Vitamins and Minerals Important To A Beautiful Smile and Healthy Mouth

A beautiful smile and healthy mouth come from, in addition to regular brushing and flossing, a daily diet that does not lack the vitamins and minerals that make vital contributions to oral health. Many people overlook the importance of good nutrition in keeping their smile beautiful and their mouth healthy.

The mineral calcium and Vitamin D are of particular importance to healthy teeth. These two substances work together, as calcium absorption is enhanced by Vitamin D. Sufficient calcium is essential to the very structure of the teeth, as are phosphorus and magnesium.

Vitamin A is an essential part of the production of tooth enamel. A deficiency in Vitamin A can cause overgrown gums, bleeding gums and gum disease. Vitamin C, because of its role in the health and function of the small capillaries that bring oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, is important to oral health.

Vitamin C deficiencies can result in bleeding gums and loose teeth, as well as mouth sores The Vitamin B complex is also essential to mouth health, as deficiencies can cause cracking and bleeding of the lips, as well as open sores and lesion on both the inside and outside of the mouth. These open sores, aside from the discomfort they cause, offer an opportunity for a wide variety of bacteria, viruses and other contaminants to enter the blood stream.

Fluoride is widely known as an important agent in the prevention of tooth decay and is the active ingredient in the vast majority of toothpastes. In addition to acting to prevent tooth decay, it strengthens tooth enamel, working in partnership with calcium and phosphorus. Copper, zinc, iodine, iron, and potassium are other minerals that are essential to oral health.

It is unfortunate, but true, that most people do not eat well enough to obtain all of the vitamins, minerals and other necessary nutrients through diet alone. Failing to meet the recommended daily intake levels of vitamins and minerals can result in significant health problems.

Therefore, if you find that you are consistently not achieving these intake levels in your day-to-day diet, you may want to consider using dietary supplements to meet your nutritional needs. Dietary supplements are safe when used properly. However, they should not be used as a substitute for healthy food, as they are meant to complement the diet, and work best when they have feel food to attach themselves to.

If you find yourself unsure of which daily supplements you should include in your day-to-day nutritional plan, a consultation with your healthcare professional or a licensed nutritionist can help you to make the selections best suited to your individual dietary needs and health goals.

While a beautiful smile and healthy mouth are certainly aesthetically pleasing and uplifting to the self-confidence, attention to oral health serves a practical purpose as well. Strong teeth mean that a wide variety of foods can be eaten, a healthy mouth means that there are no open sores in the mouth that serve as an invitation for bacteria, viruses and other contaminants to enter the bloodstream to cause illness, infection and disease.

Making sure that your daily intake of the vitamins and minerals associated with oral health is sufficient, in addition to daily dental care, will ensure that you can have a lovely smile.

Vitamins And Minerals That Effect The Blood

Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are essential to the health and functioning of the body, and are delivered throughout the body by the blood. There are several vitamins and minerals that directly affect the blood and its ability to perform its important tasks within the body.

For optimum performance of the blood, as well as the body and mind in general, it is necessary to meet the standard recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients each and every day.

Blood receives its color from the red blood cells, which perform one of the most important tasks that blood has in the body. Red blood cells are responsible for the transportation of oxygen throughout the body, as well as for the removal of waste products.

Because the average red blood cell lives for about 120 days, the body needs to continuously produce a new supply. There are several vitamins and minerals that are essential to the creation of these cells and the ability of these cells to perform their important work.

The vitamins that make up the powerful and important Vitamin B complex are a major factor in the production of red blood cells. Vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine, is a necessary part of the metabolism of red blood cells and also is required to make hemoglobin, which is how the red blood cell transports oxygen.

Men between the ages of 19 and 50 need 1.3mg daily of Vitamin B6, as do women of the same age group. However, for women during periods of pregnancy, the recommended amount is 1.9mg per day and 2.0mg while breastfeeding. Men older than 50 should have a daily Vitamin B6 intake of 1.7mg and women in that age group should take 1.5mg daily. Children need, depending on age and size, between .6mg to 1.3mg of Vitamin B6 per day.

