Vitamins and Minerals - Introduction

With today's post, I think I owe you all an apology, as it's the one I should have started with before I wrote the first post about vitamin B1. I don't know why I haven't done it before, but I'm glad it finally crossed my mind. It would be good—even recommended—to start with a note on what vitamins and minerals actually are, how we categorize them, and where they are stored in our body. So I hope you're ready; buckle up and let's go!

First, let's start with vitamins. We categorize them into two main groups: water-soluble and fat-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins include all the B vitamins (and Choline, which, as you might know from my previous post, is no longer considered a vitamin but was once known as B4) and vitamin C. As for the fat-soluble vitamins, these are vitamins A, D, E, and K. Regarding the source of vitamins, you can easily obtain them from plants and plant-based products. The only exception is Vitamin B12, which needs to be delivered through fortified foods—like nutritional yeast or plant-based milks—or simply in the form of a supplement. To be fair, in the modern world, given the lower quality of food and its nutrient content, B12 is actually recommended for everyone, not only vegans.

Vitamins can be stored in our body. The primary storage facility for them is the liver, which acts as a massive reservoir for vitamins A, D, and K. It houses vitamin A in specialized stellate cells, maintaining a supply large enough to support your vision and immune system for months. Vitamin D and vitamin E also find a home in your adipose (fat) tissue, which acts as a long-term energy and nutrient cellar. Because these vitamins are tucked away in fat and liver cells, they don't need to be consumed daily; the body can simply "withdraw" them from the vault when needed.

Other major storage facilities for vitamins are the muscles and various other organs. While most B vitamins are fleeting, vitamin B6 is an outlier; nearly 80% of its total body supply is stored directly in your muscular tissue. Similarly, while vitamin B12 is technically water-soluble, it breaks the rules by storing itself in the liver in such high concentrations that it can take three to five years to fully deplete the supply. Smaller, specialized amounts of vitamins are also held in specific organs; for instance, your eyes (the retina) maintain a high concentration of vitamin A to facilitate low-light vision.

In contrast, vitamin C and the majority of the B-complex vitamins (like B1, B2, and B3) do not have a dedicated storage unit. Instead, they exist in a state of constant "flow" through your bloodstream and cellular fluids. They are used almost immediately upon ingestion. Because they lack a long-term storage site, any excess is filtered out by the kidneys and excreted, meaning your body requires a fresh "restock" of these vitamins every single day to avoid running empty.

Moving on to minerals, they can be categorized as major minerals (macrominerals) and trace minerals (microminerals). Minerals are inorganic elements that the body needs for structure, fluid balance, nerve signaling, muscle contraction, oxygen transport, and enzyme function. Minerals become part of body tissues and must be obtained from food.

The macrominerals consist of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur. These are the elements the body requires in significant daily quantities. In contrast, the microminerals are required in much smaller, precision doses. This group includes iron, zinc, copper, iodine, selenium, manganese, fluoride, chromium, and molybdenum.

Calcium and phosphorus work in tandem to harden bone tissue and teeth, while magnesium supports over 300 biochemical reactions, including muscle and nerve function. To maintain the delicate balance of fluids and electricity, the body relies on the "electrolytes"—sodium, potassium, and chloride—which manage hydration and allow your cells to communicate. Finally, sulfur helps shape the proteins that make up your hair, skin, and nails.

Iron is perhaps the most well-known micromineral, acting as the carrier that allows red blood cells to transport oxygen. Zinc is essential for a robust immune response and wound healing, while copper assists in forming connective tissue and absorbing iron. For metabolism, the body looks to iodine to fuel the thyroid gland, manganese for bone formation, and selenium to act as a powerful antioxidant. Rounding out this group are fluoride, which protects tooth enamel, and chromium, which helps the body manage insulin levels.

You can expect more info about each of these in the near future, as I plan to create infographics and deeper descriptions for all of them!