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Nutrition: vitamins and minerals

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Course description

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Please note: This is course is due to be archived on Monday 6th March 2023. You can study the course up until this date. For learners who have completed the course, the Statement of Participation will remain in your learner records in your OpenLearn profile.

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Both vitamins and minerals are essential in the diet in small quantities. Learn about the two main vitamin groups and the major mineral elements. This free course, Nutrition: vitamins and minerals, looks at the two main groups of vitamins: the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K; and the water-soluble vitamins, the B group and vitamin C. It also examines the major mineral elements, and the importance of fluid balance in the body.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • Understand certain minerals are required in the body and that some minerals form essential structural components of tissues
  • Understand that sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride ions are important in maintaining the correct composition of cells and of the tissue fluids around them (homeostasis)
  • Understand that some minerals are essential components of important molecules such as hormones and enzymes
  • Understand that the correct fluid balance is essential for normal functioning of the body
  • Understand that tapwater, and not just mineral water, contains minerals.
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First Published: 09/08/2012

Updated: 05/04/2019

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