Vitamins and minerals, often called micronutrients, are an essential part of our nutrition. Essential because the body either can’t produce them at all or not enough and they need to be coming from what we eat. Most people do not take in sufficient quantities to reach optimal levels.
Phytonutrients are rather less known and although considered not essential, they are absolutely essential to my view of nutrition and we want a lot of them coming in every day too. They have similar properties to vitamins and provide a myriad of other benefits.
The most common sources of vitamins and minerals are fruit and vegetables, but also coffee, cacao, green tea, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and whole meat. Within the plants category, we can distinguish some that carry a lot of micronutrients, sometimes called “superfoods”, see some medicinal herbs in the second pic below.
Phytochemicals present in certain produce are very important to calm inflammation, balance hormones and preserve a healthy state of homeostasis, when the body is functioning at its best. Micronutrients function as precursors for enzymes (catalysts for metabolic transformations) and are antioxidants, where oxidation is a natural process that ages the body and we want to reduce.
Algae like spirulina, chlorella, herbs and spices such as turmeric, garlic, parsley and dark green leafy vegetables, cinnamon, shiitake or other kinds of mushrooms and some types of berries could be seen as medicine in itself.
Less well known Ayurvedic plants include amla, brahmi and gotu kola. Looking at the Chinese tradition, ginseng, jiaogulan, together with Indian and Middle Eastern ashwagandha are powerful adaptogens, they help the body regulate its hormonal health, calm nerves and give you strength and mental sharpness. Mushrooms such as cordyceps, reishi and lingzhi pack so many health enhancing properties you need to start taking this seriously.
I really mean it. Even I had to go through the process of starting to include more beneficial plants in my diet, more vitamins, minerals and natural medicinal compounds, and it took me a while to get to where I am now. I had to shift my perception of the so-called superfoods too, see an old post of mine here.
In Koh Phangan there are some 20 different green leafy vegetables available in the market and yet, I used to always cook morning glory, a type of spinach, and Western broccoli, how boring! I now regularly, almost everyday, choose from at least 8 or 10 varieties of spinach and brassica plants, mustard leaves, pak choi, gotu kola and Asian kale and some I do not know the English name of. Can you learn to cook and enjoy watercress, cabbage or Brussels sprouts? Your liver will thank you for that.
My green tea comes fermented in the form of kombucha just before breakfast and I have jiaogulan tea in the evening after dinner. I regularly skip lunch and drink a green juice instead with celery, parsley, kale, fresh ginger and fresh turmeric, which makes it really bitter and a bit of an acquired taste. Often in late afternoon, I chop a garlic clove and swallow the pieces with water together with 4-5 grams of spirulina and a knob of fresh turmeric. I like to chew the turmeric slowly and it ends up colouring my tongue yellow.
If you are eating processed food, you are taking in a lot of calories, inflammatory compounds, pro-oxidants and very little beneficial micronutrients. You are burdening, hurting the body and you gotta know why you are doing that, the psychology of eating is fascinating to me, and understanding the causes of your behaviour around food is really the key for more awareness and change.
Most people have at least a mild addiction to processed food, not much focus on what they eat and consider nutrition not an important subject matter. It’s culture, and culture moved from traditional ways of cooking and celebrating food together to a fascination for the busy-ness and fast lifestyle. With it came shining ads promoting colas, fast food and packaged snacks on the go.
More time you spend in stressful environments, exposed to worrying news, social media feeds and low quality, numbing entertainment, more likely you will be subconsciously conditioned to acquire instant gratification, escape with retail therapy, stimulants and other unhealthy stuff. If you have no time, attention span or focus to develop good eating habits, sourcing high quality fresh produce beyond the salad garnish, you might want to take a look at your value system.
Healthcare and wellbeing matter, not just for prevention, to keep you strong and fit in the future, but to feel present and experience more energy, vitality and positive emotions today. To me, a healthy lifestyle is an awesome way to live.
