Nutriential Hazards: Micronutrients: Vitamins and Minerals

Micronutrients play a fundamental role for normal metabolic functioning of human body, so their deficiencies produce specific clinical manifestations as well as a wide range of nonspecific physiological impairments. Under certain situations or physiological conditions (such as stress, smoking, pollution, drugs and alcohol consumption, pregnancy, lactation, etc.), nutrient requirements are even higher, being impossible to fulfill them with standard diets. Micronutrient malnutrition, therefore, represents a great burden for the public health system, with potential huge implications in both industrialized and developing countries. This problem can be overcome by dietary diversification, suitable supplementation, food fortification, or by increasing the concentration and/or bioavailability of mineral elements in place (biofortification). This article intends to provide an overall picture of food micronutrients (macro and microminerals and hydrosoluble and liposoluble vitamins), including the possible risks associated with their deficiencies and toxicity, so as to prevent chronic and degenerative diseases.