[1] Vitamin A, a group of fat-soluble substances, is found in many foods such as liver (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and fish), carrots, broccoli leaves, sweet potatoes, butter, spinach, leafy vegetables, pumpkin, eggs, apricots, papaya, mango, peas etc. These substances include retinol (an alcohol) and retinal (an aldehyde). Retinal is responsible for production of an acid that affects gene transcription. By means of cellular differentiation, physiological roles of cells are specialized. Vitamin A also includes carotenoids, which are produced by plants. These are transformed to retinal. Fruits and vegetables for example contain beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the human body. Vitamin A plays a role in a variety of functions throughout the body, such as vision, gene transcription, immune function, embryonic development and reproduction, bone metabolism, hematopoiesis, skin health, reducing risk of heart disease and cancer, antioxidant activity etc.  

[2] Vitamins B are eight water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. Historically, the B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, referred to as vitamin B (much like how people refer to vitamin C or vitamin D). Later research showed that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods. Supplements containing all eight are generally referred to as a vitamin B complex. Individual vitamin B supplements are referred to by the specific name of each vitamin (e.g. B₁, B₂, B₃ etc).

Vitamins-B often work together to deliver a number of health benefits to the body such as support and increase the rate of metabolism, maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance immune and nerve system, promote cell growth and division - including that of the red blood cells that help prevent anemia, reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, together, they also help combat the symptoms and causes of stress, depression and cardiovascular.

All vitamins-B are water soluble, and are dispersed throughout the body. Most of the B vitamins must be replenished daily, since any excess is excreted in the urine. A six year cobalamin store can be found in the liver, despite its water soluble nature.

Different vitamins-B come from different natural sources, such as potatoes, bananas, lentils, chilli peppers, liver oil, liver, turkey, tuna, nutritional yeast and molasses. Marmite and vegemite bill themselves as “one of the world’s richest known sources of vitamin B”. As might be expected, due to its high content of brewer’s yeast, beer is a source of B vitamins, although this may be less true for filtered beers and the alcohol in beer impairs the body’s ability to activate vitamins.

Vitamin-B₁₂ is of note because it is not available from plant products, making B₁₂ deficiency a concern for vegans. Manufacturers of plant-based foods will sometimes report B₁₂ content, leading to confusion about what sources yield B₁₂. Another popular means of increasing one’s vitamin-B intake is through the use of dietary supplements.

[3] Vitamin B₂, generally referred to as riboflavin, is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin. In the human body, it is an integral component of various coenzymes. It is a component of various coenzymes that play an important role in oxidation and reduction reactions in numerous metabolic pathways, such as those of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. It promotes regular patterns of growth and development. It assists energy release from food and is part of the electron transport chain which is central to energy production. It plays a key role in mucus membrane maintenance, in fertility and in the maintenance of health of eyes, skin and nervous system. Good sources of vitamin B₂ includes milk, cheese, leafy green vegetables, liver,  kidneys, legumes such as mature soya beans, yeast, almonds etc but exposure to light destroys riboflavin.

[4] Vitamin C is probably the best known and most widely used vitamin. It is the body’s main water soluble antioxidant, and as such acts as one of the main protectors of body tissue against free radical damage. Man is one of the very few animals that do not produce our own vitamin C in the body, and so we are uniquely dependant on our diet to supply it from the fruit and vegetables we eat.  

[5] Vitamin-D, a fat-soluble, is formed when cholesterol in the skin is exposed to ultraviolet sunlight. Vitamin D only has physiological effects when it is first modified by the body. 

[6] Vitamin E is the body’s main fat soluble antioxidant which protects cell membranes from free radical damage. This means that it is protective against heart disease, cancer, and a whole range of other health problems.

[7] Vitamin K, a fat-soluble, plays a vital role in blood clotting. There are several forms of vitamin K, one synthesized by plants, one synthesized by animals (including humans) and a large range of types synthesized by bacteria in the small intestine of humans.

[8] Calcium is essential for healthy bones and to prevent osteoporosis, and is now thought to have a role in lowering blood pressure and preventing bowel cancer. However, modern diets are often severely lacking in Calcium, and many adults are only having half the recommended amount of Calcium in their diets, and so Calcium supplements have a significant role to play.

