8 Crucial Vitamins and Minerals Your Body Needs For The Winter

1. 8 Crucial Vitamins and Minerals Your Body Needs For The Winter Winter being the season of dry air, less humidity and cold climate; it becomes really important that you pay attention to what you are putting both on and inside your body. Your body’s nutritional demands change slightly according to each season and it is important to modify our diet to fit in these demands. Ideally we should get all the essential nutrients naturally from healthy food; however since this is rarely possible in our fast paced lives, supplements such as vitamin D3 capsules come in use. Here in this article we have put together a list of 8 vitamins and minerals that are needed by your body in the winters. 1. Vitamin D Generally your body produces vitamin D after your skin is exposed to adequate sunlight. The daily recommended sunlight exposure is 15- 30 minutes of early morning sun rays. This becomes slightly difficult due to the shorter days and longer nights seen in winters. One can find vitamin D3 in foods such as fish, mushrooms, brussel sprouts and other green leafy vegetables. However, eating them regularly to substitute for the lack of sunlight exposure is a little hard. Hence; you can use vitamin D3 capsules as supplements to bridge this nutritional gap. 2. Vitamin C This is a very important vitamin for the winters as it boosts immunity, hastens wound healing, works as an anti- oxidant and also improves skin health. The increased need of vitamin c during the winters is evident by the fact that citrus fruits are found abundantly in this season. If your skin tends to become more dry and scratchy during winters or you are experiencing dull skin due to heavy moisturisers you can use vitamin c capsules for skin whitening as a daily supplement to your normal food. 3. Omega 3 fatty acid

2. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids or PUFAs which are needed by our body is very small amounts but are extremely important for our body. They help prevent heart diseases, stroke, eczema, control lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. They are also said to play a key protective factor and increase longevity in many cancers. Adding omega capsules to your diet is a good consideration as the essential fatty acid is not found in most of our regular food. 4. Iron Iron is abundantly found in green leafy vegetables, lentils, beet root, poultry, sea food, etc. It is generally sufficiently obtained from our daily diet. It is important for providing energy to the body by increasing haemoglobin concentration in the blood. This increases oxygenation to the organs and improves their functioning. Abundant iron in your diet will make sure you don’t feel lethargic and extra sleepy during the cold season. 5. Vitamin B complex Vitamin B complex includes vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, B5, B7 and B12. They are found in a varied range of food products such as peas, broccoli, leafy greens, kidney beans, legumes, liver, etc. They are extremely important during the winter as they help prevent the skin from drying up and cracking. People deficient in vitamin b complex experience cracked heels, dry skin, cracked lips, brittle hair, dandruff, etc. All these can be prevented by either making sure you meet the recommended daily allowance of vitamin b from the diet or use a multivitamin and multimineral capsule regularly to supplement your diet. 6. Calcium Calcium deficiency can occur indirectly due to vitamin d deficiency as vitamin d is needed for the absorption of calcium from the gut. Due to lack of proper sunlight which is the biggest source of vitamin D and unavailability of vitamin d3 rich foods; there can be a deficiency of calcium in the body. You can easily prevent this by taking the best calcium tablets available in the market after talking to your doctor. Calcium deficiency causes fatigue, irritability, muscle spasm, insomnia to begin with and can worsen to present with osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone pains and depression. 7. Zinc People with weak digestive systems and decreased movement face a lot of trouble with constipation and improper bowel movement during the winters. Zinc is required in very small amounts by our body and acts by improving immunity, metabolism, fastens wound healing and aids our sense of taste and smell. It also improves digestion and maintains stamina. Generally with a mixed diet that includes eggs, legumes, cashews, almonds, whole grains, dairy, etc; one gets the recommended daily allowance from the diet itself. 8. Vitamin E Vitamin E is an important anti- oxidant that does wonders for your body and also the skin. It strengthens the immune system, prevents free radical damage, decreases inflammation, decreases menstrual cramps, decreases the risk of heart diseases, decreases the effects of UV damage on the skin, treats hyperpigmentation, helps better healing of scars, etc. It is abundantly found in natural food sources such as spinach, sunflower seeds, almonds, sapotes, milk, wheat grass oil, etc. It is rare to have vitamin E deficiency but when present the person experiences decreased vision, dull dry skin, impaired muscle coordination, etc. A number of body lotions, creams and gels come fortified with vitamin e and c these days and can be used to prevent the effects of vitamin e deficiency during the winters. The vitamin c capsules for skin whitening sometimes come together with vitamin e as a booster for skin health. This can also be used after discussing with your doctor.

3. Our body needs an overall balanced diet along with good emotional and mental health to be in its best self throughout the year. For this a proper diet, brisk exercise, maintaining good relations, etc all play an equally important role. Eating a healthy diet including all the seasonal fruits and vegetables is the ideal way to long term health goals. Before adding any food supplements to your regular diet we strongly advise you to consult and discuss the benefits and shortcomings with a dietician or your doctor and come up with an effective plan while you make changes to improve your lifestyle gradually. Content Source