Vitamins and Minerals

Up until modern times, it was believed that the body only needed proteins, fats and carbohydrates to stay fit and healthy.

People simply did not understand that the body needs vitamins and minerals, two dietary components that are essential to keep ourselves functioning.

Vitamins: Vitamins are organic compounds that regulate fat, carbohydrate and protein metabolism in your body. They cannot be made by the body and have to be provided by the foods we eat on a daily basis.

Unlike most foods groups, vitamins are not a source of energy but they do play a role in releasing energy stored within other foods we eat.

Our nervous, enzyme, hormonal and immune systems require vitamins to keep us in good health.

Vitamins are divided into two groups:

Water Soluble: These vitamins are not stored in the body so we need to take them more than others.

When we have taken more than the body needs, it will dispose of the excess without causing harm.

These vitamins are found in fruit, veg and grains, but be careful they can get lost in the water when you cook them, so try steaming or grilling rather than boiling.

Fat-Soluble: These vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are stored in the body. Found mainly in fatty foods such as butter, lard, liver, fish and some animal fats.

Your body needs these vitamins to work, but you do not need to eat foods containing them every day.

This is because, if your body does not use the vitamins immediately, it will store them in your liver and fatty tissues for future use. Therefore if you build your stores too much, fat- soluble vitamins can be harmful.

Minerals: Minerals have many roles within our body.

Apart from allowing us to become big and strong and have nice healthy teeth, they also help control the nervous system, fluid balance in tissue, muscular contractions and hormonal functions. They are just as important as vitamins and you need to have been supplied within your diet as our body cannot produce them.

So it’s not just about carbs, fats and proteins. We need to look at the amount of vitamins and minerals we take in on a daily/weekly basis.

Steven and his colleagues at Greens Health & Fitness can be contacted on (0191) 213-0070 or visit www.greens-fitness.com

(c) 2007 The Journal – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.