Other B complex vitamins that have an important role in the production of red blood include Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, Vitamin B9, also called folate in its natural form and folic acid in its pharmaceutical form, and Vitamin B12, which is also called cobalamin, due to its cobalt content.

Iron is one of the minerals that is essential to the quality, health and function of blood. One of the most important tasks iron serves in the blood is in the production of hemoglobin. Approximately 60% of the iron in the body is found in its hemoglobin.

The mineral copper is also involved in the production of red blood cells, and through its enhancement of iron absorption by the body, so too is Vitamin C. Vitamin E also helps in red blood cell production. These, and the numerous other nutrients involved in making the steady supply of red blood cells essential to the body’s health and well being, demonstrate clearly the importance of the every day consumption of the standard recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Nutritional supplements can offer a reliable and safe means of making sure that your body has all the nutrients necessary each day to ensure that your blood remains healthy and strong. The quality of your blood will influence the quality of your life.

Vitamins And Minerals That Support The Circulatory System

The circulatory system provides essential services to the body, including the transport of oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body, as well as the removal of waste products. In order for this system to be at its most efficient, it is necessary to have a sufficient intake of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are essential to the health and functioning of the body.

Many of these vitamins and minerals directly affect the circulatory system, supporting it in its tasks within the body and contributing to the various physical structures that make up the system.

The circulatory system is made up of the heart, the arteries, which transport the oxygenated blood throughout the body, the veins, which carry out waste products and return the blood to the heart to be re-oxygenated, and the capillaries, which are the tiniest blood vessels, running through the tissues of the body. In addition to oxygen, the nutrients and water that the body needs also are carried through the blood via the circulatory system.

Vitamin C is important to this process, as it is responsible for strengthening the walls of the blood vessels throughout the body. This has to do with its role in the production of collagen, which is an essential connective tissue.

Copper is a mineral that is also necessary for the process of making the body’s connective tissue. Biotin is important to the health of the circulatory system, as well as to the circulatory system’s functioning, as it has a role in several essential enzyme processes.

Vitamin E helps to promote the healthy functioning of the circulatory system in a couple of ways. It helps to dilate the veins and it has a role in the controlling of blood clotting. Another important aspect of Vitamin E is its antioxidant properties, something that it shares with Vitamin C. These vitamins, with the help of other antioxidants, serve in the essential capacity of bringing free radicals, which if left unchecked can damage body tissue, under control.

Potassium, in addition to its well known benefits to the heart, serves the other parts of the circulatory system, as well. One important function of potassium is to regulate blood pressure and fluid balance in the circulatory system.

Sodium shares in these important functions of maintaining the blood’s balance and pressure. We hear so much about the negatives of sodium that it’s easy to forget that sodium is, in reality, a mineral that is essential to the body’s functioning, particularly in the circulatory system. Sodium also offers a valuable lesson concerning moderation – too much of it can kill you, as can too little.

The circulatory system is essential to life itself. It makes sense to support its essential processes and functioning with a diet that each day meets the standard recommended intake levels of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Nutritional supplements offer a reliable and safe means of accomplishing this important health goal.

Because the balance of nutrients is so vital to proper functioning of the body and its supporting systems, you may want to consider devising a personalized nutritional supplement plan, according to your individual dietary needs, with the assistance of a licensed nutritionist or you usual health care provider.

What The Vitamin B Complex Does For You

The eight vitamins that make up the B complex are very important to the diet, supporting many important physical and mental processes. For anyone interested in feeling their best every day, a sufficient daily intake of this essential set of vitamins is an absolute necessity.

The Vitamin B complex is made up of several separate vitamins. These are B1, also called thiamine, B2, also known as riboflavin, B3, which is also referred to as niacin, B6, also called pyridoxine, B9, commonly called folic acid, B12, also known as cyanocobalamin, biotin and pantothenic acid.

These vitamins are essential to helping the body to convert food to energy, as well as to breaking down the fats and proteins that make the nervous system run efficiently. They support oral health, muscle tone, and help to keep the skin, hair and eyes healthy. The Vitamin B complex also helps to maintain mental functioning, including thinking and short-term memory.

