I will first explain what vitamins and minerals are. Vitamins are a group of organic substances that are essential for the normal metabolism of the human body. They are important as they are essential for the promotion of health and growth of living organisms and the facilitation of skin, bone and muscle development which enables the body to undertake its functions effectively. Minerals are inorganic substances which can be unnatural or man made. They regulate processes within the body and enable the creation of enzymes, hormones, bones, teeth and important tissues. These vitamins and minerals are not food themselves, but are found in foods which (as a result) induces your body to instinctively eat and search for food for energy and nutrition derivation. Now, nutritional/vitamin deficiency occurs when your body does not have the required amount of vitamins and minerals to function properly. When this occurs, we start experiencing tiredness and symptoms of minor illness. If this continues for a long period of time, these minor illnesses may gradually develop into major diseases as your body cannot function effectively. Many people don’t realize how important these nutrients are for the body and how powerful they can be in ensuring one has a healthy body and leads a healthy life. Nutritional deficiencies can be either primary or secondary. Primary nutritional deficiency occurs when you do not get enough vitamins and minerals from the food you eat while secondary deficiency occurs when due to an underlying disorder or a "lifestyle factor", your body prevents or limits that absorption of important vitamins and minerals. Lifestyle factors can include smoking, drugs, excessive alcohol intake and particular medications. Thus, to live a healthier lifestyle and avoid nutritional deficiencies, the first important step is to improve your lifestyle factors by lowering or stopping your alcohol intake, smoking habits and drug intake (if any). This will increase your body's ability to absorb important nutrients from the foods you consume. The second step is; You need to consume the right type of food in the right amount of quantities to ensure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs. Thus, I have created a table of each important vitamin and mineral your body needs, the amount you need to consume and the symptoms you may experience should you have a deficiency in that area. Vitamin/Mineral (Recommended daily intake) Food sources Why is it important? Deficiency symptoms/diseases Vitamin A (5000 IU) Carrots, chicken liver, liver, green leafy vegetables
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