Why Nutrients Are So Important

Question: Okay, so why are nutrients so important?

Various reasons. Unless you want to take a class in nutrition and review the reason each vitamin and mineral is important, the most important thing to know is your body needs a variety of nutrients to continue working properly. While a deficiency wont cause immediate problems with your skin, it can often have long-term effects through premature aging.

For instance, many vegetarians pay close attention to protein intake as it is cut down when meat is eliminated. This, however, is not the source of most vegetarian nutritional issues. Vitamin B12 does not occur naturally in plants and vegetable matter, and excesses of other vitamins can actually disguise a B12 deficiency. Ongoing deficiencies in vitamin B12 can cause lethargy, a lack of color in the skin, and, eventually, nerve damage. Now imagine the face of someone completely without energy. It definitely has an effect on the skin, doesnt it?

Skin can be affected even more indirectly. Diets high in fat, especially saturated fat, clog the arteries. This decreases blood flow to the entire body (not an ideal look, unless you like that death warmed over appearance) and can make it difficult for your skin to heal wounds and acne.

The easiest way to get most of these vitamins and minerals is through a multi-vitamin, but that wont cut it completely. Follow guidelines for a healthy diet that maintains good proportions of fat to carbohydrates to protein.