Vitamins and Minerals Important for Dieting

Vitamins and Minerals to Consider in your Diet to Stay Healthy whilst staying at home?

We’re currently in unprecedented times at the moment as many of us are having to stay at home. The Coronavirus pandemic rocked the world last year as lockdown restrictions and stay at home orders were provided to prevent the spread of the virus.

We can rarely take advantage of the outdoors as much as we like to to absorb qualities for our bodies that it has to offer. Therefore, we’re looking towards vitamins and minerals through our diets to ensure we remain healthy whilst staying at home.

Here are some important vitamins and minerals your body needs to ensure you gain the ABC of vitamins to stay healthier whilst indoors.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an immune boosting vitamin crucial for bodily functions. According to healthline, vitamin C isn’t something that you can produce naturally in the body, which means it’s important that you’re able to obtain it through the foods that you eat or through supplement forms.

The main function of vitamin c is to increase the production of white blood cells. These are beneficial to the body because they help to fight infections and regulate blood pressure. Whilst vitamin c isn’t a direct cure for colds and viruses, it can help you to fight it and ensure you heal faster from them.

Magnesium

When your body has low magnesium levels, it has been linked to factors such as high blood pressure, clogged arteries, heart disease and diabetes which are also all high risk factors for the chances of getting Coronavirus. Intake of magnesium can help to improve your heart health, reduce your anxiety and strengthen your bones.

You can tend to find magnesium in foods that are high in fibre content. It can also be taken in supplement form.

Vitamin D

We were unfortunate in not being able to make the most of the Summer last year. Vitamin D is considered the sunshine vitamin and as you’re unable to get outside as often to soak up the sunlight naturally, it’s important that you’re able to get it through your diet instead.

Vitamin D is essential for stronger bones and absorbing calcium, but more importantly it improves the communication between your brain and other parts of your body to improve your immune system and fight off bacteria and viruses, which is crucial during the pandemic. An alternative benefit is that you can even have vitamin D tablets if you find it difficult to get it through your normal diet.

Probiotics

Gut health is another priority for maintaining health and preventing the chances of catching the virus. Eating foods that are rich in probiotics is a great way to keep a healthy gut and have your body functioning correctly. It’s understandable that people can feel stressed whilst staying at home and this can have a direct link with bowel inflammation. Rich probiotic foods can help to improve this.

It’s also considered important for mental health. Studies have suggested people that increase their probiotic intake tend to see improvements in their immune system which tends to lower in performance when they feel a little down.

Zinc

A deficiency in Zinc can actually raise the risk of people getting sick. Zinc levels can be beneficial for improving your immune system because it’s required to activate T cells that control and regulate immune responses.

It can also help to reduce diarrhea which can be a common cause of dehydration and can be a big health risk towards Coronavirus. Thankfully, to get the required amount for men and women can be relatively easy as it only needs 8mg for women and 11mg for men.

Final thoughts

It’s now more important than ever for people to be looking after their mental and physical health. We don’t have the privilege of attending the gym or meeting up with our friends to socialise with one another. Therefore, we should be doing any little bit to improve our overall well-being and ensure we stay healthy before we see some kind of normality again.

To do this, we can start by improving our diet and ensuring that our body’s get the vitamins and minerals that it needs to maintain healthy immune systems. Consider the qualities of the foods above and how you can incorporate this into your own diet and you’ll be well on your way to feeling and being healthier in the short and long term.