The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals in Your Diet

Your body requires a lot of things to function normally, including vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are essential to your overall well-being and the health of your organs.

Getting all of your vitamins and minerals through your diet can be challenging, but you can do it with careful planning.

If you need help with what to eat for the proper vitamins and minerals, the team at Highway Integrative Health Center provides you with nutrition tips that help.

Leading our team are two primary care specialists, Dr. Jose Lopez-Chevres and Dr. Yaritza Arriaga O'Neill. Dr. Lopez Chevres and Dr. O'Neill offer nutritional tips and supplements to ensure you get enough vital nutrients for your health.

The facts on vitamins and minerals

Your body is a machine that requires fuel to work correctly and sustain life. At its most basic functioning, your body needs several crucial components to thrive, which include:

• Water
• Fats
• Carbohydrates
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Protein

Without these six essential components, your body can't do the job it's meant to, keeping you healthy and functioning appropriately.

You can find all of these essential components in the foods you consume. Drinking water is vital to life, and you should aim for eight glasses daily.

Fats, carbs, and proteins are all contained in various foods, including meats, whole grains, and nuts. It's easy to incorporate these items into your daily meals.

Vitamins and nutrients are also in many of these foods, as well as fruits and vegetables. However, if you're not careful, you can become deficient in these nutrients, leading to various symptoms that affect your mind and body.

What happens when I'm deficient?

Many things affect how you get the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs, including your personal taste preferences, processed foods, and a busy lifestyle.

However, ensuring you get enough of these nutrients into your diet is vital to your well-being. In fact, without enough of the proper vitamins (A, D, C, B), you can suffer from various symptoms, including the following:

• Hair loss
• Scaly skin
• Brittle hair or nails
• Mouth ulcers
• Fatigue
• Muscle aches
• Trouble sleeping
• Brittle bones
• Bleeding gums

Vitamins are crucial to your immune system, so you experience frequent illnesses when deficient in vitamins C, D, or A.

In some cases, a potassium deficiency may lead to an irregular heartbeat or feeling like your heart is beating out of your chest. You can also experience an irregular heart rate with a calcium deficiency.

A balanced diet is one of the best ways to ensure you get all the essential nutrients you need for a healthy life.

Getting enough from your diet

There are a lot of challenges when it comes to eating a balanced diet. You may be picky regarding healthy foods or have allergies that prevent you from eating certain things.

However, it should be a top priority to incorporate foods that contain vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates while drinking plenty of water throughout the day.

A balanced diet is as simple as adding fresh fruits and vegetables into your meals, along with lean proteins and healthy fats. Avocado, nuts, and seeds are all examples of healthy fats you can eat.

Whole grains, fish, and beans are other nutrient-rich foods you want to eat regularly. You can opt for a supplement if you're having trouble getting enough of these essential foods in your diet.

Oral supplements and IV vitamin infusions are viable options for boosting your mineral and vitamin intake. Make sure to look for natural oral supplements that don't contain many additives or sugar.

IV hydration with essential vitamins and nutrients is another option that provides a fast and efficient source of crucial nutrients your body needs. We offer a variety of vitamins and minerals in our IV cocktails that support your immunity and overall health and wellness.

Call our office today at 689-600-1542 to schedule a consultation, or request an appointment online using our convenient booking tool.