We’re all told that vitamins are essential for our bodies to function optimally.

We’re told to eat out fruits and vegetables in order to maintain good health.

But which essential vitamins are the most important?

Which foods are vital to include in your diet in order to obtain sufficient amounts of these vitamins?

In this article we will discuss the 6 main Vitamins everyone should take to maximize their health.

6 Main Vitamins for Optimal Health:

Vitamin A

Vitamin A acts as a precursor for retinol, which is important to maintain healthy skin and eyes.

It’s also vital for cell growth and development.

You can obtain vitamin A from red, orange, and yellow vegetables such as peppers, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

These foods get their orange hues from a molecule called beta carotene, which is required for optimal health.

B Vitamins

The B vitamins comprise eight vitamins that work together to aid the metabolism and breakdown of macronutrients.

Each B vitamin has unique roles that are essential for the body to undergo its necessary functions.

For example, B12 works to keep the body’s nerve cells, and red and white blood cells healthy. It’s also required for DNA synthesis.

You can obtain B12 from most animal products. Vegans can get B12 from nutritional yeast or via supplementation.

Vitamins C

Vitamins C is an antioxidant.

It works to remove or reduce oxidative damage in the cells that is produced by oxygen free radicals during metabolism and growth.

Vitamin C is essential for the health of your teeth, skin, and blood vessels and can be found in peppers, citrus fruits, strawberries, and kiwis.

Vitamin D

Your skin contains a precursor to vitamin D that gets activated upon exposure to sunlight.

You can also obtain vitamin D through your diet in foods such as mushrooms, fortified cereals, eggs, and fish.

Vitamin E

This essential nutrient also acts as an antioxidant to reduce oxidative damage within the body.

It helps to strengthen immune function, maintain good blood flow through the vessels, and keep the skin healthy.

Avocados, kiwis, mangoes, and nuts contain lots of vitamin E.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is found in green, leafy vegetables such as kale, broccoli, spinach, and Brussels sprouts.

It is required to activate certain proteins involved in the clotting pathway, which is essential to plug open wounds or cuts.

Without sufficient vitamin K, got caught by not being out to properly form.

What You Should Remember?

It’s important to try and eat a range of fruits and vegetables that are a variety of different colors.

Generally, similar colored produce contains similar micronutrients.

For example, red, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables contain high amounts of vitamin A. Green, leafy vegetables are full of vitamins C and K, as well as the minerals calcium and iron.

Therefore, to maximize your chances of getting sufficient amounts of every vitamin, aim to ‘eat the rainbow’ and incorporate lots of different fruits and vegetables into your diet.

If you’re struggling to obtain sufficient amounts of each nutrient through your diet, you can supplement with multivitamins or gummies that will boost your micronutrient intake.