Nutrition & Wellness

Micronutrients

Dr Sangeetha Shyam
Nutrition & Dietetics
sangeethashyam@imu.edu.my,
Ext: 1287
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Lesson Outcomes

1. Describe the chemical nature, dietary sources

and roles of selected major vitamins in human
nutrition
2. Describe the chemical nature, dietary sources
and roles of selected major minerals in human
nutrition
3. Describe selected micronutrient deficiencies
such as xerophthalmia, anaemia, osteoporosis,
etc.
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Micronutrients:
Definition
substances essential for
healthy growth &
development,
required in minute
amounts
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Classification of Micronutrients
Micronutrients

Vitamins Minerals
i) Lipid soluble i) Major minerals
ii) Water soluble ii) Trace elements
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Vitamins: What are They?

- Organic nutrients naturally occuring in foods
- Promote & regulate body functions
- Body cannot synthesize or not in sufficient
amount
- Deficiency symptoms if less is consumed
- Can be cured by supplying missing substance
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Fat Soluble Vitamins

• Absorbed passively, must be transported with
dietary lipid
• Tend to be found in the lipid portions of the
cell: membranes and lipid droplets.
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Vitamin A
• Food Sources:
• Provitamin A Carotenoids
- In plant foods: leafy vegetables, carrots,
apricots, red palm oil

• Preformed vitamin A
- In animal foods: chicken liver, cod liver oil,
whole egg, fortified milk
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• Roles: Vitamin A
- Promoting vision
- Participating in protein synthesis and cell differentiation
(maintaining the health of epithelial tissues and skin)
- Supporting reproduction and growth
- Immunity

• Deficiency:
- Night blindness
- xerophthalmia- (dry eye)
Keratomalacia (cornea opaque)
 Vitamin D
Active form : 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D
• Sunshine vitamin:
-Can be made in the skin with exposure
to UV light
-Only essential in diet when exposure
to sunlight is limited

• Food sources:
- Cod liver oil
- Fortified milk & cereals
- Flesh of fatty fish
(mackerel, salmon, sardines)
- Egg yolks

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• Role:
Vitamin D
- maintain serum levels of calcium & phosphate
→ maintenance of skeletal integrity

• Deficiency:
- Rickets (children): poor mineralization of bone
- Osteomalacia (adult): demineralization of bone
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Vitamin E
• Food sources :
- Vegetable oils, unprocessed cereals and nuts, meats

• Role:
-antioxidant→ prevents free radical damage in biological membranes

• Deficiency:
- Rarely occurs
- Serious neurological dysfunction
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Vitamin K
• Food sources:
- Green leafy vegetables
- Liver
- Cheeses

• Role:
- Production of active blood-clotting factors

• Deficiency:
- Hemorrhage – prolonged clotting time
- Bruising
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Water Soluble Vitamins

• Vitamins B & C.
• Absorbed along with water from the gastrointestinal
tract.
• Not stored in appreciable amounts; excess is
excreted in urine.
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Vitamin C
• Food sources:
- citrus fruits, green vegetables & tomatoes
• Roles:
- Improves iron absorption
- Collagen synthesis
- Antioxidant → protects against the peroxidation of plasma lipid & LDL

• Deficiency:
- Scurvy
- Impaired iron absorption
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Thiamine (Vitamin B1)

• Food sources:
- Lean pork, beef, liver, yeast, unpolished rice

• Roles:
- Coenzyme → carbohydrate, amino acids
metabolism
- May help produce neurotransmitters

• Deficiency:
- Beri-beri
- Wernicke - Korsakoff Syndrome –
degenerative brain disorder (alcoholics)
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Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)

• Food sources:
- milk, organ meats, grains & broccoli
- [easily lost in cooking due to its water
solubility/ photosensitive]
• Role:
- Coenzyme → carbohydrate, amino acids
and lipid metabolism
• Deficiency:
- Ariboflavinosis: swollen lips, cracks at
the corners of the mouth & swollen and
red tongue
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Niacin (Vitamin B3)

• Food sources :
- Meat, legumes, milk, eggs, yeast

• Role:
- Coenzyme → energy metabolism
• Deficiency:
- Pellagra: 4D – Dermatitis, Diarrhea , Dementia
and Death
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Panthothenic Acid
(Vitamin B5)
• Food sources:
- Meat, grains, liver, yeast, egg yolk, legumes
- Some produced by enteric bacteria

• Role:
- Coenzyme → synthesizing fat & releasing energy from
macronutrients

• Deficiency:
- Rarely occurs
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Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)

• Food sources:
- meats, grains & nuts
-Heat sensitive

• Roles:
- Coenzyme → amino acid metabolism
- Involved in neurotransmitter and hemoglobin synthesis

• Deficiency:
- Infant: hyperirritability & convulsive seizures
- Adults: dermatitis & inflammation of the mouth
- Commonly seen in TB patients treated with isoniazid
Biotin (Vitamin B7)
• Food sources:
- Liver, egg yolk, legumes, nuts
- Some synthesised by GI bacteria

