Micronutrients

Micronutrients – Introduction

Whenever we eat, drink or breathe, hundreds of chemical elements and composites enter our body and interact with us on several different levels. Our body is a car that needs constant fueling, but being a complex one it requires several types of fuels. For example, we get oxygen from breathing, blood and oxygen are transported throughout the body by the water that we drink and most of the other essential elements are obtained through eating.

 
Some of these elements that we need to eat are essential, but some are essential in large quantities, called macronutrients, whereas some can get their job done with less intake: micronutrients. It's this last category that I'll try to cover and explain in the following article and I'll also try to keep it as simple and non-scientific as possible.

Micronutrients – Vitamins

There are 6 types of vitamin classes out there: A, B, C, D, E and K. Vitamin B has 8 sub-versions, each with its own specific trait but I won't go deeper into what each does since it's not as important for a soccer player's point of view.

 
What's important to know is that vitamins are responsible for dozens of essential body functions and processes. They carry nutrients into cells, help produce chemical reactions in the body, catalyze blood flow and blood clotting and so forth. Each vitamin has its specific (and important) role in the body and two of the biggest problems surrounding them are deficiency and overdose.

 
Vitamin deficiency can make you weak, it can make you more vulnerable to disease, cause you to regenerate wounds harder and so forth. As a soccer player, your body functions are taken to the extreme and a vitamin deficiency can be a severe draw back.

 
Deficiencies are however quite rare, since our daily diets are rich in vitamins, even if you don't work towards eating specific foods. As a general guide, fruits are amongst the most important sources of vitamins and they're essential in a soccer player's diet. Vegetables are also vitamin rich so eating your greens each day is pretty important for an athlete.

 
If you're suffering from a specific vitamin deficiency (vitamin A, C and D deficiencies are more common) you can either opt for diets containing fruits or vegetables rich in those vitamins that you lack, or take nutritional supplements containing the vitamins that you need. 

Make sure you don't go over what the doctor prescribes. Cases of overdose are generally caused by the "if one vitamin pill makes me stronger, 10 will make me ten times stronger" mentality. Obviously, that's not a good idea when you're playing with the basic structure of life.

Micronutrients – Minerals

If you've read the macronutrients article on the site, you'll remember that the body requires a large number of minerals to function, some of them in big quantities (calcium, potassium, etc) while with others it will do with smaller doses. These microminerals are Boron, Cobalt, Copper, Chloride, Chromium, Iron, Fluoride, Iodine, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium and Zinc and each has a specific and important role.

 
For example, Boron is responsible for transporting carbohydrates, maintaining healthy and strong bones and regulating metabolism. Cobalt helps produce vitamins and activate enzymes in the body. Copper aids in growth, function of the nervous system, tissue regeneration and bone health.

 
Overall, getting the right amount of these microminerals into your body will help it function properly and at maximum potential. Although required in small amounts, it's actually quite easy to gain deficiencies in these minerals, since our normal diets may not include them.

 
As a soccer player who puts up a lot of effort each week and is also looking to getting the best out of their bodies, you will want to carefully check if your diet includes these elements. Although visiting a nutritionist to set up a balanced diet for yourself is probably your best option, I took the liberty of creating a list of foods that contain each of these microminerals, which you should try to include into your meals:

Minerals