Let’s go through a few of the key vitamins here:
Feeling tired, irritable or often low? Check your levels of B vitamins and particularly B12 if you are vegan, as with B9 (a lot in green veggies), it is essential to protect you from a rather common type of anemia.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and you take it from greens and, famously, fruit so eat your apples, kiwis and blueberries everyday. Raw matters a lot here as Vitamin C gets spoiled easily. It also helps with forming collagen in the body for great hair, skin and ligaments. It works as a cofactor for building hormones and neurotransmitters, it’s important for immunity and you need a lot of it particularly if stressed.
Vitamin D is a hormone-like compound which is better taken from the sun. A lot of people are deficient and food sources are limited so if you are a lot indoors, you must supplement, together with Vitamin K for proper absorption.
Vitamin A is another potent antioxidant and important for DNA replication, vision and much more. Can be taken from high quality whole fish and meat or as beta-carotene in plants.
Some of the minerals here:
Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur are considered macrominerals and we need large quantities of them. Trace minerals are iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride, and selenium.
For calcium to be retained, it’s important not just to eat calcium rich products but also to reduce acidic forming foods. Sulphuric acid produced from the metabolism of animal foods and protein is counterbalanced by the body with the use of calcium and other minerals from existing reserves and our bones. Dairy products are very acidifying so cheese without a lot of veggies might not help build calcium reserves. Vitamin D levels are crucial here too as micronutrients very much work in unison and that’s why I love taking them from food, naturally packaged and balanced by Nature.
I highly recommend supplementation with Magnesium taurate, glycinate or more common citrate, if you are going through a period of stress. Magnesium saved my life post burnout, it’s an awesome relaxant and useful for sleep and even going to the toilet.
Zinc has been recently popularised for its role in immunity. I eat seafood, especially clams and mussels, and that’s where I get most of my zinc. Seeds, nuts and pulses are vegan alternatives.
Quantities matter a lot when it comes to iron as too much heme iron (from animal sources) is linked to chronic conditions including cancer. Too little iron is really bad too. Before supplementing with iron if you feel a bit tired or low, do an iron test and also check your B12 levels.
The real magic of micronutrients to me is the vitamins like compounds called phytonutrients.
Flavonoids, coumarins, indoles, isoflavones, lignans, organosulfates and plant sterols. Sounds boring and didactic? The best way to make sure you have plenty of micronutrients in your food is to increase the variety of plants and wholefood you eat. Simple.
Greens and whole fruit need to be on your table all the time! Develop a love for herbs and spices too. Start with common rosemary, sage and fennel seeds. Continue with parsley or coriander, cinnamon and cloves, aniseed and cardamoms. Garlic & ginger are in a medicinal category of its own. They are antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. I eat them both cooked and raw.
I do not like fortification as I despise packaged food, processed stuff with a bit of low grade synthetic vitamins isn’t real food. If you are struggling with it, before you take a synthetic multivitamin, I’d suggest a pre-mixed multi-green powder you can add to smoothies or just a bit of water. Ingredients could include spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, alfalfa, various berries and other natural elements but read the package well, make sure there’s no added sugar or fillers of any type.
I end this longish post with 2 lines of practical philosophy. The best strategy against risk, in my opinion? I get myself as resilient as possible to threats of any type, including viruses, microbes and especially bad vibes resonance from all sorts of numbing entertainment, hyped news and angry social media trolls.
Over the years, I was fortunate enough to gradually move towards a lifestyle where the relaxing and reassuring touch of meditation, the uplifting force of spirituality, the protecting element of mind hygiene create more awareness. These are combined with a routine of wholefood and “medicine foods” I got to love and use in my cooking, as a daily practice.
There’s no looking back for me, it makes sense intellectually, I feel it with my heart and taking care of mind-body-spirit is a form of meaning in itself. I am actually doing it, not just writing this and I love it!
Need some help with any of it? I am here and at your service, ready with both a structure and proven methodologies to support you a little, or a lot. Start here.
“There are no incurable diseases, only the lack of will. There are no worthless herbs, only the lack of knowledge”. These are the ancients words of philosopher-scientist Avicenna. Inspiring? I think so.