Minerals vs Vitamins
Vitamins and minerals are both essential for a healthy body. However, they differ in their chemical composition, biological function and nutritional requirements.
Comparison chart</> EMBED THIS CHART
Improve this chart | Minerals | Vitamins |
Chemical composition: | Have a definite chemical composition; minerals are inorganic compounds. | Vitamins are organic compounds. |
Examples: | Gold, silver, fluoride etc. | Vitamin A, B and C |
Function in biology: | Minerals help in bone and tooth formation, blood coagulation and muscle contraction. | Vitamins release energy from the food, develop red blood cells, help in blood clotting and help in maintaining healthy skin, eye, and hair. |
Nutritional requirement for the human body: | Only some minerals are required by the human body for nutrition. | All vitamins are required by human body for a healthy nutrition. |
Differences in Chemical composition
Vitamins are organic compounds while minerals are inorganic. Minerals have a much simpler chemical composition compared to vitamins. While vitamins are obtained from plants and animals, the body gets minerals from soil and water.
Types of Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins can be water soluble or fat-soluble. While water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body and have to be taken with water, fat-soluble vitamins get dissolved in the body’s fat cells and are also stored in the body.
Minerals are divided into macro minerals and trace minerals. Trace minerals are needed by the body in small quantities while macro minerals are needed in large amounts.
Nutritional Requirements
While all vitamins (A, B, C, D, E and K) are needed for the body, all minerals are not needed. Some of the necessary minerals are calcium, magnesium, zinc, iodine, sodium, copper, chromium, iron, sulphur, manganese, potassium and phosphorus.
Vitamins are easily destroyed while cooking due to heat or chemical agents. Therefore extra attention is needed...