Vitamins are chemical compounds that have been shown to be essential for life and occur in foods. Whilst most of them can be produced in limited amounts in the body, our main source of supply is the food we eat and our bodies have adapated to being extremely efficient at obtaining them.
Only small amounts of vitamins are required to be effective, but even these small amounts are essential to the basic functioning of the body - including disease resistance, hormone secretion, tissue repair and formation, reproduction, digestion, production of sweat and urine, and most importantly, the release of energy from the foods we eat.
Without enough vitamins, we end up with poor general health or, in the extreme, specific vitamin deficient diseases.
Minerals are chemical elements that we are unable to make in the body and so have to be obtained from food. They are crucial components of our entire bodies and are vital for ensuring that muscle activity, circulation system, tissue and cells of our bodies behave normally.
Mineral deficiencies are more common in the Western world mainly because our intensive farming methods have depleted our soil and the chemical fertilizers we use don't replace them. Additionally, highly processed foods such as white flour, rice and sugar have had most of their mineral content removed.
