Micronutrients
Image courtesy of: Creative Commons
Vitamins and minerals, called micronutrients, are optional on the Nutrition Facts Panel. Americans often don’t get adequate amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. Eating recommeded amounts of these nutrients can improve your health and help reduce the risk of some diseases and health concerns.
Vitamin A:
Animation courtesy of: http://www.all-creatures.org/anan/index.html
Vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin, is involved in the formation and maintenance of healthy skin, hair, and mucous membranes. Vitamin A helps us to see in dim light and is necessary for proper bone growth, tooth development, and reproduction.
Good sources of vitamin A: organ meats, carrot juice, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, spinach, collards, kale, mixed vegetables, and turnip greens.
Vitamin C:
Vitamin C helps protect cells from free radical damage, lowers your cancer risk, regenerates your vitamin E supplies, and improves iron absorption.
Excellent sources of vitamin C: parsely, broccoli, bell pepper, strawberries, oranges, lemon juice, papaya, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts.
Calcium:
Animation courtesy of:http://www.all-creatures.org/anan/index.html
Calcium is known to be good for your bones, but it may have a number of health benefits beyond strengthening the skeleton. Emerging evidence indicates that it may lower the risk of colon cancer, reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure, aid weight loss, and ease premenstrual symptoms.
Low-fat milk is clearly the most efficient and readily available source of calcium. Lactose-free milk, soy and rice drinks have recently become more easily obtainable and less expensive.
In addition to milk, there are a variety of foods that contain calcium and can you get sufficient levels of calcium in their daily diet. Some examples include: milk, yogurt, cheese, broccoli, kale, spinach, oranges, tofu, peanuts, peas, black beans, baked beans, salmon, sardines, sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, corn, tortillas, almonds, and brown sugar.
Iron:
Iron is essential to all body cells. Iron functions primarily as a carrier of oxygen in the body. Iron deficiency anemia occurs when there is not enough iron in the red blood cells. This is a common problem often caused by pregnancy, blood loss, a diet low in iron, or poor absorption of iron by the body.
Good sources of Iron: Beef liver, corned beer, beef, chicken liver, flounder, pork, dark meat turkey, apricots, baked beans, kidney beans, lima beans, molasses, spinach.
Sources: http://www.hoptechno.com/book29a.htm
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=109
http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/nutrition-diet-weight-loss/sources-calcium-food
http://www.naturalnews.com/003865.html
http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/Handouts/dietary_sources_iron.html
