Getting the vitamins and minerals you need all year long can be tough—especially when you’re trying to lose weight. Fortunately, the foods you eat can go a long way toward meeting your health needs. Nearly every food contains some (or all) of the vitamins your body needs. Vitamins and minerals are essential for supporting your body’s vital functions, helping your body and organs to function properly. As important as the vitamins and minerals in food are to your health, you can get many of the same vitamins and minerals from your diet throughout the year.
Most of us know that fruits and vegetables are a key element of a healthy diet. But have you ever considered eating your veggies and fruits everyday of the year? The habit of eating a plant-based diet may come naturally to you, but for most, it may not be so easy. The availability of many fruits and vegetables varies according to the season. Although you may miss out on some of your favorite fruits and vegetables, having a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs available throughout the year gives you plenty of health benefits. Here are some vitamins you need all year round from your diet.
Chitosan
Chitosan is a fiber derived from chitin, a substance found in shellfish, among other things. It has many health benefits, and it’s found in many foods, including seafood, vegetables, and legumes. Vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians: rejoice! You may no longer feel like you’re missing out on your favorite foods because you can’t get everything you want at a restaurant. Vegan meat substitutes are being invented all the time. The latest contender is chitosan. This naturally occurring and non-toxic ingredient is derived from shellfish shells and is gaining traction in the health food industry as a source of dietary fiber.
Chromium Picolinate
Chromium Picolinate is a type of mineral that is important for a healthy metabolism and is considered a “micronutrient” because it is essential for health but can’t be synthesized by the human body. In addition to encouraging the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, chromium picolinate helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Chromium Picolinate is a dietary supplement that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It’s often used to help those who want to lose weight, but there are also many other health benefits. Chromium Picolinate is a trace mineral that plays an important role in your metabolism and helps your body break down carbohydrates and fats for energy. It also assists in insulin production, which helps your body use and store carbohydrates.
Glucomannan
Glucomannan, a water-soluble fiber extracted from the root of a konjac plant, is popular as a capsule supplement. The health benefits of glucomannan come from the dietary fiber in it. Glucomannan is a soluble fiber, which means that your body can digest and absorb it. Fiber is the natural part of plant foods that your body cannot digest, so when you ingest fiber, your body adds it to your body. Your intestines then break it down into short-chain fatty acids (such as butyrate) and glucose, which your body uses as fuel.
Guar Gum
Guar gum is a supplement that is commonly used to lose weight because it moistens the digestive system, making it easier to digest and absorb food. As a natural appetite suppressant, guar gum makes you feel full much faster when included in your diet. Guar gum is a type of fiber that comes from the guar bean. It’s used in a lot of gluten-free products, like gluten-free flour and gluten-free baking mixes, but it’s best known for its nutritional properties.
Green Coffee Extract
Green Coffee Extract contains chlorogenic acid, a compound that has been linked to improved fat burning and increased metabolism. Chlorogenic acid has been shown to increase the body’s ability to burn fat and suppress appetite, making green tea extract an important tool in losing weight. Green coffee bean extract, also often called GCBE, is extracted from the bean of unroasted coffee. Instead of taking caffeine and giving you the jitters, GCBE contains chlorogenic acid, a compound that helps boost metabolism, increase fat burning, and decrease calorie intake.
Green Tea Extract
Green tea extract is all the rage right now. People are turning to it for weight loss rather than relying on diets that eliminate foods that satisfy hunger. Green tea extract is made from green tea leaves that have been crushed and heated, then concentrated into a yellowish liquid. This extract contains a number of antioxidants and nutrients that improve health and help prevent disease. These include catechins, which are found in high concentrations in the leaves. Catechins help lower bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and help regulate blood sugar, which can help prevent diabetes. And you can get all that from a 10-ounce cup of green tea extract!