What is manganese and why do we need it?

When it comes to the essential nutrients in foods that we are all familiar with, the first ones names are the likes of iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. But how about some of the lesser known nutrients, minerals such as manganese for instance?

This short post is going to provide an explanation as to what manganese is, and why it is just as important as the vitamins and minerals that we hear about everyday on the television through various forms of advertising and advice. I am also going to let you know some foods that contain manganese, to highlight exactly how easy it is to get enough in your diet each day.

Manganese is what is known as a trace mineral, and this means that although you require it regularly, the amount that is needed is less than essential minerals such as potassium.

We all have about 12 milligrams of manganese in our bodies, and this level should be kept up by making sure we get 2.3 milligrams per day through our diet, according to the nutritional recommendations of the U.S National Academy of Sciences.

Top sources of Manganese:

* Oat Bran
* Whole grain wheat flour
* Almonds
* Walnuts
* Raisins
* Avocados
* Seaweed
* Spinach
* Beans
* Broccoli - To find out more about broccoli nutrition facts please click here.

As you can see, there are a wide range of foods that are able to provide you with this mineral, and this means that including at least some, or even one, of them in your diet, should not be a problem.

If you like nuts then just 100 grams of almonds will provide you with all of the manganese you need in a day, as will the same serving of walnuts.

Why do we need manganese?

So what exactly does manganese do for your body? Like all of the other nutrients that the body craves to work properly, manganese plays specific roles in the making sure your body ticks along. These have been listed below:

* Manganese helps the body to convert fats and proteins into energy
* It is stored primarily in the bones, and helps their strength and growth
* Helps the body to absorb other nutrients such as Thiamin, also known as vitamin B1
* Manganese plays a primary part in the upkeep of your immune system
* Manganese is vital to the function of your nervous system
* Manganese helps to regulate your blood sugar levels
* As well as helping the development of your bones, manganese also plays a part in forming and lubricating fluid in your joints
* It helps the clotting of your blood
* Manganese has antioxidant properties
* Manganese helps your digestive system by stimulating enzymes that help your body to digest the food that you eat

The list above shows that this mineral really is something that is vital to your well being, without it your body would begin to break down in a number of ways. Making sensible choices when it comes to your diet is the primary way to ensure that your body is not lacking in manganese, or any other vitamin or mineral for that matter.

So that is what manganese is and exactly why we all need to make sure it is a feature in our diets.

If you would like to find out more about the vitamins and minerals that are found in foods, and why they are good for your body, please check out my website via the link below:


http://www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com/

Nutritional benefits of broccoli - Lots of reasons why you should eat it!

Broccoli is without a doubt one of those foods that you either love or hate. Most of us can remember back to when we were kids and our folks first served us something that resembled a little tree, and that looked as though it was going to taste absolutely horrible. That first bite probably didn't change many minds either, although I have found that broccoli is something that really does taste better over time.

In this post I am going to talk a bit about broccoli nutrition, and highlight exactly why this is something that can really do you the world of good, even if it isn't your favorite vegetable.

On a blog that is all about the importance of the essential nutrients in foods, this won't be the first, or last, time that I go on about just how important vegetables are for you. The fact is though, that they are the best natural source of many of the essential vitamins and minerals in foods that your body must have in order to survive! Just getting people to actually recognise that can be a real mission, so excuse my repetition!


Back to broccoli....

What I am going to do now is list the nutritional values that can be obtained by eating broccoli, and beside each nutrient I am going to provide a positive example of what this nutrient does for your body. If you like this is a list of reasons to eat broccoli!

