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What are vitamins?

Vitamins are nutrients that everyone needs in small amounts for the body to work properly. Different vitamins have different functions. For example, some enzymes need particular vitamins to work, and other vitamins stop oxygen from damaging your cells. Your body can't make most vitamins (apart from vitamin D), so you have to get them from the food you eat.

There are two types of vitamin:

• water-soluble vitamins cannot be stored in the body and need to be replaced regularly in your diet
• fat-soluble vitamins (including vitamins A, D, E and K) are stored in the body, but should still be part of a healthy diet

What are minerals and trace elements?

Minerals are inorganic elements that are needed in small amounts for your body to function. Trace elements are inorganic elements that are needed in even smaller amounts. Different elements have different functions. For example, you need:

• calcium to make strong bones
• sodium for fluid balance and nerve function
• iron for oxygen transport in the blood and energy metabolism
• iodine for thyroid hormone function

Minerals are as essential as vitamins. Like most vitamins, your body can't make them so you have to get them from your diet.

How much do I need?

Nutritional needs vary from person to person, depending on gender, age and activity levels.

The Department of Health gives guidance on the correct levels of nutrients in the diet, although these are not exact recommendations. You will often see food and supplement packets listing the RDA (recommended daily allowance). This tells you how much of certain nutrients you need in your diet. In the UK, this term has now been replaced by a different way of naming nutritional needs, using dietary reference values (DRVs). DVRs show the amount of energy or an individual nutrient that you need. But the term RDA is still in common use.