Because of the many important tasks performed in the body by the Vitamin B complex, deficiencies can result in serious health problems and disease, affecting mind and body. Perhaps of these, beriberi is the most well known. This can come from a consistent and serious lack of thiamine in the diet. Symptoms include anemia and muscular weakness and spasms, particularly in the legs. Atrophy of the muscles and even paralysis can occur.

There are many physical problems that result from a failure to consume sufficient amounts of the Vitamin B complex. The negative effects can include a lack physical coordination, the eyes can become light sensitive, open sores can appear on the internal and external parts of the mouth, the teeth can become sensitive, the tongue can become swollen, severe and continuous diarrhea can occur, and the skin can develop lesions. Serious failures in the nervous system and brain damage can also stem from a lack of these vitamins.

In addition the myriad of physical symptoms associated with ongoing and serious deficiencies in the Vitamin B complex, there are also significant mental symptoms as well. These include dementia, confusion and other mental disabilities.

In many cases, even serious symptoms caused by a lack of B vitamins can be alleviated with Vitamin B complex based treatments. However, some types of damage can be permanent. It is far better to avoid such debilitating symptoms by making sure to consume sufficient daily amounts of the very important Vitamin B complex.

Vegetarians, especially those following vegan diets, need to be particularly aware of their Vitamin B complex intake, as many of the richest sources are animal based. If vegetarian, it is important to be knowledgeable about the nutritional content of the food you consume, particularly for families raising vegetarian children.
Many find Vitamin B complex supplements to be a safe and sure means of making sure that the daily intake of these essential nutrients are met.

Because they are so essential to many important aspects of physical health and mental functioning, we should all take care to meet the daily intake requirements of each of the vitamins that make up the B complex. Supplements offer a safe and sure method of doing so for many people.

Why Vitamin C Is Important

There’s been a great deal of research concerning the many ways in which Vitamin C is beneficial to health. Also known as ascorbic acid, this nutrient serves the body in a variety of ways. In addition to the long established means of helping to maintain health, there’s a great deal of research indicating its value in helping the body overcome serious illness and disease. Some studies indicate a good potential for the possibility that Vitamin C can even help prevent some diseases.

What we definitely know about vitamin C is that it is an essential part of the creation of collagen in the body. Collagen is particularly import to the connective tissues of the body and is the scar of healed wounds is made of.

We also know that it helps to keep the gums healthy and the teeth tight. It also promotes healthy cell growth and development, as well as helps the body to use the iron and calcium it takes in. Vitamin C plays an important role in the healing of wounds and the rebuilding of tissues, helps to keep tiny capillaries functioning the way that they should, and also serves to prevent dangerous blood clots.

From the many scientific studies through the years, Vitamin C has come to be associated with many other health benefits. These include such things as strengthening the body’s immune system, helping to fight infection, playing a role in the reduction of cholesterol and high blood pressure, and having a part in the prevention of arteriosclerosis.

Furthermore, Vitamin C has been associated with helping to prevent cataracts, cardiovascular diseases and even certain types of cancer. Research continues into these intriguing areas of study.

A lack of Vitamin C has been known for many years to be the cause of the disease scurvy. Early signs of scurvy include red bumps around hair follicles, easy bruising, joint pain and a general feeling of weakness and fatigue. As the disease progresses, small open sores begin to appear on the body and in the mouth. The teeth loosen and gum tissue bleeds. Other ways in which a deficiency of Vitamin C can affect the health of the body include poor digestion, water retention, frequent colds, and low energy levels.

While the minimum standard of Vitamin C daily intake is 60 micrograms or mg, most recommend consuming significantly more than that. The minimum requirement offers protection against the worst symptoms of Vitamin C deficiency, with most of the positive effects coming from intake levels of 200 to 500 mgs daily. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and thus, passes out of the body with urine. That means it must be replaced daily.

