The Most Difficult Vitamins to Get
By Sara Butler
Eating a balanced and healthy diet is one way to ensure you get the vitamins and minerals your body needs to work optimally, but even the healthiest diet can make certain vitamins and minerals that are difficult to get. Here are the vitamins and minerals you may accidentally be missing out on and how to remedy the problem for your health.
How It Happens
There are a couple of reasons you can eat healthily but still miss out on important nutrients. First, the mineral or vitamin in question may only be found in foods that aren't a part of your typical diet. Or it could be a nutrient that isn't absorbed easily by the body due to other health issues you may have or medication you take. Even age can be a factor.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is used by your body for energy, to support a healthy immune system, and build healthy bones. The body's best source of Vitamin D is produced when your skin is exposed to sunlight, which can be a tricky thing to accomplish at certain times of the year, depending on where you live. Combine that to some people avoiding dairy in favor of plant-based dairy and you've got a Vitamin D issue.
To make sure you're getting the 600 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D per day, you should try to get these foods:
- Salmon
- Fortified orange juice
- Tuna in water
- Swordfish
- Mushrooms
- Any product fortified with Vitamin D
Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that your body uses in several hundred metabolic reactions. It does everything from helping to reduce anxiety to regulating blood sugar to stabilizing blood pressure. You could say that magnesium is kind of a big deal. Still, people aren't getting up to the 400 milligrams they need per day.
To get more magnesium, you can try incorporating these foods into your daily diet:
- Seeds
- Nuts
- Whole grains
- Leafy greens
Vitamin K
Your body needs Vitamin K to keep bones strong and clot blood. It's rare to have a full-blown Vitamin K deficiency, but it's common not to get the Vitamin K your body needs in order to work at its very best.
Foods you may want to add to your diet to increase your intake of Vitamin K include:
- Broccoli
- Collard greens
- Turnip greens
- Raw spinach
- Kale
It's a good idea to include a healthy fat with these foods to help increase the absorption of vitamins. Oil-based salad dressings or cooking them in olive oil is a great option.
Vitamins and minerals can be tricky. If you suspect you're not getting enough, talk to the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic for guidance.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in St. Louis, Mo.