• Roles:
- Cofactor → synthesizing glucose & fatty acids

• Deficiency:
- Rarely occurs: skin rash, hair loss

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Folate (Vitamin B9)

• Food sources:
- Yeast, liver, fresh green vegetables & fresh
fruits
-[Heat-labile→ easily destroyed by cooking]

• Role:
Coenzyme → DNA synthesis, amino acid
interconversion

• Deficiency:
- Megaloblastic anaemia
- Neural tube defects in early stages of
pregnancy
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Neural Tube
Defects
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Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)

• Food sources:
- only found in animal tissues: liver, meat &
fish
• Role:
- Coenzyme → various cellular
processes, including folate metabolism
- Myelin sheath formation
• Deficiency:
- Pernicious anaemia (megablastic +
degeneration of spinal cord)
- Neurologic defects
Let’s diagnose and prevent or treat
Quiz
What is a vitamin?
Why should you be careful when treating
pernicious anaemia with folate?
Can you think of how cooking can affect B vitamin
content in foods?
Quick Study
Quick Study
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Minerals
- Inorganic nutrients
- Not synthesized in body
- Regulate water and acid base balance
- Form important structure in the body
- As catalyst/ cofactor
- Classified into 2 groups:

i) Major Minerals: required in amounts > 100 mg/day

• Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Cl and S
ii) Trace Elements: required in amounts < 100 mg/day
• Cr, Co, Cu, F, I, Fe, Mn, Mb, Se and Zn
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Major Minerals

Major Minerals
√ √

√ √
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Calcium
• Food sources:
- Milk, milk products, sardines, calms,
oysters, leafy greens, broccoli,
legumes
• Roles:
- Structural component of bones and
teeth
- Muscle contraction
- Blood clotting
• Deficiency:
- Rickets (Children)
- Osteomalacia (adults)
- Osteoporosis
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Magnesium
• Food sources:
- Nuts, legumes, whole grain cereals, green leafy
vegetables

• Roles:
- Component of bones
- Nerve impulse transmission
- Protein synthesis
- Enzyme cofactor
- BP, glucose control
- Muscle function
• Deficiency:
- Muscle weakness
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Sodium
• Food sources:
- Table salt, additives, salty snacks,
pickles, seafood, cheese, milk
• Roles:
- Water pH & electrolyte regulation
- Nerve transmission
- Muscle contraction
- Transport of glucose and
aminoacids
• Deficiency:
- Muscle cramps, diaaroea and
vomiting Too much can cause hypertension
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Potassium
• Food sources:
- Banana, avocado, orange, potato, tomato, dairy products

• Roles:
- Water, electrolyte and pH balances
- Transmission of nerve impulses

• Deficiency:
- Muscular cramps
- Irregular heartbeat
- confusion
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Trace Minerals

√ Elements
Trace √
√

√
√

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• Food sources:
Iron
- Meat and other animal foods, whole grain, enriched breads and
cereals, fortified cereals
• Roles:
- Component of hemoglobin and myglobin that carries oxygen
- Energy generation
- Immune system function
• Deficiency:
- Fatigue upon exertion
- Small, pale red blood cells
- Low hemoglobin level
- Poor immune system function
- Growth & development retardation in
infants
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Copper
• Food sources:
- Liver, cocoa, legumes, whole grains, shellfish
• Roles:
- Promotes iron metabolism
- Components of antioxidant enzymes
- Components of enzymes involved in connective tissue
synthesis
• Deficiency:
- Anemia
- Reduced immune system function
- Poor growth & development
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Iodine
• Food source:
- Iodized salt, salt water fish, dairy products

• Roles:
- Component of thyroid hormones

• Deficiency:
- Goiter
- Cretinism
← Goiter
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Selenium
• Food sources:
- Meat, egg, fish, seafood, whole grains

• Role:
- Component of an antioxidant system

• Deficiency:
- Muscle pain & weakness
- Heart disease
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Zinc
• Food sources:
- Seafood, meat, whole grains

• Role:
- Component of numerous enzymes

• Deficiency:
- Skin rash
- Depressed sense of taste & smell
- Hair loss
- Poor growth & physical development
Lets Diagnose and treat the mineral
deficiency
Quick Study
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References
• Grosvenor, M. B. and Smolin, L. A. (2006). Nutrition: Everyday
choices. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
• Schiff, W. J. (2009). Nutrition for Healthy Living. Mc-Graw Hill,
Inc.
• Truswell, S. (2003). ABC of nutrition, 4th ed. BMJ Publishing
Group.
• Wardlaw, G. M. and Smith, A. M. (2003). Contemporary
Nutrition, 8th ed. Mc-Graw Hill, Inc.
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Reference

Acknowledgements
Dr. Tan Seok Shin

Thank You

Questions???