Many people find that using Vitamin C supplements is a safe and convenient means of making sure that the daily Vitamin C intake goals are met. Your desired daily intake of Vitamin C will depend of what you are hoping to achieve with your intake, i.e. helping to reduce cholesterol or high blood pressure, helping in collagen production, or building up your immune system. Seeing your health care professional is a good way to determine the best and most beneficial daily intake level for you.

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What Vitamin A Does For The Body

Recent government surveys have found that most people do not consume enough Vitamin A in their daily diets. This is unfortunate, because Vitamin A is essential to good health. In fact, serious health problems can result from long-term, serious Vitamin A deficiencies.

Vitamin A is important from the very beginning of life. Pregnant women must be sure to consume sufficient amounts of Vitamin A, which will be more than they needed before pregnancy, because Vitamin A plays a great role in the proper physical development of a baby. It helps to promote proper cell differentiation, which is the specialization of cells upon division to take over certain tasks, meaning that cells for the heart take on their characteristics, those for the liver take on theirs, those for the brain take on their own characteristics and functions, and so on. Vitamin A also serves in bone growth and development, as well as in the general growth and development of the body.

Vitamin A has a significant part in the quality and functioning of the body’s immune system. One facet of this functioning has to do with the skin and body’s mucus membranes. The skin and mucus membranes serve a very practical purpose for the body. These operate as barriers against bacteria and viruses, protecting against infection and disease. Vitamin A helps to keep the skin and mucus membranes healthy and able to serve their primary purpose.

As we’ve all heard through the years, carrots are good for the eyes. That is because they are a good source of Vitamin A, which is essential to vision. In fact, a serious deficiency in Vitamin A can result in blindness. Many children living in poverty in developing nations throughout the world have become blind simply because of the lack of Vitamin A in their diets.

Vitamin A also serves to keep the surface linings of the intestinal, urinary and respiratory tracts healthy. This offers protection from bacteria, as well has promotes proper functioning.

One of the more common units of measure for Vitamin A found on packaging labels of food and dietary supplements is the International Unit, or IU. Adult and teenaged males should be sure to consume at total of 3,000 IU of Vitamin A per day. Adult women and teenaged females should have 2,310 IU per day, 2,565 IU per day if pregnant and 4,300 IU per day if breastfeeding. For children ages 9 through 13, 2,000 IU is the recommended daily intake, with 1,320 IU being sufficient for those aged 4 through 8. From the first year through age 3, 1,000 IU is recommended.

Using dietary supplements to complete a healthy diet can ensure that the body receives the nutrients it needs for optimum performance. However, it is important to heed label and doctor recommendations for the best amount to be taken for your dietary needs.

Proper nutrition is essential to achieving and maintaining health. It is much better to avoid sickness than to recover from it. Taking steps to ensure that you are getting enough Vitamin A each day is an essential part of reaching your health goals.

Make Sure That Your Body Is Able To Support The Healing Process

Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, aside from keeping the internal processes of the body healthy, strong and functioning well, also serve to promote the healing of wounds, both on the external and inner surfaces of the body. The rate at which wounds heal and the quality of the repair tissues depends upon adequate nutrition. There are several vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that affect the healing process.

Vitamin K is essential to the very first step of healing a wound – stopping the bleeding, via the clotting of the blood. Without Vitamin K, healing would not proceed, as the blood would not clot. Vitamin K partners with the mineral calcium in the production of the body’s primary clotting agent, thrombin.

One of the most important vitamins involved in the healing of wounds is Vitamin C. It is particularly helpful in the growth and development of new tissues, in part because it also supports the health and function of the body’s many tiny capillaries that are responsible for taking oxygen and nutrients to the far reaches of the body.

Another aspect of its importance in the growth and development of new tissues, thus in wound healing, as well as the maintenance of existing tissues, has to do with its role in collagen production. Collagen is what makes the scar that holds a wound together and makes up the connective tissue of the body. Collagen supports the structure of the skin. Vitamin C is essential to the production of collagen, meaning that Vitamin C has a great part in literally holding the body together.

Zinc is another mineral important to wound healing. There are more than 300 enzymes in the body that require zinc to perform their tasks. Many of these enzymes relate directly to the healing of wounds, such as the production of collagen. Zinc plays a role in the body being able to make use of certain proteins and in cell division.

