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An essential nutrient is a nutrient
Nutrient

A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment....
 required for normal body functioning that cannot be synthesized by the body and thus must be obtained from a dietary
Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, the diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat....
 source. Some categories of essential nutrients include vitamin
Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be biosynthesis in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet....
s, dietary minerals, essential fatty acid
Essential fatty acid

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that cannot be constructed within an organism from other components by any known chemical pathways, and therefore must be obtained from the diet....
s, and essential amino acid
Essential amino acid

File:BakedFish.jpgAn essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo synthesis by the organism , and therefore must be supplied in the diet....
s.

Different species have very different essential nutrients. For example, most mammals synthesize their own ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is a sugar acid with antioxidant properties. Its appearance is white to light-yellow crystals or powder. It is water-soluble. The L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid is commonly known as vitamin C....
, and it is therefore not considered an essential nutrient for such species.






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An essential nutrient is a nutrient
Nutrient

A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment....
 required for normal body functioning that cannot be synthesized by the body and thus must be obtained from a dietary
Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, the diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat....
 source. Some categories of essential nutrients include vitamin
Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be biosynthesis in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet....
s, dietary minerals, essential fatty acid
Essential fatty acid

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that cannot be constructed within an organism from other components by any known chemical pathways, and therefore must be obtained from the diet....
s, and essential amino acid
Essential amino acid

File:BakedFish.jpgAn essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo synthesis by the organism , and therefore must be supplied in the diet....
s.

Different species have very different essential nutrients. For example, most mammals synthesize their own ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is a sugar acid with antioxidant properties. Its appearance is white to light-yellow crystals or powder. It is water-soluble. The L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid is commonly known as vitamin C....
, and it is therefore not considered an essential nutrient for such species. It is, however, an essential nutrient for human beings, who require external sources of ascorbic acid (known as Vitamin C in the context of nutrition).

Many essential nutrients are toxic in large doses (see hypervitaminosis or the nutrient pages themselves below). Some can be taken in amounts larger than required in a typical diet, with no apparent ill effects. Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling

Linus Carl Pauling was an United States scientist, peace activist, author and list of educators. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists in any field of the 20th century....
 said of vitamin B3
Niacin

Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin which prevents the Nutrition disorder pellagra. It is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5NO2....
, (either niacin or niacinamide), "What astonished me was the very low toxicity of a substance that has such very great physiological power. A little pinch, 5 mg, every day, is enough to keep a person from dying of pellagra
Pellagra

Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by dietary lack of niacin and protein, especially proteins containing the essential amino acid tryptophan....
, but it is so lacking in toxicity that ten thousand times as much can [sometimes] be taken without harm."

List of essential nutrients

  • Essential human requirements usually not considered to be nutrients:
    • Oxygen
      Oxygen

      Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
    • Water
      Water

      Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
    • Sunlight
      Sunlight

      Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total spectroscopy of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is Filter ed through the Earth's atmosphere, and the solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon....
       (for synthesis of Vitamin D)
  • Essential fatty acid
    Essential fatty acid

    Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that cannot be constructed within an organism from other components by any known chemical pathways, and therefore must be obtained from the diet....
    s:
    • Linolenic acid
      Alpha-linolenic acid

      a-Linolenic acid is an organic compound found in many common Vegetable fats and oils. IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, it is named all-cis-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid....
       (the shortest chain omega-3 fatty acid)
    • Linoleic acid
      Linoleic acid

      Linoleic acid is an unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid. It is a colorless liquid. In physiological literature, it is called 18:2. Chemically, linoleic acid is a carboxylic acid with an 18-carbon chain and two cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the sixth carbon from the omega end....
       (the shortest chain omega-6 fatty acid)
  • Essential amino acid
    Essential amino acid

    File:BakedFish.jpgAn essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo synthesis by the organism , and therefore must be supplied in the diet....
    s necessary for all humans:
    • Histidine
      Histidine

      Histidine is one of the 20 standard amino acids present in proteins. In the nutritional sense, in humans, histidine is considered an essential amino acid, but only in children....
    • Isoleucine
      Isoleucine

      Isoleucine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCHCH2CH3. It is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it, so it must be part of our diet....
    • Lysine
      Lysine

      Lysine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH4NH2. This amino acid is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it....
    • Leucine
      Leucine

      Leucine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2CH2. It is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesise it....
    • Methionine
      Methionine

      Methionine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2CH2SCH3. This Essential amino acid is classified as nonpolar....
    • Phenylalanine
      Phenylalanine

      Phenylalanine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2C6H5, which is found naturally in the breast milk of mammals and manufactured for food and drink products and are also sold as nutritional supplements for their reputed analgesic and antidepressant effects....
    • Threonine
      Threonine

      Threonine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCHCH3. Its codons are ACU, ACA, ACC, and ACG. This essential amino acid is classified as Chemical polarity....
    • Tryptophan
      Tryptophan

      Tryptophan is one of the 20 List of standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG....
    • Valine
      Valine