The following broccoli nutritional facts are based on 3.5 oz or 100g of broccoli:

Vitamins in broccoli

Vitamin A equiv - 31 micrograms
Example of a benefit of vitamin A - Aids your vision

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) - 0.071 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin B1 - Converts sugar into energy in the body

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) - 0.117 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin B2 - An antioxidant that eliminates harmful free radicals

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) - 0.639 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin B3 - Helps to maintain a healthy cholesterol level

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) - 0.573 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin B5 - Helps the body to cope with stress

Vitamin B6 - 0.175 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin B6 - Processes carbohydrates into energy

Vitamin B9 (Folate) - 63 micrograms
Example of a benefit of vitamin B9 - Helps the body to successfully deliver iron around the body in red blood cells

Vitamin C - 89.2 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin C - Aids the growth, maintenance, and repair of tissue throughout your body

Vitamin E - 0.78 milligrams
Example of a benefit of vitamin E - Helps you to have strong, healthy skin

Vitamin K - 101.6 micrograms
Example of a benefit of vitamin K - Helps to keep your bones strong and healthy


Minerals in broccoli

Calcium - 47 milligrams
Example of a benefit of calcium - Helps to keep your teeth and bones strong

Iron - 0.73 milligrams
Example of a benefit of iron - Allows oxygen to be transported to every part of your body that needs it in order to work

Magnesium - 21 milligrams
Example of a benefit of magnesium - Helps to regulate blood pressure

Phosphorous - 66 milligrams
Example of a benefit of phosphorous - Helps to regulate the fluid levels in your body

Potassium - 316 milligrams
Example of a benefit of potassium - Provides you with energy and helps tired muscles recover

Zinc - 0.41 milligrams
Example of a benefit of zinc - Helps wounds to heal properly


What else does a 3.5 ox serving of broccoli contain?

* Protein - 2.82 g
* Fiber - 2.6 g
* Fats - 0.37 g
* Sugar - 1.7 g
* Carbohydrates - 6.64 g
* Water - 89.30 g

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli

You may think that some of the above are not benefits in the conventional sense of the word, in that they are not something you are getting for nothing. However, the way that you have to look at it is that without a sufficient level of each of these vitamins and minerals, these bodily processes that we all take for granted wouldn't take place, and if that were to happen our health would be in serious trouble.

So perhaps broccoli isn't your favorite vegetable, or worse still it is one that you avoid like the plague, but with all of the amazing benefits that have been listed above along with the actual nutritional facts about broccoli, can you really afford to leave this out of your diet?

To find out all of the many amazing benefits that vitamins and minerals bring to your health, take a look at the link to my website at the foot of this post. You will find lists of foods that contain each and ever nutrient that you need, which can help you revamp your diet and give your health a strong helping hand!

http://www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com/

How much potassium in a banana?

The sun is finally out here in the UK and with it comes the approach to the Wimbledon tennis championships. However, before that we have the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. As a keen tennis fan I will be glued to the television watching this for the next couple of weeks.

While watching one of the matches today, legendary former US tennis player Jim Courier raised an important point while commentating, and this was how important eating bananas is to the players. The key reason for this is that bananas contain a decent amount of potassium, and this is an essential nutrient that the body needs in order for muscles to recover, and also to provide energy. Here I am going to cover why it is important to keep your potassium levels topped up if you play sport and exercise, as well as answer the question 'how much potassium in a banana?'.

When you watch any tennis match on television you will notice that players will eat part of a banana during the change of ends, when they sit down for a brief resting period. You would also see many athletes and sportsmen/women eating these in the locker room before they head out to perform.

During the summer when the sun is out and the weather is hot and humid, competing at the top level of any sport is going to be that extra bit physically draining for the players. But the same can be said at any level, which is why if you play sport then you are going to be doing yourself a favor eating potassium rich foods in any meal you have before you play, and also to take a banana or two with you, as well as plenty of water.

A lack of fluid and potassium while you are exerting yourself playing sport and exercising, is going to lead to muscular fatigue, cramps and also dehydration. If you are going to be able to go out there for any length of time then you have to avoid these debilitating factors. This is easily done with plenty of water and also the potassium found in a banana or two.

So how much potassium is in a banana?

