Important Vitamins and minerals deficiency diseases

What are vitamins and minerals?

Vitamins and minerals are nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properly and stay healthy. They helps us to fight against disease, heal wounds, shore up bones and bolster your immune system.

Vitamins are mainly of 2 types :-

A) Water soluble vitamins :- Vitamins that are soluble in water and readily absorbed into tissues for immediate use. As they are not stored in the body, they need to be replenished regularly in our diet. Excess of these vitamins can be excreted through urine.

Examples :- Vitamin B-complex group and Vitamin C.

B) Fat soluble vitamins :- Vitamins that are soluble in fat and are absorbed by fat globules that travel through the small intestines and distributed through the body in the bloodstream. They are stored in liver and adipose tissues for future use.

Examples :- Vitamin A, D, E, K

What are deficiency diseases?

A balanced diet is important for the good health of a person. A balanced diet is a diet that contains different kinds of foods in certain quantities and proportions so that the requirement for calories, proteins, minerals, vitamins and alternative nutrients are fulfilled. An imbalance in the diet may lead to excess or insufficient intake of certain nutrients. Insufficient intake of a particular nutrient can lead to a deficiency disease.

Some of the important deficiency diseases caused by the deficiency of vitamins and minerals are as:-

List of deficiency diseases :-