Vitamins: are you getting your share?
Monday August 10 2009
What's the best way to ensure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals? And which foods should we be opting for to get the best nutrient intake?
- A recent Cambridge University study highlighted five behaviours we can all do to extend our life by an average of 14 years. One of them is eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.
- Green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and spinach are also great sources of vitamin K, which helps build strong bones.
- Getting five a day is easier than you might think. Fruit and veg fresh, frozen, dried or tinned (in juice), all count. A glass of fruit juice can also count as one of your portions, and so can a fruit smoothie.
- Most of us know fruit and vegetables are important but that's not the whole story. Cheese, eggs, oily fish and milk, for example, are all good sources of vitamin A as is liver. If you're pregnant, too much vitamin A can harm your unborn baby, so pregnant women should avoid liver.
- Vitamin B6 can be found in chicken, pork and turkey, as well as eggs, milk and vegetables.
- The best sources of vitamin E -- which helps to protect cells against damage -- are plant oils such as olive, soya and corn oil. Nuts and seeds are also a great source.
- But there are two vitamins that are not found in fruit, vegetables or grains: vitamin B12 and vitamin D.
Vitamin B12 helps keep red blood cells healthy, and helps us access the energy in the food we eat. It's mainly found in animal products, such as meat, dairy foods and eggs.
Because vitamin B12 is not in vegetable foods, vegans, who eat no animal-based foods, need to pay particular care to make sure they get enough.
Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods: good sources include oily fish and eggs. Sunlight is our biggest source of vitamin D: just remember never to burn when out in the sun.
- Folic acid is one of the B group of vitamins. You can find it in broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, peas, chickpeas and brown rice. It's also in some fortified breakfast cereals.
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