For normal development and to stay healthy, the human body needs a variety of nutrients. On the one hand, these are the macronutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins (proteins) and fats. However, they can only be utilized by the body if the food also contains micronutrients. What counts to it?
What counts as micronutrients?
Micronutrients include vitamins, minerals, trace elements, secondary plant compounds, essential fatty acids and amino acids – substances that are vital for the body and protect against free radicals, among other things. Unlike macronutrients, the human body cannot produce micronutrients itself. For a functioning metabolism, it must therefore take them in with food – although they do not provide any energy themselves. They serve, for example, to build macromolecules or as cofactors for essential enzyme reactions. Other micronutrients, in turn, have antioxidant effects.
Vitamins are important micronutrients
In the body, vitamins are involved in many processes. They are also particularly important for the immune system, so that pathogens can be successfully fought off. In addition, each vitamin fulfills its own unique tasks.
- Vitamin A: It is involved in the vision process and plays an important role in reproduction. Vitamin A also ensures healthy skin, bones, cartilage and teeth.
- B vitamins: The vitamin group includes eight water-soluble vitamins that are responsible for numerous metabolic functions. These include energy metabolism and muscle growth, but also mental performance.
- Vitamin C: The water-soluble ascorbic acid protects cells from free radicals, stimulates the immune system, is involved in the formation of collagen and steroids and improves the absorption of iron from food.
- Vitamin D: The body can produce the fat-soluble vitamin itself when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D regulates calcium balance and thus important for bone stability.
- Vitamin E: It is one of the antioxidants, as the vitamin scavenges free radicals and thus protects the cells.
- Vitamin K: The fat-soluble vitamin is involved in blood clotting, and also in the metabolism of connective tissue and bones.
Minerals and trace elements are micronutrients.
In the body, the function of bones, muscles, heart and brain depends on minerals. There are substances that the body needs in very large quantities and those of which it needs only small concentrations. Macrominerals (they are needed by the body in large quantities):
- Potassium
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Sodium
Trace elements (the body needs them in small quantities):
- Chromium
- Iron
- Copper
- Iodine
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Selenium
- Zinc
All trace elements except chromium are used to build enzymes and hormones that regulate metabolism. In turn, the micronutrient chromium ensures that blood sugar levels are in the normal range and not derailed.
Secondary plant substances
Although these micronutrients are not essential for the human body, secondary plant compounds influence numerous metabolic processes and exert health-promoting effects. For example, they have antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Secondary plant compounds are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grain products.
- Carotenoids
- Flavonoids
- Lycopene
Also micronutrients: omega fatty acids and amino acids.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are also among the micronutrients. They are known as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which the body cannot produce itself but must supply through food. They are the basis for various tissue hormones and are involved in building human cells. Fish and vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil or linseed oil and green vegetables such as Brussels sprouts or spinach are particularly rich in these micronutrients. The term proteinogenic amino acids refers to the 21 amino acids that make up proteins. So the body needs these individual building blocks to build protein from.
Micronutrients in foods
Fruits and vegetables contain many micronutrients – but unfortunately only when freshly harvested.Transport, storage, preservation and cooking destroy many of these valuable micronutrients. A head of lettuce, for example, can lose up to 60 percent of its vitamin C within three days, spinach up to 95 percent. An optimal supply of micronutrients is therefore usually only insufficiently possible via the daily diet. In addition, there are always phases in life when the body has an increased need for micronutrients, for example during illness or pregnancy. In such cases, supplementation with essential substances is recommended. Not only sick people, but also healthy people can have a deficit of micronutrients due to a particular life situation, which must be replenished.
What happens when there is a deficiency of micronutrients?
Although micronutrients are only needed in very small amounts, they are one of the essential dietary components. Without them, numerous functions such as growth or energy production in the body could not take place at all. If one or more of these substances are missing, deficiency symptoms develop. Numerous studies show that the risk of chronic diseases is related to the blood levels of various antioxidants and B vitamins. Thus, compared to healthy controls, patients often have significantly lower serum or plasma micronutrient concentrations. However, micronutrients should not be taken in an uncontrolled manner, but always in consultation with the patient’s physician. In addition, the unobserved intake of vitamins and minerals in excessive doses can even be harmful: While excess water-soluble substances are simply excreted by the body, other micronutrients can accumulate in the body and sometimes trigger complaints.
Micronutrients for dietary supplementation
Some people do not manage to eat as balanced and healthy a diet as they would like. Among other reasons, this is why some have nutrient deficiencies. In Central Europe, the need for vitamins A and B in particular, as well as iodine, is often not adequately met by diet alone. Even the self-synthesis of vitamin D through sun exposure alone is not sufficient for some people. This is especially true for older people, as their skin synthesis is reduced compared to younger age groups. In addition, the need for micronutrients is often increased by factors such as age, body weight, leisure time behavior, occupational strain, stress, dietary habits, chronic diseases or medication intake. Therefore, targeted supplementation of missing micronutrients is a good option for some groups or when a deficiency is confirmed. Micronutrient supplements only make sense if they are properly dosed, combined, and in a usable state. In modern medicine, standard or mono-preparations, such as calcium or magnesium alone, vitamin C or vitamin E are critically evaluated as single substances.
