The Most Important Vitamins For Your Body
We all know that vitamins are essential for our body and general health. With so many expensive supplements and popular multivitamins on the market today, it can be hard to know what you need to take, eat or drink to keep your body in tip-top shape.
Whether you’re looking to increase muscle mass, keep your body adequately fueled while shedding pounds, or protect yourself against the difficulties of aging, incorporating the right vitamins into your diet can play a pivotal role in your pursuit of ultimate health and wellness.
With this in mind, we have created ATAQ’s Guide To The Most Important Vitamins For Your Body to help you understand how you can harness the benefits of vitamins in your daily life:
What Are Vitamins?
Vitamins are organic compounds and essential nutrients our body uses to sustain itself. In their purest and most effective forms, they come from a properly balanced and nutritious diet.
There are 13 vitamins, each serving a different purpose in protecting and enhancing your daily physical function:
Why Do We Need Vitamins?
We need vitamins from our food because our body simply does not produce enough on our own to maintain our wellbeing.
Without proper amounts of necessary vitamins in our diet, we are susceptible to a host of troubling health issues, including:
What Are The Most Important Vitamins?
While all vitamins can play a crucial role in your journey toward a healthier lifestyle, we think it is important for you to focus on essential vitamins that many people forget to include in their daily diet:
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
Recommended Amount Per Day (for adults): 2.4 mcg
At the very end of the list of “B” vitamins, this often underappreciated vitamin packs several critical benefits for many of your body’s natural systems:
For people over 50 (the group most likely to have a critical B12 deficiency) or anyone looking to boost their cobalamin intake, plant-based food sources include:
Vitamin B9 (Folate/Folic Acid)
Recommended Amount Per Day (for adults): 400 mg
One of the most important vitamins for women (particularly those who are/want to become pregnant), vitamin B9 assists multiple essential processes in the body:
Luckily for women, or anyone else looking to incorporate more folic acid into their plant-based diet, you can find this vitamin in plentiful supply among many of your favorite vegetables. We recommend trying:
Vitamin C
Recommended Amount Per Day (for adults): 75 mg
Despite its prominent presence in everyone’s favorite breakfast drink (orange juice), vitamin C is underrated as a key nutrient for our body.
In addition to being a powerful antioxidant, this compound also promotes:
As if these benefits weren’t enough, vitamin C is also one of the most important vitamins for men. Eating a diet full of citrus fruits and vegetables with high doses of vitamin C has been shown to prevent enlargement of the prostate, which can become a serious health concern in men over 50.
If you’re looking for delicious sources of vitamin C (besides orange juice), we recommend:
Vitamin D
Recommended Amount Per Day (for adults): 15 mcg
Nearly everyone knows that our body creates vitamin D when we are out in the sun, but many people still have a significant vitamin D deficiency in their diet.
Especially during the winter months, when we aren’t able to spend as much time soaking up the sunlight, it’s critical to keep a focus on vitamin D as part of our healthy, daily diet. If we achieve this, our body can reward us with:
If you’re looking to supplement your vitamin D intake (without the use of dairy products), ATAQ suggests:
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
Recommended Amount Per Day (for adults): 1.3 mg
One of the lesser-known “B” vitamins, vitamin B6, plays a very important role in hundreds of our body’s biochemical reactions.
While deficiency is actually quite rare for the majority of the population, older adults are particularly susceptible to dropping levels of vitamin B6, leaving them at a much greater risk for a number of health issues.
By incorporating pyridoxine-rich foods into your diet, you can start to see immediate dividends in your physical health, including:
If you’re looking for great sources of vitamin B6 without sacrificing your plant-based diet, try:
The Verdict
While many of us aim to get all our required vitamins through our typical daily diet, this is often more difficult than it seems. Many popular foods (particularly unhealthy ones) provide us insufficient levels of the vitamins we need, leaving us feeling less than our best.
No matter your age or gender, it’s never too late to incorporate a healthy dose of vitamins into your daily meals. In fact, you might even discover some new favorite foods along the way!
For more information on staying physically active, fit and energized while maintaining a positive attitude and a nutritious diet, stay up to date with our ATAQ Blog!
Join Team ATAQ and #kickbuttnaturally!
Sources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195878#_noHeaderPrefixedContent
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/5-vitamins-you-might-be-missing/
https://www.healthgrades.com/right-care/mens-health/8-essential-vitamins-and-minerals-for-men
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019700/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19716283/
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/about.html
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002406.htm
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminK-HealthProfessional/
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/about.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19716283/
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/thiamine-vitamin-b1/#:~:text=Thiamine%2C%20also%20known%
