When it comes to the world of health, dieting, combating diabetes & obesity, weight-loss, fitness, nutrition and wellbeing in general, there are many terms being thrown around that aren’t completely understood by the majority of the population. Things like low-carb, paleo, ketogenic, vitamins, insulin-resistance, nutrient-deficiencies, high-protein and much more.

In a previous blog post, I broke Nutrition down into the basic principles that we, as nutritionists, look at it. On a broad spectrum we have Macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat and water) that are typically required by the body in larger amounts (hence, MACRO); and Micronutrients that are typically required by the body in smaller amounts (hence MICRO).

I discuss the macronutrients in my introductory blog post. When it comes to micronutrients, we have vitamins (think Vitamins A, B1, B12, C, D, E etc.) and minerals (like potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, selenium etc.). Even though they’re required in only small amounts, vitamins and minerals are extremely important for physiological function – they play important roles in many chemical reactions in the body including things like making energy, detoxification, growth, anti-oxidation, DNA replication, light translation in the eye, immune reactions and much, much more.

I’ve found the following infographic which does a great job at summarising the roles of our water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins in the body as well as signs to look out for in deficiency and toxicity. Click here for the full size image.

Let me know what you think, was this useful?

Click for full size image