What key micronutrients are important for teen health?

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Micronutrients serve a big part in helping teens stay healthy. Micronutrients aren’t smaller or not as important as macronutrients, and are in fact just as important as them. They are just required in smaller quantities. These include minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins, including Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9,  B12, B13 C, D, E, and K.

Minerals

There are many main minerals needed for a body to function, and these include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc. Trace minerals, such as copper and iodine, needed in tiny quantities.  However, the lack of any of these minerals can have a large impact on your health. Calcium, as stated before, is important in the development and growth of bone-structure.  However, calcium is used for and is a very important part of many other body functions, such as the contraction of muscles and blood vessels, and the release of various hormones. Calcium is also a major component for teeth and nail growth. Phosphorus works with the B vitamins and helps your kidney, muscle contractions, normal heartbeat, and nerve signals. Dairy products and leafy green vegetables are a big supplier of calcium in daily life. Iron is important for your body because it is needed to transport oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. It is especially critical for girls, as they lose a lot of this mineral during menstruation. Foods like meat, tuna, salmon, eggs, beans, baked potatoes, and leafy green vegetables are all rich in iron. Potassium is necessary to keep your muscles and nervous system working properly and makes sure the right amount of water is in your blood and body tissues. Potassium rich foods include bananas, tomatoes, oranges, and legumes. Zinc assists your immune system, as well as cell growth and healing of wounds. Beef, pork, lamb, and legumes are rich in zinc.

Vitamins

Each vitamin is vital for your well-being.  Vitamins are categorized into two groups: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins include the B-complex vitamins, and vitamin C. B-complex vitamins are found in foods such as cereal grains, meat, poultry, eggs, fish and beans. Each of the many vitamin B’s have specific jobs, but overall, the B-complex vitamins assist in cell metabolism (keeping your cells alive) and breaking down macronutrients. Vitamin C helps to hold blood cells together, heals wounds, assists in bone growth [along with calcium], and maintains healthy blood vessels. Vitamin A helps maintain healthy vision, and makes sure your immune system (cells including the white blood cell) are healthy. It can be found in liver, carrots, and pumpkin. Vitamin D, found in salmon and tuna, helps the bone absorb calcium. Vitamin E is an antioxidant,  meaning it removes oxidizing particles [chemicals that destroy your cell structure]), which can be found in spinach and chard. Vitamin K assists with preventing blood from clotting, and can be found in foods such as broccoli, spinach, and kale.

Sources: http://www.takerx.com/vitamins.html

                 http://www.keymicronutrients.com
                http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/minerals.html