The best approach to ensure you're getting a variety of vitamins and minerals, and in the right amounts, is to eat a large, healthy diet. This involves focusing on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, low-fat proteins and dairy products. The good news is that many common foods contain multiple sources of minerals and vitamins, making it easy to meet your daily needs with daily meals. Of all the green leafy vegetables, kale is the queen.
Meat (especially liver), fish (especially salmon), dark green leafy vegetables, milk, nuts and whole grains. They are often called essential because they are not synthesized in the body (with the exception of vitamin D) and must therefore come from food.
Fat-soluble vitamins
are found primarily in foods high in natural fats, such as dairy products, eggs, and oily fish. You should get most of the energy you need from starchy foods (potatoes, pasta and cereals) without eating free sugars. The body needs certain minerals to build strong bones and teeth and to convert the food you eat into energy.If meat and animal products are part of your diet, here's a list of foods that, in short, contain all 13 essential vitamins. During food preparation, cooking and manufacturing, salt is used as a preservative and flavor enhancer. However, in general, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients are found in some of the most nutrient-dense foods that exist and are not included in the list. Foods such as yogurt, eggs, lentils, broccoli, and black beans are some of the most nutrient-dense foods out there.
Below, you'll find that I've compiled the shortest possible shopping lists containing foods that can get you all 13 essential vitamins by eating. While your body needs these vitamins to work properly, you don't need to eat foods that contain them every day. In fact, one study showed that cacao and dark chocolate scored higher in antioxidants than any other food analyzed, including blueberries and acai berries (4). If you avoid dairy products at all costs, here's a list of foods to make sure you're getting the same vitamins from sources other than animal products.
A healthy, balanced diet containing a variety of foods should provide all the vitamins your body needs to function properly.
