Nutrient Atlas
Nutrients
Four kinds of things inside food, kept distinct because they behave differently.
Essential vitamins
Learn how water soluble and fat soluble vitamins differ
- Vitamin KVitamin K helps the body prepare proteins used in blood clotting and bone metabolism. These are different jobs performed by different proteins.
- Vitamin CVitamin C helps make the body's connective tissue, supports immune-cell activity and helps protect cells from damage caused by reactive molecules.
- Vitamin AVitamin A helps the eyes respond to light, supports the immune system and helps cells develop into the specialized types the body needs.
- FolateFolate, also called vitamin B9, helps cells make genetic material and divide. Its work supports the ongoing creation and replacement of cells throughout the body.
- Vitamin B6Vitamin B6 helps enzymes process nutrients and make chemical messengers that nerve cells use to communicate. It helps the body use food; it does not supply calories itself.
Essential minerals
- CalciumCalcium gives bones and teeth much of their structure. A smaller amount also acts in signals that nerves and muscles use to do their work.
- MagnesiumMagnesium helps enzymes work and helps cells move calcium and potassium across their boundaries. These processes support nerve signals, muscle contraction and normal heart rhythm.
- PotassiumPotassium is an electrolyte: a mineral that carries an electrical charge in body fluids. Differences in potassium levels inside and outside cells help nerves signal and muscles contract.
- IronIron is part of proteins that carry oxygen in the blood and make it available in muscles. The body needs that oxygen for normal cell activity.
- ManganeseManganese is needed in small amounts to help enzymes carry out reactions, including reactions that process food components and handle reactive molecules inside cells.
Fiber
Functional & bioactive compounds
- Beta-caroteneBeta-carotene is a plant pigment that the body can convert into vitamin A. That makes it a vitamin A precursor, rather than a separate essential vitamin.
- Lutein + zeaxanthinLutein and zeaxanthin are related plant pigments called carotenoids. Unlike beta-carotene, they do not turn into vitamin A, so their amount is reported separately.