Metabolism

Vitamins and minerals, in their role of body regulators, are essential to metabolism.

Metabolism is a particularly complicated process which, broadly speaking, has two main functions:

* Fuel Conversion. Digested food nutrients are converted to "fuel" or energy and "burned up" by the body in the course of its daily activities.

* Re-structuring and Storing. The simplified nutrients can be changed and rebuilt according to what the body considers necessary. For example, if there is an insufficient supply of carbohydrates, the body will convert protein to carbohydrates to make up the deficiency. Or, to give another example, if the body has an excess of carbohydrate it will convert it to fat and store it in that form. (Sufficient excess carbohydrate can show itself off to the world in the shape of a spare tyre!) Every vitamin has its own specific function.

Therefore, if the body is deficient in just one vitamin the metabolism of the body is disturbed. The correct amount, and balance, of vitamins and minerals is crucial for proper metabolism. For example, if a person is deficient in vitamin Bl, the metabolism of carbohydrates could be inefficient.

This brief explanation of the body's chemical plant has been deliberately simplified, but it is hoped that the reader will now have an overall, if fairly basic, understanding of how the body uses the nutrients in food. Now it's time to look more closely at the role of each individual vitamin.

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