• Banana (raw) - 1 small banana weighing approx 3.6 oz - 361.6 milligrams of potassium
• Banana (raw) - 1 medium banana weighing approx 4.2 oz - 422.4 milligrams of potassium
  
• Banana (raw) - 1 large banana weighing approx oz - 486.9 milligrams of potassium

An adult with have approximately 140 grams of potassium in their body, and the daily recommended amount of potassium is 5 grams.

As you can see bananas are a good source of potassium and consuming a few more than you would normally before, during and after a workout is really going to help to avoid muscular fatigue, and help to give you a much needed energy boost. Let's face it, athletes such as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, along with their coaching staff, cannot be wrong!

Bananas are also available almost everywhere and cost next to nothing. They are a highly nutritious fruit that offer you a blend of other vitamins and minerals as well, so you are not just going to get the benefits of potassium when you consume them, but also a dose of vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese, and fiber too.

If you want to know more than just how much potassium is found in a banana then why not check out my page all about potassium rich foods, as well as an article I have written and published on hubpages all about the health benefits of bananas. Links to the free information on both of these are found below.

http://www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com/potassium-rich-foods-list.php

http://stevew13.hubpages.com/hub/What-are-the-health-benefits-of-bananas

What is a good breaskfast?

A healthy breakfast is something that is important for us all, and not just now and then, but every single day. What is a good breakfast though?

With breakfast being the most important meal of the day, it only seems right to highlight what constitutes a good and healthy breakfast containing many of the essential nutrients in foods.

Breakfast seems like an inconvenience to many people, taking up valuable time in the morning that they could be having that extra bit of sleep, or being a potential obstacle that could make them late for work or school. The same people probably don't see lunch and dinner as such an intrusion though do they? The main reason for that is because having skipped breakfast they are probably half starving by the time they come around! How do you think that your body is going to be fueled for the day ahead if you don't get some breakfast inside you?

You do not have to spend an hour in the kitchen cooking something for breakfast, in fact you don't really even have to eat it at home, it is something that can be started at home and also eaten on the journey ahead of you. Something like a banana is a well known Vitamin C food, high potassium food and also contains fiber, vitamin B6 and also manganese, it can be eaten at home or on the moved, and picked up just about anywhere.

One of the key things about breakfast, other than fueling your body for the morning ahead, is that it should include foods that are going to satisfy your hunger until your next meal, and prevent you from becoming hungry soon after and ending up snacking to combat this.

Here is a quick and easy solution to what a good breakfast is that anybody can memorise and get into the habit of eating:

What you need in your breakfast

I am now going to explain what the essential nutrients in foods are that you require at breakfast time, and some examples of where you will get them from.

Vitamins - There are plenty of vitamin C foods that you can enjoy at breakfast such as watermelon, oranges and orange juice. Vitamin B12 can be gotten through eating yogurt and drinking milk. Vitamins D and E can be obtained through eating eggs, and vitamin A from organic butter eggs and yogurt.

Minerals - The three essential minerals that you need more of than the remaining trace minerals are potassium, magnesium and calcium. Potassium can be easily consumed at breakfast time through eating high potassium foods such as a banana, an apple, or some raisins. You can cut these fruits up and add them to a healthy bowl of whole grain cereal. Calcium can be obtained from a glass of milk, or other calcium rich foods such as yogurt and oatmeal. Magnesium rich foods include apples, whole milk, cereals, and seeds such as sunflower seeds.

Fiber - A bowl of whole grain cereal can get you a great dose of fiber at breakfast time.

Protein - Bananas and various other fruits such as apples, raisins and oranges contain protein and can be eaten on the move.


Carbohydrates - If you have whole wheat toast the carbohydrates gained with be complex carbohydrates, they will be broken down slower and there will be a steady release of glucose, you insulin levels will remain  steady, and you will end up feel fuller for longer.

Now that you are aware of all of the nutritious components of a nutritious breakfast, what is a good breakfast that is quick and easy to make?

