Page 41 - Exercise 1B

Page 41 - Exercise 1B

Vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals are very important when you’re a teenager, because your body is growing.

We get almost all of them from the food that we eat.

One of the reasons why junk food is bad for you is that it doesn’t contain a lot of vitamins and minerals.

There are two kinds of vitamins: vitamins which your body can store, for example A, D and E. vitamins which your body can’t store, such as B and C. You need to eat these vitamins every day.

The two most important minerals are calcium and iron.You need calcium for strong bones and teeth. Iron helps your blood to carry oxygen around your body.

Other important minerals are magnesium, potassium and zinc. Most people get their minerals from meat and fish. If you’re a vegetarian, you should eat plenty of eggs, cheese and beans to get your minerals.

We get vitamin A from orange fruit and vegetables, like carrots, peppers, peaches and pumpkins, and from dark green vegetables, like spinach. This vitamin is good for your skin and your eyes. You also find vitamin A in eggs and milk.

There are a lot of different B vitamins (for example B2 and B12). They are important for energy.They help your blood to carry oxygen to your muscles. Bread, fish, meat, eggs and beans all contain vitamin B.

You get vitamin C from fruit, such as oranges, grapefruit and tomatoes, and from vegetables, like cabbage and broccoli. Potatoes contain vitamin C, too. It’s good for your skin and it fights infections.

Vitamin D is unusual as it’s the only vitamin that you can get from sunshine. You also get it from fish and eggs.

Vitamin D is important for teeth and bones, because it helps your body to absorb calcium.

Some important parts of your body, for example your liver and your lungs, need vitamin E. We get it from bread, green vegetables, eggs, nuts and oily fish, like sardines and salmon.