However, it should be noted, too much zinc can interfere with the healing of wounds. That is because the body operates on a chemical system that has a delicate balance, and too much zinc interferes with how the body uses copper and other substances, thus throwing off the balance that is necessary for the best wound healing.

Copper, a mineral, is also significant to the process of healing wounds. Copper has many roles in the body, including being a component of numerous enzymes. In terms of healing, one of its most important roles is in the formation of collagen, which is essential to the wound healing process.

The vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that we consume daily are what support all of the processes of the body and the mind. The healing of wounds is essential to the body, and proper nutrition is what allows the process of wound healing to operate at peak performance, meaning that wounds heal as well and as quickly as they should. Dietary supplements are an affordable, safe and convenient way to make sure that your body is able to support the healing process.

Important Mineral Partnerships For Health

Minerals are essential nutrients that serve the body in many ways. Many minerals are active in their own right, serving individual purposes within the body. However, the much more common way of working for minerals is partnership. They act as cofactor in many complex substances and processes. Many minerals complement each other, serving as cofactor to each other in the body’s most essential processes.

The skeletal system benefits from the partnership of various minerals, as do the teeth. Calcium and phosphorus, the two minerals that are present in the highest amounts in the body, are the key mineral players in the hard surfaces of bones and teeth, with the mineral magnesium serving to help the body metabolize the calcium and the phosphorus.

The mineral manganese serves a purpose in this process as well and the mineral zinc is needed to metabolize phosphorus. This group of minerals also combine to protect the health of the nerves and to enhance the ability of the nerves to communicate, as well as ensures the ability of the muscles in the body to contract smoothly and regularly, contributing to, among other things, a regular heartbeat.

The mineral iron is responsible for the production of hemoglobin in the blood, which is what the red blood cells store the oxygen in as they travel the body, supplying the cells and tissues with the oxygen that is vital to their survival. But, without the mineral copper, the body would be unable to absorb and use the iron. A deficiency in copper results in an anemia that is similar to that caused by a deficiency of iron.

Minerals serve as cofactors in a variety of chemical combinations in the body that are essential processes of everything from food digestion to oxygenation of the body’s cells. The entire functioning of the body is built upon chemical and electrical reactions. These depend primarily upon the nutrition we consume, which serves as fuel and, once broken down to its basic elements, the chemicals needed to complete the various interactions. The balance of the complex system is delicate, but must be maintained to ensure health and peak performance.

The amount of mineral available in food and water can vary from region to region. That is because the amount of minerals found in plants depends on the quality of the soil, the type and amount of mineral deposits in the soil. Growing the same crops in the same place year after year can deplete the minerals in the soil. Topsoil erosion also can reduce the minerals available in soil.

Nutritional supplements can serve as an effective and safe means of ensuring that each day the body achieves the standard recommended daily intake levels of the minerals it need to perform the essential operations of the body. Because the balance of nutrients in the body is so important, it is a good idea to engage in a consultation with a licensed nutritionist who will be able to help you to devise a mineral supplement plan that is best suited to your individual dietary needs.
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The Antioxidant Minerals

Because the antioxidant vitamins tend to get most of the press and publicity, many people are unaware that there are also important antioxidant minerals that are essential to the body’s continuous battle against free radicals and the damage they do. Making sure that the proper nutrients are consumed daily is a necessary part of helping the body to be able to keep free radical damage as low as possible.

A mineral, vitamin or other nutrient is deemed antioxidant if it, on its own or as an essential part of a group of substances, it serves to bring free radicals under control. Free radicals are unstable molecules that generally come from both environmental contaminants and some of the body’s natural processes. There are certain minerals that are an integral part of managing the free radical population within the body.

Selenium has come to be recognized as one of the most important of these minerals, though each does play an important role in free radical management. Selenium is an essential component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase, and this substance is one that is able to stabilize the free radical.