[9] Potassium is an alkali element, occurring abundantly but always combined, as in the chloride, sulphate, carbonate, or silicate in the minerals sylvite, kainite, orthoclase, muscovite, etc. It is reduced from the carbonate as a soft white metal, lighter than water, which oxidizes with the greatest readiness, and, to be preserved, must be kept under hydrocarbons, as naphtha or kerosene. Its compounds are very important, being used in glass making, soap making, in fertilizers, and in many drugs and chemicals. Potassium permanganate is a salt, crystallizing in dark red prisms having a greenish surface colour, and dissolving in water with a beautiful purple red colour; used as an oxidizer and disinfectant. 

[10] Iron is the most common and most useful metallic element, being of almost universal occurrence. It is found in leafy vegetables, liver, red meat, fish, poultry, lentils, potatoes with skin, bread made from completely whole-grain flour,  raisins etc.  It is used by body in formation of red blood cells. Excessive iron can be toxic.

[11] Zinc is a metallic chemical element. Zinc is present in tissues.

[12] Arthritis and rheumatism are the words commonly used to describe joint pain, but there are many different types of arthritis and rheumatism, each with their own different cause and treatment.

[13] Copper is a chemical element. Copper is an essential trace nutrient to all high plants and animals. In animals, including humans, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. However, in sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous and even fatal to organisms.

[14] Calcium is the chemical element. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal. Calcium is also the fifth most abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate. As a major material used in mineralization of bones and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals. Calcium is essential for the normal growth and maintenance of bones and teeth, and calcium requirements must be met throughout life. Long-term calcium deficiency can lead to osteoporosis, in which the bone deteriorates and there is an increased risk of fractures. While a lifelong deficit can affect bone and tooth formation, over-retention can cause hypercalcemia (elevated levels of calcium in the blood), impaired kidney function and decreased absorption of other minerals. High calcium intakes or high calcium absorption were previously thought to contribute to the development of kidney stones. However, more recent studies show that high dietary calcium intakes actually decrease the risk for kidney stones. Vitamin-D is needed to absorb calcium. Dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are a well-known source of calcium. Many other good sources of calcium exist. These include seaweeds, nuts and seeds like almonds, and sesame; blackstrap molasses; beans; oranges; figs; amaranth; okra; broccoli;and fortified products such as orange juice and soy milk, eggshell, which can be ground into a powder and mixed into food or a glass of water, cultivated vegetables generally have less calcium than wild plants.

[15] Magnesium salt help in action, motion of ATP, nucleic aic, it is found in vegetables. It is essential for muscles and nerves.

[16] Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that cannot be constructed within an organism from other components (generally all references are to humans) by any known chemical pathways; and therefore must be obtained from the diet. The term refers to those involved in biological processes, and not fatty acids which may just play a role as fuel. As many of the compounds created from essential fatty acids can be taken directly in the diet, it is possible that the amounts required in the diet (if any) are overestimated. It is also possible they can be underestimated as organisms can still survive in unideal, malnourished conditions.

There are two families of EFAs: ω-3 (or omega-3 or n-3) and ω-6 (omega-6, n-6.) Fats from each of these families are essential, as the body can convert one omega-3 to another omega-3, for example, but cannot create an omega-3 from scratch. They were originally designated as Vitamin F when they were discovered as essential nutrients.

[17] Omega-3 fatty acids are a family of good fats that are essential for health, but are sadly lacking in the modern diet. This lack had been linked with a wide range of medical problems from poor concentration and learning difficulties in children to increased rates of heart disease in adults. We should all make the effort to increase omega-3 fatty acids in our diet by eating more oily fish or taking supplements containing fish oil or flax oil.

[18] The three fatty acids required for growth in mammas, arachidonic, linolenic and linoleic acids. Only linoleic acid needs to be supplied in the diet, the other two can be made from it.

[19] Sodium is a soft, silvery, highly reactive alkali metal. It is most commonly found in the form of salt, sodium chloride. Sodium salt is for tissues and nerve action, its sources are table salt and vegetables. It is essential for blood and other body.

[20]Carotene is the precursor of vitamin A, each molecule giving rise to two vitamin A molecules

[21] Silicon is a non-metallic element analogous to carbon. It always occurs combined in nature, and is artificially obtained in the free state, usually as a dark brown amorphous powder, or as a dark crystalline substance with a metallic luster. Its oxide is silica, or common quartz, and in this form, or as silicates, it is, next to oxygen, the most abundant element of the earth’s crust. Silicon is characteristically the element of the mineral family, as carbon is of the organic world.

[22] Nicotinic Acid is a precursor of NAD that is a product of the oxidation of nicotine.

[23] Volatile oil is an essential oil is any concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants, which are called aromatic herbs or aromatic plants.