Here is an example breakfast for you that should not take long at all to prepare. I think we can all afford ourselves 15-20 minutes for breakfast in the morning, even if it does mean setting that alarm just a little bit earlier.

* Banana - Potassium, protein and fiber
* Whole grain toast with organic butter on - Carbs and Vitamin A
* Boiled egg - Vitamin D and E
* A bowl of whole grain cereal with raisins on - Fiber, potassium and protein
* A glass of whole milk - Calcium, magnesium and Vitamin B12
* A glass of orange juice - Vitamin C, protein

The above example of a good, nutritious breakfast is something that even the most amateur of the people in the kitchen can make, and it should not take very long at all to prepare. You could always get a carton or bottle of orange juice to eat on the move with the banana if you wanted as well.

Why do we need breakfast?

Well other than as one of three main meal opportunities a each day to get all of the essential nutrients in foods that you need, it is also critical for the following reasons:

* Breakfast fuels you until your next meal
* Breakfast will reduce you feeling hungry and snacking on unhealthy foods
* Breakfast will prevent tiredness caused by hunger
* Breakfast will help to regulate your insulin levels that will have dropped while you were asleep
* Breakfast will aid your concentration throughout the morning

As you can see there really are several important reasons that you should know what a good breakfast is, and make sure that you eat it each and every day.

For those of you are on a diet and want to consume less calories, it is important to remember that skipping breakfast is not the answer to cutting calories out. If you do that then you will only end up eating more due to increased hunger levels at meals later in the day, or giving into the temptation of snacking before another mealtime comes around.

For more ideas for breakfast foods that contain all of the essential nutrients that your body needs, check out my website www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com .

How to get more vitamin D

Although this blog is all about essential nutrients in food, it is possible that vitamins and minerals can be obtained from other sources. With this in mind, I have decided to write a short piece on how to get more vitamin D, as one of the primary sources may comes as quite a surprise for you.

So foods aside for the moment, how can you get more vitamin D? Well if I told you that it was as easy as making sure you step outside in the sunlight each day, would you believe me?

Just like all of the other essential vitamins and minerals that are needed for your body to carry out the processes that keep you alive, you have to get a sufficient amount of vitamin D. So here is some valuable information on how you can easily get yours.

Amazingly, vitamin D can be produced just by your skin being exposed to the light of the sun, as well as various other vitamin D food sources that I will list shortly. This may sound unlikely, or even impossible, but it is a scientific fact that the ultraviolet rays of the sun activate cholesterol that is present within your skin, and proceed to convert it into vitamin D. You are able to get your daily dose of vitamin D just by being outside in the light of day for and hour, or two each day, something that is surely possible for the vast majority of us right?

It sounds easy doesn't it, maybe even too good to be true? Well there are factors that vary the amount of vitamin D that the sunlight is able to produce. These variants include the time of year, where in the world you actually are, and the tone of your skin. Naturally this is because depending on where you are and what time of year it is, the strength of the sun's rays will vary, and your skin tone can determine how easy it is for the rays to penetrate it as well. Darker skin is obviously less susceptible to sunlight. This means that if everyone in the world went out and stood outside for an hour at the same time, they are not going to get the same amount of vitamin D from that period of exposure to sunlight. The warmer the area you live, and time of year it is, the easier it is to get the type of UV rays that you need. In colder months no matter where you are, you should be eating foods containing vitamin D and even think about taking a vitamin D supplement as well, just to make sure.

Generally speaking darker skin tones, more specifically non-caucasian skin tones, need more sunlight in order to produce the necessary vitamin D. The further North of the equator that you live, the fewer UV-B rays you get, the only type of ultraviolet ray that can cause your body to produce vitamin D.

In fact in the most northerly parts of North America, and Northern Europe, it may not always be possible to get the type of sunlight on your skin that is going to be able to get you the vitamin D that you need. So for anybody reading from there it is important that you also eat foods rich in vitamin D, and take a regular vitamin D supplement.

