There is no better source for nutrients other than nature itself. Nutrients and Minerals build our bodies and become the foundation of our lives. They are the soil that enriches our lives with a healthy body, a composed mind and our holistic development. Our bodies start malfunctioning as soon as they face a deficiency of any of the required nutrients. Thus it is always better to have your nutrient tanks filled properly with the desired nutrients. The best source for all nutrients is nature and its produce.
Some of the most important nutrients and minerals that our body requires are Iron and Calcium and Vitamin D. Amongst the others, these are the nutrients that are very important for the body and their deficiencies are difficult to deal with. Increasing iron and calcium through diet is the need of the hour, with more and more people becoming prey to health problems like Anemia and Osteoporosis. And as far as Vitamin D is concerned, the most effective source that we have for it is the sun, thus exposure to sunlight ( not way too much, just enough) is the best option to refill our Vitamin D tanks.
Why are Iron, Calcium and Vitamin D important for your body?
Here’s why:
Consuming enough amounts of minerals, nutrients and vitamins in your daily diet is very essential. The foods that you consume not only affect the number of minerals that go into your bodies but also determine how well they are absorbed by your body.
Iron performs some very important tasks in our body. 70% of the iron in the human body is found in Haemoglobin and Myoglobin. Haemoglobin is the element that transfers oxygen to the tissues from the lungs, while Myoglobin is found in muscles and is used for saving oxygen. A person suffering from iron deficiency suffers from Anaemia. It is seen to be more prevalent in females. Anaemic women face issues of restlessness, dizziness, fatigue, palpitations and an anaemic mother during pregnancy can lead to the baby being born with deformities. Hence, iron needs to be consumed properly to protect oneself from such problems.
Calcium is mainly used in strengthening and growth of our bones and teeth. But along with that, it is also essential for the transmission of messages from the brain to all the other body parts of the body through nerves. A deficiency of calcium causes problems like osteoporosis, weak teeth, rickets, disruption in one’s metabolism and issues like chest pain and numbness in fingers. So to keep your teeth and bones healthy, your daily dose of calcium is very important.
Vitamin D has the role of regulating the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. It is required to keep the bones, teeth and muscles healthy. It is also known to strengthen the immunity of a person. It also keeps the heart and lungs of a person healthy and fit. The absence of Vitamin D renders the presence of calcium useless as calcium is absorbed only with the help of vitamin D. Hence one needs to keep their victim D tanks full to keep their bones and teeth strong.
Thus increasing iron, Vitamin D and calcium through diet is the need of the hour.
Foods that are a rich source of:
Iron:
- Lentils and Beans
- Pumpkin seeds
- Green leafy vegetables like Spinach
- Dried fruits and Nuts
- Tofu
- Chicken liver
- Fish
- Fortified cereals
- Quinoa
- Beef
Calcium :
- Dairy products like milk and cheese
- Products made out of fortified flour
- Broccoli
- Brussel sprouts
- Tofu
- Green vegetables
- Soybean
- Sardines
- Fortified cereals
Vitamin D
- Sunlight
- Oily fish like Salmon and Sardines
- Red meat
- Egg Yoke
- Liver
- Fortified cereals
We can see that the sources of all these three nutrients are very much similar. This means consuming these foods in our regular diets can help us in increasing our iron, calcium and vitamin D levels. This way we will be able to acquire the nutrients that our body requires through their actual, natural source that is- Nature rather than through synthetic sources.