Preface

With information at our fingertips, everyone is equipped with a daily dose of diets for miraculous weight loss, immunity boosters and yoga for health. These bits of information can often be contradictory and confusing. Experimenting with different or all types of such tips on yourself can be frustrating, time consuming and most importantly harmful to your body. Instead, we should learn to listen to our body and understand the signals it gives us every time we try to change our diet, exercise or lifestyle. How do we learn to listen and interpret these signals our body gives us? The answer is to gain fundamental knowledge about nutrition and fitness of the human body, that is scientifically accurate and not based on popular jingles or celebrity endorsement.

The purpose of this book is to equip the reader with the latest findings from micronutrient research in a manner that is easy to understand and available in one place making it easy to follow in practice. The aim is to create awareness about the most important topic for well-being, ‘micronutrients in our diet’ and its role in maintaining good health. This book will aid nutritionists, dieticians in their practice. Additionally, it will be helpful for health-conscious people in understanding the scientific facts underlying the diet plans and exercise regimen.

Micronutrients are recognised as essential for a variety of biological functions and are increasingly used as a diet supplement to manage many health problems. Current research suggests that dietary modifications to include micronutrient-rich foods is more effective for treating deficiency states than taking multi-micronutrient supplements. This book precisely does the job of explaining metabolic functions of micronutrients, their natural food sources, daily requirements, deficiency symptoms and recipes to make beneficial dietary changes for adequate micronutrient intakes.

Other chemical substances in plant foods are phytochemicals, which include polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids. Available evidence indicates that micronutrients and phytochemicals have a synergistic effect on health. As the source of phytochemicals and micronutrients is the same plant foods, adding a variety of plant foods in the daily diet will provide these extra micronutrients to the body.

Dietary micronutrients, phytochemicals and the intestinal bacteria (gut microbiome) share a multifaceted relationship in variety of body functions and health effects. Gut bacteria help in digestion of food, synthesising vitamins, and regulating immune response. Diet also can alter the gut microbial population. The book highlights the linkages of phytochemicals, micronutrients, gut microbiome, prebiotics and probiotics, and their role in human health.

Micronutrients such as certain B vitamins and zinc have been explored for their beneficial effect for the recent Covid-19 virus. Research findings about boosting immune function through micronutrient-rich diet and dietary supplements are elucidated briefly.