{"id":813,"date":"2014-02-27T11:13:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T19:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/?p=813"},"modified":"2016-05-17T10:40:01","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T17:40:01","slug":"micronutrients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/02\/27\/micronutrients\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Micronutrient?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"micronutrient\"The Linus Pauling Institute likes to use\u00a0the word micronutrient<\/em>. This is not only because many world-renown authorities on micronutrients work at the LPI, but also because we maintain a database of scientifically accurate information regarding the roles of micronutrients in human health and disease, the <\/i>Micronutrient <\/i>Information Center (MIC).<\/a><\/p>\n

Exactly what\u00a0is a\u00a0\u2018micronutrient,\u2019 anyway?<\/p>\n

First, a strict definition: micronutrients are compounds that are absolutely essential to growth or maintenance of an organism (\u2018nutrient<\/i>\u2019) but may only be needed in small quantities (\u2018micro<\/i>\u2019).<\/p>\n

In other words, they are small molecules that you absolutely need from your diet or you will get very ill and may risk death. You may only need small amounts of them at times, but that emphasizes how important they actually are. This is in contrast to macronutrients like protein and fats, which are needed in large quantities. \"Vegetable<\/a><\/p>\n

Practically, we use the word \u2018micronutrient\u2019 as a general term. It encompasses the two main categories of compounds found in foods: vitamins and nutritionally essential minerals.<\/p>\n

Vitamins<\/a> are a group of organic (meaning they are derived from living things) compounds that are vital for normal functions in cells and the body. Without adequate levels of vitamins in our bodies, cells and tissues work inefficiently, biological processes begin to slow or stop, and deficiency diseases begin to appear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the term vitamin can describe a diverse set of compounds. It is difficult to sort them into categories because one vitamin may serve many roles, although some functions are unique to a particular vitamin that makes it important. So, rather than try to describe them, we feel it is better for you to read about each vitamin individually (as written on the MIC<\/a>) to understand the biological functions.<\/p>\n

\"Fruits<\/a>Although most vitamins are required in the diet, there is one exception \u2013 vitamin D can be synthesized by the skin with energy from sunlight. Since our bodies can produce it, vitamin D is not truly a \u201cvitamin\u201d, but for people who are not exposed to the sun regularly it is a necessary dietary factor.<\/p>\n

Minerals<\/a> are a set of inorganic (meaning they are derived from the earth) compounds that are also found in living things. \u2018Nutritionally essential minerals\u2019 is a term that we use for those minerals that are needed to maintain normal biological functions.<\/p>\n

Like vitamins, minerals have a diverse array of activities. Often minerals join with proteins to influence enzyme activity, but they also have several other functions, e.g., energy currency in cells, structural features in bone, and components of thyroid hormones.<\/p>\n

\"logoThere are other nutrients<\/a> and essential parts of the diet that don\u2019t fall under these two categories (e.g., choline, essential fatty acids), and there has been some debate on how to classify these compounds. However, like the vitamins and nutritionally essential minerals, these compounds are included in the MIC if you wish to know more about them and how they work in the body.<\/p>\n

It is also worth noting that there a lot of compounds that are not<\/b> classified as micronutrients, even though people will consume them in foods or as a supplement. Just remember that most micronutrients (with the exception of vitamin D) are essential<\/i><\/b> parts of the diet needed in small amounts, so everything else falls under a different category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Linus Pauling Institute likes to use\u00a0the word micronutrient. This is not only because many world-renown authorities on micronutrients work at the LPI, but also because we maintain a database of scientifically accurate information regarding the roles of micronutrients in human health and disease, the Micronutrient Information Center (MIC). Exactly what\u00a0is a\u00a0\u2018micronutrient,\u2019 anyway?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[582787,582795,582794],"tags":[17344,165492,1433,165491],"class_list":["post-813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-the-expert","category-supplement-faqs","category-vitaminmineral-faqs","tag-micronutrients","tag-minerals","tag-nutrients","tag-vitamins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":785,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2013\/10\/09\/opening-the-lines-of-communication\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":0},"title":"Opening the Lines of Communication","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Unusual for a scientist, Dr. Pauling was very outgoing and public-minded. At heart he was a humanitarian dedicated to reducing suffering in the world as best he could. He felt that it was the obligation of scientists to communicate directly to the public\u2014to make their knowledge and research accessible for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Feature Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Feature Stories","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/feature-stories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Linus Pauling, smiling.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2013\/05\/LP_portrait-217x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":955,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/03\/04\/taking-multivitamins-still-good-idea\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":1},"title":"Taking multivitamins – still a good idea.","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent\u00a0report from the US Preventive Services Task Force in the Annals of Internal Medicine focused on the use of vitamin, mineral, or multivitamin supplements.\u00a0Their conclusions are that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the benefits and harms of these\u00a0supplements with respect to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Expert"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Expert","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/ask-the-expert\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Multivitamins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2014\/03\/Multivitamins2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1884,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2017\/01\/23\/vitamin-e-metabolic-syndrome\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":2},"title":"Millions of People with Metabolic Syndrome May Need More Vitamin E","author":"Anne Glausser","date":"January 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Research Also Uncovers a New, Better Way to Test for Vitamin E New research from Linus Pauling Institute Principal Investigator and\u00a0Ava Helen Pauling Professor\u00a0Maret Traber, Ph.D., has shown that people with metabolic syndrome need significantly more vitamin E \u2013 which could be a serious public health concern, in light of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nutrition"","block_context":{"text":"Nutrition","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/nutrition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2017\/01\/5604663581_c38fdc245b_b-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":878,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/04\/10\/phytochemicals\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":3},"title":"What are Phytochemicals?","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"April 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Although the Linus Pauling Institute has a long-standing, deep relationship with vitamin and mineral\u00a0research, we also study other compounds for their role in human health and disease. If you ever read nutrition research or see it discussed in the news, you may come across the unusual word \u2018phytochemicals'. Want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Supplement FAQs"","block_context":{"text":"Supplement FAQs","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/supplement-faqs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"phyochemicals","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2013\/12\/phyochemicals.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2017\/01\/31\/choosing-supplements-wisely\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":4},"title":"Q: I’ve been reading a lot lately about claims that vitamins in pill form are worthless and unreliable. 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Below we offer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Supplement FAQs"","block_context":{"text":"Supplement FAQs","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/supplement-faqs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"supplement bottle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2017\/01\/vitamins-26622_1280-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1131,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/10\/03\/dealing-micronutrient-inadequacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":5},"title":"Feelings of (Micronutrient) Inadequacy? Probably not.","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"October 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 A surprising number of Americans fall short of vitamin and mineral\u00a0intake recommendations, and will never know it. It's a state we know as \u2018inadequacy\u2019\u2014insufficient micronutrient intakes for optimum health. It is really hard to know if you fall into this\u00a0category. Unlike true vitamin and mineral deficiencies, that manifest\u00a0as\u00a0diseases like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Feature Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Feature Stories","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/feature-stories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"blonde-1031534_1920","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2014\/10\/blonde-1031534_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1700,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions\/1700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}