Since the universal acceptance of the mineral selenium, a trace element, as an essential nutrient during the 1950’s, researchers have been studying the ways that it affects health. In 1973, researchers confirmed the antioxidant properties of the mineral selenium, and since then, numerous studies have demonstrated that it may play a significant role in the prevention of certain types of cancers.

However, it should be noted that excessively high levels of selenium can cause serious health problems – as can deficiencies of selenium – and some studies have found excessively high levels of selenium to be associated with other types of cancer. The body is a delicate balance of a variety of chemicals and substances, and optimum performance requires thought and planning.

The minerals zinc and copper form part of another of the body’s important antioxidant enzymes. This enzyme, called superoxide dismutase, is present in the body in two forms. The first form is found almost everywhere in the body, and it needs zinc and copper to function.

The second form of this important antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase is found specifically in the mitochondria, which is the part of the cell responsible for changing the energy that comes from the various nutrients into a form that can be used by the cells. In this second form of the enzyme superoxide dismutase, it is the mineral zinc and the mineral manganese that are essential to the antioxidant enzyme’s ability to function properly.

Making sure that the body has all of the minerals, vitamins and other nutrients it needs each day is very important for both day-to-day and long-term health and well-being. Dietary supplements are a safe and effective means of seeing that the body does have all of the nutrients it needs for all of its systems to work at peak performance levels, especially those that maintain daily health and those that protect health over the long-term. However, nutritional supplements are powerful agents, and must be used within the established dosage guidelines to be beneficial to the health. Used in this fashion, dietary supplements can serve as a valuable part of any health routine.
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The Antioxidant Vitamins

The antioxidant vitamins perform many essential tasks within the body. In recent years, a great deal of research has been done concerning the abilities of the antioxidant vitamins to prevent certain diseases, ranging from cancer to heart ailments. Many studies have shown promising results, and researchers continue their efforts at determining all of the ways that these powerful antioxidant vitamins protect our health and well being.

One of the many important tasks that antioxidant vitamins perform is that of bringing free radicals under control. A free radical is an unstable molecule, operating within the much larger context of a cell. What makes it unstable is that it is lacking an electron. Electrons are a part of the system that enables chemical reactions within the body. Chemical and electrical actions and reactions are the base of all operations of the body.

The free radical lacks an electron because it is the result of the splitting of a structure weakened by either one of the body’s natural metabolizing processes or by some external contaminant, such as pollution or cigarette smoke. The free radical attacks other molecules, seeking its missing part, which leads to its molecule victim becoming a free radical as well. When enough free radicals accumulate with a cell, the cell can be damaged, or worse.

Antioxidant vitamins have the power to bring these free radicals under control. They do this by meeting the free radicals’ most basic needs, by giving them the electrons they need to be stable. Thus, the antioxidant vitamins remove the free radicals’ motive for aggression and crime -- their motive to attack other molecules to steal their electrons, thereby creating still more free radicals -- and bring an end to the free radical crime wave that threatened the very existence of their world and restore social order and peace to their world, the cell, and perhaps even to their universe, the body.

The primary antioxidant vitamins are Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. They do not become free radical themselves when they give an electron to the unstable molecule, because they have the special capacity to remain stable with or without the electron. It is through this interaction with the free radicals that the antioxidant vitamins are able to assist in the prevention of damage to tissues and cells that could lead to disease.

Numerous studies have found that the antioxidant vitamins may offer protection against a variety of cancers. Other studies have associated antioxidant vitamins with helping to lower blood pressure. Controlling free radicals, as the antioxidant vitamins do, is thought to be an important part of defending the body and the mind against the effects of aging.

In addition to continuous studies concerning antioxidant vitamins potential in preventing cancers, heart disease, and diabetes related conditions, researchers are also paying close attention to the possibilities antioxidant vitamins may hold for Alzheimer's disease.

Dietary supplements offer a safe and convenient means of meeting the suggested daily intake requirements of these powerful antioxidant vitamins, provided that the standard dosage recommendations are followed.

The chemical balance that allows the body to operate at peak performance can be seriously disrupted by taking too much of any supplement. A licensed nutritionist or your health care provider can best advise you on the dosage most suitable to your individual dietary needs and health goals.
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