Food Sources of Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamin A

Food sources include: Cod-liver oil, milk, eggs, sweet potatoes, carrots, leafy vegetables, and fortified foods such as breakfast cereals

What it does: Promotes good eyesight and normal functioning of the immune system.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Food sources include: Beans and enriched, fortified, or whole-grain products such as bread, pasta, and cereals

What it does: Helps the body process carbohydrates and some protein.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Food sources include: Milk, breads, fortified cereals, almonds, asparagus, dark meat chicken, and cooked beef

What it does: Supports many body processes, such as turning food into energy. It also helps your body make red blood cells.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Food sources include: Poultry, fish, meat, whole grains, and fortified cereals

What it does: Helps with digestion and changing food into energy; helps make cholesterol.

Vitamin B6

Food sources include: Fortified cereals, fortified soy-based meat substitutes, baked potatoes with skin, bananas, light-meat chicken and turkey, eggs, peas, and spinach

What it does: Supports your nervous system. Helps the body break down proteins. Helps the body break down stored sugar.

Vitamin B12

Food sources include: Beef, clams, mussels, crabs, salmon, poultry, and fortified foods

What it does: Helps with cell division and helps make red blood cells.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Food sources include: Citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, red and green bell peppers, cabbage, and spinach

What it does: Promotes a healthy immune system and helps make collagen. It's also needed to make certain chemical messengers in the brain.

Vitamin D

Food sources include: Fortified milk, cheese, and cereals; egg yolks; salmon, cod liver oil

What it does: Maintains bone health and helps the body process calcium; important for immune system function; may protect from cancer.

Vitamin E

Food sources include: Leafy green vegetables, almonds, hazelnuts, and vegetable oils like sunflower, canola, and soybean

What it does: As an antioxidant, it helps protect cells from damage.

Folate (Folic Acid)

Food sources include: Fortified cereals and grain products; lima, lentil, kidney, and garbanzo beans; and dark leafy vegetables

What it does: Promotes cell development, prevents birth defects, promotes heart health, and helps red blood cells form.

Vitamin K

Food sources include: Leafy green vegetables like parsley, chard, and kale; broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage; and fruits such as avocado. kiwi, and grapes

What it does: Helps blood clot and maintains bone health.

Calcium

Food sources include: Dairy products, broccoli, dark leafy greens like spinach and rhubarb, and fortified products, such as orange juice, soy milk, and tofu

What it does: Helps build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Helps muscles work. Supports cell communication.

Chromium

Food sources include: Some cereals, beef, turkey, fish, broccoli, and grape juice

What it does: Helps maintain normal blood sugar (glucose) levels.

Copper

Food sources include: Organ meats (like liver), seafood, cashews, sunflower seeds, wheat bran cereals, whole-grain products, avocados, and cocoa products

What it does: Helps break down iron, helps make red blood cells, and helps produce energy for cells. It also helps maintain bones, connective tissue, and blood vessels.

Fluoride

Food sources include: Fluoridated water, teas, and some fish

What it does: Prevents dental cavities and stimulates new bone formation.

Iodine

Food sources include: Iodized salt, some seafood, kelp, and seaweed

What it does: Works to make thyroid hormones.

Iron

Food sources include: Leafy green vegetables, beans, shellfish, red meat, eggs, poultry, soy foods, and some fortified foods

What it does: Carries oxygen to all parts of the body through red blood cells.

Magnesium

Food sources include: Whole grains, leafy green vegetables, almonds, Brazil nuts, soybeans, halibut, peanuts, hazelnuts, lima beans, black-eyed peas, avocados, bananas,

What it does: Helps muscles and nerves work, steadies heart rhythm, maintains bone strength, and helps the body create energy.

Manganese

Food sources include: Milk, eggs, cereal, date palm, corn flour, carob flour, scallops, mussels, and leafy and non-leafy vegetables, pecans, almonds, green and black tea, whole grains, and pineapple juice

What it does: Supports bone formation and wound healing, and also helps break down proteins, cholesterol, and carbohydrates. It’s also an antioxidant.

Molybdenum

Food sources include: Legumes, grain products, and nuts

What it does: Helps process proteins and other substances.

Phosphorus

Food sources include: Dairy products, beef, chicken, halibut, salmon, eggs, and whole wheat breads

What it does: Helps cells work, helps the body make energy, helps red blood cells deliver oxygen, and helps make bone.

Potassium

Food sources include: Broccoli, potatoes with the skin, prune juice, orange juice, leafy green vegetables, bananas, raisins, and tomatoes

What it does: Helps the nervous system and muscles; helps maintain a healthy balance of water.

Selenium

Food sources include: Organ meats (like liver), shrimp, crabs, salmon, halibut, and Brazil nuts

What it does: Helps protect cells from damage and regulates thyroid hormone.

Zinc

Food sources include: Red meat, fortified cereals, oysters, almonds, peanuts, chickpeas, soy foods, and dairy products

What it does: Supports immune function, as well as the reproductive and nervous systems.

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