So basically in America and Europe, those in more southerly regions should get a couple of hours of sunlight a day. In the spring and summer months this will probably suffice, but in the fall and winter, you should up your vitamin D consumption in your diet, as well as look at supplements. Remember diet should always come before supplements. The further north you go, the less you should rely on sunlight alone. This should not be too much of a problem as there are so many vitamin D foods, that it is hard not to get it into your diet.

So going back to the idea of essential nutrients in food, what are the best food sources of vitamin D?

Here is a brief list of foods that contain vitamin D:

• Fortified milk - In the USA milk is fortified with 10 micrograms of vitamin D per quart (32 fl oz)
  
• Fish oils - Most notably cod liver oil
• Fatty cold water fish
• Cream
• Orange juice
• Cheese
• Fortified cereal
• Eggs - Most notably egg yolk
• Butter

To find out about the benefits of vitamin D click here.
For more information on a vitamin D deficiency click here.

I hope that this post has been able to help out all those wondering how to get more vitamin D, it really is as simple as making sure you step outside each day, and making a few small changes to your diet.


 

What does nutrition mean and why is it important?

On a blog that is going to talk about nutrition, it kind of makes sense to start with the basics. We have all heard the term 'nutrition', but what does it actually mean, and why do less and less people actually know about it's importance?

Nutrition begins and ends with the foods that we choose to consume every time we are hungry.

The sad truth is that if the education system actually implemented something into the syllabus of schools, kids could actually be taught about the basics of nutrition from an early age. If this were the case then there would not be a huge(no pun intended) obesity problem in major countries such as the USA and UK.

However, kids are growing up on junk food. It's cheap, available almost everywhere they turn, plastered all over every type of media that they are constantly exposed to, and they are not taught any better at school, and often at home either.

With kids not being taught about nutrition now, many of them will grow up ignorant to it's importance, and therefore will never be able to explain it to their children, a slippery slope that really will see the obesity issue balloon in years to come(yes the pun was intended again).

Talking about it online and hoping to get a following means that maybe someday, somewhere I will be able to help somebody out, we will see.

So what it nutrition?

* Nutrition is the body using foods that contain nutrients to function, grow and repair. The body absorbs and puts to work fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals and water, all of which are known as 'nutrients'.

* Nutrition is the body getting a healthy balance of the range of nutrients that it requires.

* Nutrition is about eating natural and fresh foods that are good for you, as opposed to processed foods that are generally bad for you.

* Nutrition is maintaining a healthy body.

 The above bullet points all sum up essentially what nutrition is, and why it is important to make sure that you remain nourished, as this is the best habit that you will ever get into, well that is if you value both your short and long term health.

If you do not make a careful effort to ensure that your body remains nourished, there are several short and long term consequences, which include:

* Poor health

* Obesity

* Premature signs of aging

* A slow metabolism

* Being susceptible to illness

* Weakening of the immune system

Why is nutrition important?

To be as blunt as possible, nutrition is important because it keeps you alive, and it keeps you well. In the third world people die of malnutrition every single day because they do not have access to food and water that will provide them with the essential nutrients that they need. If you are sat in front of a computer reading this then you more than likely live in the developed world, and that means you will have access to all of the nutrition that you need, whether or not you eat right and take advantage of that is down to you, but at least you have the choice.

You may not see it as being a choice between life and death, but it kind of is.

The best way to get the nutrients that the body requires is through your diet. Natural and fresh foods such as fruit and vegetables hold a plethora of nutrients such as water, vitamins, minerals, proteins, fiber. Meat and fairy products do as well as fats and carbohydrates.

Finding out which foods contain each essential nutrient can be done by checking out my page on vitamins and minerals in foods. This provides free information on the subject and can help you implement the right foods into your diet so that you can achieve the nourishment that your body craves.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog all about the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients in food. In tandem with my website www.vitamins-minerals-in-food.com I aim to reach out to as many people as possible in order to help them realise how important it is that our diets regularly contain a healthy nutritional balance.