Month: July 2016

Minerals — The Bottom Line

Can you live without minerals? Like vitamins, minerals are required to sustain life. They are needed for the body’s basic life functions at every level starting at the cellular and continuing through to the tissues, organs, and the whole body. The roles each mineral plays and the amounts required to effectively perform their function varies.

Steak
Steak

For example, some minerals like selenium and copper work as cofactors. In their function as a cofactor, minerals permit enzymes and other proteins to function. Additionally, minerals are key contributors to a variety of body compounds. Examples of such body compounds are red blood cells, of which iron is an important component. Other functions in which minerals such as phosphorus and calcium play a critical role is the development and growth of the body. Water balance also requires minerals. Without calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium, there is no water balance causing a life-threatening state. How are minerals categorized, and how readily available are they?

Fishing with Popsy - Enjoying the Water
Salt Water Fishing

The amount of minerals required per day is the method used to categorize minerals. Minerals that require more than 100 milligrams per day, or 1/50th of a teaspoon is categorized as a major mineral. Examples of major minerals include calcium and phosphorus. Those that require less, like zinc and iron are classified as a trace element. But just because a food is rich in a much needed mineral, doesn’t make it useful. Our bodies may not be able to absorb and use them. And, just because a certain mineral content is listed for a particular food on a table, does not mean it is a good source for that mineral. It actually is only a starting point. For example, there is a high concentration of calcium found in spinach. Unfortunately, spinach also contains a high concentration of the calcium-binder, oxalic acid, resulting in the absorption of only about five percent of the calcium consumed.

Jerusalem Shuk - Breads
Jerusalem Shuk – Breads

Generally speaking, as the refinement of a plant food increases, the mineral content decreases, an example of which is refined flour. When a grain product is refined, the only mineral added during the enrichment process is iron. Other minerals, such as copper, selenium, and zinc are lost and not replaced. To answer the question we started with, “Can you live without minerals?”

The answer is clearly NO.

What is your favorite whole grain recipe?

(C) 2016 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer

Vitamins – Storage In the Body and Out

Was it the naturalists or those who believe in laboratory created supplements who won the debate? You be the judge. Historically humans were meant to consume vitamins the natural way. Prior to the industrial age, fruits, vegetables, legumes and other foods were consumed immediately. They went from the farm to the table. But with the advent of refrigerators, freezers, canning, and other methods of preserving food, we now have a choice. Those choices affect the nutritional quality of the food we eat and therefore the amount of

Farmer's Market Fresh
Fresh from the Farmer’s Market

vitamins we actually consume the natural way. First, we’ll take a look at how vitamins are stored in the body, or not. Then we will explore the best methods to preserve the integrity of the fruits and vegetables we consume.

How Your Body Stores Vitamins – or Not

Fat-soluble vitamins, with the exception of vitamin K, are not excreted readily from the human body. They are stored. The opposite is true of the water-soluble vitamins. Generally, excess amounts of these vitamins are quickly lost from the body resulting in expensive urine. The exception is the water-soluble vitamins B-6 and B-12 which are stored more readily

Farmer's Market - Fruit
Farmer’s Market – Fruit

than vitamin C and the other B vitamins.

Due to the body’s limited ability to store a good deal of these vitamins, they need to be consumed on a daily basis. However, you should not be harmed by a periodic lapse in your daily intake, even if the lapse includes water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin deficiency becomes evident when it is not consumed and the person’s body stores are depleted. As an example, it will take an average individual 20-40 days without consuming vitamin C before the first symptoms of deficiency becomes evident.

Preservation

Significant amounts of vitamins can be lost between the time a vegetable

Karen in Cornfield
Karen in Cornfield

or fruit is picked and it is eaten. This is especially the case with the water-soluble vitamins (in particular folate, thiamin, and vitamin C) which can be destroyed with excessive cooking and incorrect storage. There are a number of factors that can destroy vitamins, including light, heat, alkalinity, cooking in water, and exposure to air. To minimize the risk of nutrient loss, it is best to eat a food soon after its harvest.

Generally, freezing the food is the best method of preservation to retain nutrients if the food is not eaten within a few days. Because frozen vegetables and fruits are usually frozen immediately after harvesting, they are as rich in nutrients as the freshly harvested ones. Additionally, vegetables are immersed quickly in boiling water (blanched) as part of the freezing process destroying those enzymes that would effectively break down the vitamins.

Farmer's Market
Farmer’s Market

With summer upon us don’t forget to visit your local farmer’s market! Not only will you support local businesses, but you can enjoy vitamin rich foods. Just remember, eat or freeze within a few days — the longer they sit, the lower the vitamin content. What’s your favorite summer fresh veggie recipe?

(C) 2016 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer