Micronutrients: Vitamins, Minerals & Trace Elements

Nutrition basicsMicronutrientsEvidence based

Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals your body needs in milligrams or micrograms — tiny amounts compared to the grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat you eat every day. They don't supply energy. Instead, they make energy metabolism possible: turning food into fuel, sending nerve signals, building bone, clotting blood, fighting infection, and keeping every cell working.

Your body needs roughly 30 different micronutrients from food. Each one has a specific job, and most can't stand in for each other. This page explains what micronutrients are — not what each individual one does. For deep dives on any single vitamin or mineral, including food sources, recommended intakes, supplement forms, evidence and safety, head to our Supplements section.

Two kinds of micronutrients

Micronutrients divide into vitamins (organic compounds made by plants and animals) and minerals (inorganic elements from soil and water that enter the food chain through plants). The distinction matters because it affects how they behave in your body.

Vitamins — organic, and either stored or flushed

There are 13 vitamins, and they fall into two camps based on how they dissolve:

Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) dissolve in fat and are stored in your liver and fatty tissue. You don't need them every single day, but you also don't want to over-consume them — because they accumulate, the toxic range isn't far above the recommended one. They're found in fatty foods: liver, oily fish, eggs, dairy, vegetable oils, and leafy greens. Your body absorbs them best when you eat them with some fat.

Water-soluble vitamins (the 8 B vitamins plus C) dissolve in water and aren't stored in meaningful amounts — excess is flushed out in urine, which makes deficiency from low intake more likely and toxicity rarer. They're found in a wide range of foods: whole grains, meat, legumes, fruit and vegetables. Because they're not stored, you need them regularly. Vitamin B12 is the odd one out: it's water-soluble, but the liver keeps a multi-year supply.

Minerals — inorganic, and needed in two scales

Unlike vitamins, minerals are elements — they can't be broken down or destroyed by heat or light. They come from the earth, enter plants through soil and water, and reach you through the food you eat.

Major minerals are needed in amounts over 100 milligrams per day. There are seven: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur. They're the structural materials — bone, fluid balance, nerve signals — and you find them in dairy, leafy greens, salt, nuts, legumes and protein foods.

Trace elements are needed in micrograms to a few milligrams per day. There are about ten, including iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum and boron. They work as enzyme cofactors — tiny keys that unlock specific chemical reactions. You get them from meat, seafood, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Phytonutrients — the bonus compounds

Phytonutrients aren't vitamins or minerals. They're the thousands of bioactive compounds plants produce to protect themselves — and when we eat those plants, many of those same compounds appear to benefit human health: reducing inflammation, protecting cells from oxidative damage, and supporting blood vessel function. Polyphenols in berries and tea, carotenoids in tomatoes and carrots, glucosinolates in broccoli and kale — these are one of the strongest arguments for eating whole foods rather than relying on pills. A single apple contains hundreds of these compounds working together in ways a supplement can't replicate. Our Phytochemicals and Antioxidants guides go deeper.

Why food comes first

For most people, most of the time, a varied diet built from whole foods covers micronutrient needs without supplements. There are real exceptions — vitamin D in dark winters, B12 for vegans, iron for some women, folate before and during early pregnancy — but for the broad population, food is the safer and more effective delivery system. Here's why:

• Food contains the whole package. An orange gives you vitamin C plus fibre, flavonoids, potassium and water — all working together. An isolated vitamin C tablet gives you one thing.
• Absorption is self-regulated. Your gut absorbs iron from food more efficiently when your stores are low and slows down when they're full. High-dose supplements bypass this control.
• There's a ceiling. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and some minerals like iron and selenium accumulate in the body — and the toxic dose isn't far above the recommended one.
• Interactions are real. High-dose zinc can deplete copper. High-dose calcium can block iron absorption. Whole foods rarely create these problems because the doses stay within natural ranges.

Where to go next

• Want the deep dive on a specific vitamin or mineral? Head to Supplements — every page covers food sources, supplement forms, recommended intakes, evidence quality and safety.
• Curious about the plant compounds? Phytochemicals and Antioxidants cover polyphenols, carotenoids and more.
• Want to see how food becomes energy? The energy metabolism section on our Macronutrients page explains glycolysis, the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation in plain language.
• Want to put it all on a plate? Our Recipes section makes it practical — every recipe is built from whole foods that deliver these nutrients naturally.