[24] Selenium is required by the body in minute amounts, and yet most people still don’t get enough in their normal diet to give them the health benefits of this important trace mineral. It is a powerful antioxidant, and has been shown to reduce the incidence of several cancers, as well as protecting the heart. Dietary sources include Brazil nuts, seafood, poultry, meats and grains.

[25] All the different kinds of foods in the world are composed of the same six basic ingredients namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. These ingredients, called nutrients, are the chemical substances, the organisms need in order to grow and function properly. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins are called organic nutrients because they are synthesized within living organisms. Minerals and water are inorganic nutrients and are not synthesized within living organisms. Few foods contain all the nutrients. In fact most foods contain a concentration of just one or two of them.

[26] Proteins are the major structural and functional material of body cells. Proteins from food help the body to grow and repair tissues. It speeds up a chemical reaction (protein also called enzymes organic catalysts through that reaction in body takes place). Protein consists of a chain of amino acids. Human body takes about 20 amino acids to construct the proteins. Amino acids which body produces are called “nonessential amino acids”, simply therefore such body need not get from food. Amino acids which are required to be taken from food are called “essential amino acids” which are 10 in case of children and 8 in case of adults. These 2 are reaction oriented for growth. Some foods contains all essential amino acids like most animal proteins eggs, milk, fish, poultry, beef etc. Most plants on the other hand don’t. however eating certain 2 or more plants foods or seeds, grains,  in combination, supply all essential amino acids

[27] Fats are organic molecules that body utilizes to obtain energy to build cell membranes and other cell parts. The body stores excess fat from the diet in special tissues under the skin, around kidneys and lever. (Excess carbohydrates may be converted into fat for storage). The stored fat is actually beneficial unless they are excess. A light layer of body fat beneath skin provides insulation in cold weather, whereas fat surrounding vulnerable organs, such as kidneys and lever acts as protective padding. Body can use fat when carbohydrates are not available. Consuming a high level of saturated fats seems to trigger an increase in the production of cholesterol, a fat like molecule in the body lead to the formation of fatty deposits that can clog arteries, hardening them and restricting blood flow. The result may be heart disease or a stroke

[28] Minerals are inorganic substances, required for normal function of the body. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium and iron are drawn from the soil and become part of plants.

[29] Fibre helps in the digestive process and is thought to lower cholesterol and help control blood glucose. The two types of fibre in food are soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibre, found in beans, fruits, and oat products, dissolve in water and is thought to help lower blood fats and blood glucose. Insoluble fibre, found in whole grains products and vegetables, passes directly through the digestive system, helping to rid the body of waste products and possibly prevent disease such as colon cancer.

High fibre diets help delay the progression of diverticulitis and, at least, reduce the bouts of diverticulitis. In many cases, it helps reduce the symptoms of the irritable bowel (IBS) (also called spastic colitis, mucus colitis, and nerve colon syndrome.) It is generally accepted that a diet high in fibre is protective, or at least reduces the incidence, of colon polyos and colon cancer.

Soluble fibre substances are effective in helping reduce the blood cholesterol. This is especially true with oat bran, fruits, psyllim and legumes. High soluble-fibre diets may lower cholesterol and low–density lipoproteins ( the ‘bad’ lipoproteins ) by 8% to 15%.

Insoluble fibre retains water in the colon, resulting in a softer and larger stool. It is used effectively in treating constipation resulting from poor dietary habits. Bran is particularly rich in insoluble fibre.

Soluble fibres (oat bran, apple, citrus, pears, peas/beans, psyllium, etc.) slow down the digestion of carbohydrates (sugar), which results in better glucose metabolism. Some patients with the adult -onset diabetes may actually be successfully treated with a high -fibre diet alone, and those on insulin, can often reduce their insulin requirement by adhering to a high-fibre diet.

[30] Carbohydrates are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that provides most of body’ energy when they are broken down in cellular respiration. Energy provided by proteins and fats must be subjected to many more chemical processes before body can obtain energy from them whereas body can easily use the energy provided by carbohydrates. Sugars contained in it are converted into the usable energy of ATP.

[31] Phosphorus is a poisonous nonmetallic element of the nitrogen group, obtained as a white, or yellowish, translucent waxy substance, having a characteristic disagreeable smell. It is very active chemically, must be preserved under water, and unites with oxygen even at ordinary temperature, giving a faint glow, whence its name. It always occurs compined, usually in phosphates, as in the mineral apatite, in bones, etc. It is used in the composition on the tips of friction matches, and for many other purposes.