Micronutrient: Function & Diseases

A micronutrient is a nutrient that is only required in very small amounts. In contrast to micronutrients are macronutrients, which are required in larger quantities.

What is a micronutrient?

Human nutrition can be roughly divided into micro- and macronutrients. There are only three macronutrients in total: protein, carbohydrates and fat. They are needed in quantity in that order. The world of micronutrients includes many more substances. They can be divided into vitamins and minerals and are also often referred to as trace elements, since they are only needed in food in trace amounts. In most cases, the required daily amount is in the gram range, or rather in the microgram range. Micronutrients are necessary for the maintenance of many vital bodily functions. For example, they help to build up immune cells, support the production of new red blood cells, strengthen bones and protect internal organs from diseases and signs of wear, but also ensure their function. If micronutrients are missing from the diet, this can lead to serious deficiency symptoms. Likewise, almost any micronutrient can also be overdosed, causing illness.

Function, effect and tasks

Each micronutrient has a different function in the body. That is why the need for each micronutrient changes throughout life. For example, a fetus in the first 12 weeks of life needs a great deal of folic acid for the healthy development of its nervous system – in amounts that the adult may well need later, but does not need for survival. The micronutrients contained in food are essentially used to enable the regeneration of specific cells. They are incorporated into these cells because, although the body cannot produce these substances itself, it cannot build the specific cell type in any other way. Iron, for example, is the substance in red blood cells that makes it possible for them to transport oxygen in the first place. If the body lacks the micronutrient iron, the oxygen supply to all organs and body parts supplied with blood is insufficient, and this can cause severe symptoms. However, not only cell regeneration is made possible through the intake of micronutrients, but also the maintenance of healthy organs and the production of various secretions, enzymes and chemical messengers in the body depends on micronutrients.

Formation, occurrence, properties and optimal values

Just like macronutrients, our bodies cannot produce micronutrients on their own. Instead, it must obtain them from food. In the industrialized world, micronutrient deficiencies hardly prevail nowadays, which was quite different in earlier centuries. At least this is true for some micronutrients, while others are well known for deficiencies in certain population groups. For example, it is not uncommon for people who live far from the sea to be deficient in iodine. The same micronutrients are not found in every type of food, and some are more difficult to obtain than others. Citrus fruits, for example, are known for their high content of vitamin C, a lot of iodine is found in sea fish, and red meat provides particularly high levels of iron. It should be noted that the content of a micronutrient in a food can change greatly due to the way it is prepared. Fast food, for example, may contain as many vegetables as it does – it will hardly contain the micronutrient it originally contained. For each micronutrient, there is a value recommended by the WHO that a person should take daily, depending on their stage of life and state of health. The values apply to babies and toddlers, children and adults. Other recommended daily rations of a micronutrient may apply to pregnant women and people with illnesses.

Diseases and disorders

One of the most common diseases associated with micronutrients is deficiency of one or more substances. Depending on which micronutrient is deficient, the symptoms vary – and are sometimes barely noticed, while at other times they become very apparent. It is not uncommon to experience non-specific symptoms, which the affected person initially plays down until they become noticeably worse. In the Middle Ages, deficiency symptoms were still commonplace in the Western world; today they are rare – at least for most micronutrients.If the diet is consistent, but there is still a deficiency of micronutrients, this may be a symptom of gastrointestinal disease. In these cases, only a part of the food is absorbed by the patient’s body, i.e. taken up into the bloodstream. However, this reduced portion is not sufficient to meet his or her needs, and he or she develops deficiency symptoms over time. This can be the case in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, and in rare cases it is a consequence of cancer in the intestine. Equally dangerous can be an overdose of micronutrients. Orthomolecular medicine is a branch of alternative medicine that proposes the high dosage of micronutrients as a preventive measure against all kinds of diseases. However, metallic micronutrients in particular, such as iron, can certainly be overdosed, leading to symptoms or serious complications. Although it has long been assumed that vitamins cannot be overdosed, recent studies have found links between severe overdose of some vitamins and increased mortality. Therefore, when taking micronutrients, especially through supplementation, it should always be checked beforehand whether it is really necessary.