During adolescence, the requirements and needs of vitamins and minerals increase. Find out which are the most important nutrients at this stage.
The adolescence is an important stage in the life of a person, not only because it is during this period that his personality is formed and it matures both physically and emotionally, but because it is a vital stage in its development and growth.
For this reason, it is essential that parents pay special attention to the adolescent’s diet, since it is very important to monitor not only a healthy lifestyle (which with the consumption of tobacco and alcohol, so common in adolescents, tends to be very complicated ), but to maintain nutrition as healthy as possible.
What are the most important vitamins?
Although obviously the daily contribution of all vitamins for the proper functioning of the body is essential, during adolescence the needs of certain vitamins increase.
On the one hand, both folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 are involved in tissue synthesis and protein metabolism.
On the other, due to the bone growth that the adolescent suffers from puberty, the requirements of vitamin D increase.
Nor should we forget about other important vitamins that are involved and participate in good cell function and growth: vitamin A, C and E.
And the most outstanding minerals?
Given that one of the most prominent vitamins in adolescent bone growth is vitamin D, it obviously also increases calcium needs, since calcium needs this vitamin for its proper absorption by our body. This mineral is especially important for girls, since a poor calcium intake during adolescence can influence the future development of osteoporosis.
Other minerals also stand out, such as iron (by increasing blood volume due to the increase in body mass in boys, and in girls by the onset of menstruation), zinc (intervenes in sexual maturation and growth), magnesium, iodine, copper and phosphorus.