      Valine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2. L-Valine is one of 20 proteogenic amino acids....
  • Essential amino acids necessary for human children and not adults:
    • Arginine
      Arginine

      Arginine is an a-amino acid. The Optical isomerism is one of the 20 most common natural amino acids. Its codons are CGU, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG....
  • Vitamin
    Vitamin

    A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be biosynthesis in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet....
    s:
    • Biotin
      Biotin

      Biotin, also known as vitamin H or B7, has the chemical formula C10H16N2O3S , is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin which is composed of an ureido ring fused with a tetrahydrothiophene ring....
       (vitamin B7, vitamin H)
    • Choline
      Choline

      Choline is an organic compound, classified as a water-soluble essential nutrient and usually grouped within the Vitamin B complex. This natural amine is found in the lipids that make up cell membranes and in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine....
       (vitamin Bp)
    • Folate (folic acid, vitamin B9, vitamin M)
    • Niacin
      Niacin

      Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin which prevents the Nutrition disorder pellagra. It is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5NO2....
       (vitamin B3, vitamin P, vitamin PP)
    • Pantothenic acid
      Pantothenic acid

      Pantothenic acid, also called vitamin B5 , is a water-soluble vitamin required to sustain life . Pantothenic acid is needed to form coenzyme-A , and is critical in the metabolism and synthesis of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats....
       (vitamin B5)
    • Riboflavin
      Riboflavin

      Riboflavin , also known as vitamin B2, is an easily absorbed micronutrient with a key role in maintaining health in humans and animals....
       (vitamin B2, vitamin G)
    • Thiamine
      Thiamine

      'Thiamine', or 'thiamin', sometimes called aneurin, is a water-soluble vitamin of the B complex , whose phosphate derivatives are involved in many cellular processes....
       (vitamin B1)
    • Vitamin A
      Vitamin A

      Vitamin A, a bi-polar molecule formed with bi-polar covalent bonds between carbon and hydrogen, is linked to a family of similarly shaped molecules, the retinoids, which complete the remainder of the vitamin sequence....
       (retinol)
    • Vitamin B6
      Vitamin B6

      Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin and is part of the vitamin B complex group. Pyridoxal phosphate is the active form and is a cofactor in many reactions of amino acid metabolism, including transamination, deamination, and decarboxylation....
       (pyridoxine
      Pyridoxine

      Pyridoxine is one of the compounds that can be called vitamin B6, along with Pyridoxal and Pyridoxamine. It differs from pyridoxamine by the substituent at the '4' position....
      , pyridoxamine
      Pyridoxamine

      Pyridoxamine is one of the compounds composing vitamin B6, along with pyridoxal and pyridoxine. Pyridoxamine is converted to the biologically active form, pyridoxal 5-phosphate, and inhibits formation of advanced glycation endproducts....
      , or pyridoxal
      Pyridoxal

      Pyridoxal is one of the three natural forms of vitamin B6, along with pyridoxamine and pyridoxine . All of these forms are converted in the human body into a single biologically active form, Pyridoxal-phosphate....
      )
    • Vitamin B12
      Vitamin B12

      Vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood....
       (cobalamin)
    • Vitamin C
      Vitamin C

      Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of simian species, a small number of other mammalian species , a few species of birds, and some fish....
       (ascorbic acid
      Ascorbic acid

      Ascorbic acid is a sugar acid with antioxidant properties. Its appearance is white to light-yellow crystals or powder. It is water-soluble. The L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid is commonly known as vitamin C....
      )
    • Vitamin D
      Vitamin D

      Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 . The term vitamin D also refers to metabolites and other analogues of these substances....
       (ergocalciferol
      Ergocalciferol

      Ergocalciferol is a form of Vitamin D, also called vitamin D2. It has the systematic name "-9,10-secoergosta-5,7,10,22-tetraen-3-ol". It is created from viosterol, which in turn is created when ultraviolet light activates ergosterol....
      , or cholecalciferol
      Cholecalciferol

      Cholecalciferol is a form of Vitamin D, also called vitamin D3 or calciol.It is structurally similar to steroids such as testosterone, cholesterol, and cortisol ....
      )
    • Vitamin E
      Vitamin E

      Vitamin E is the collective name for a set of 8 related a-, ?-, ?-, and d-tocopherols and the corresponding four tocotrienols, which are fat-soluble vitamins with antioxidant properties....
       (tocopherol)
    • Vitamin K
      Vitamin K

      Vitamin K denotes a group of lipophilic, hydrophobic vitamins that are needed for the posttranslational modification of certain proteins, mostly required for blood coagulation....
       (naphthoquinoids)
  • Dietary minerals
    • Calcium
      Calcium

      Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
       (Ca)
    • Chloride
      Chloride

      The chloride ion is formed when the chemical element chlorine picks up one electron to form an anion Cl−....
       (Cl−)
    • Cobalt
      Cobalt

      Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, grey metal, a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Although cobalt-based colors and pigments have been used since ancient times, and miners have long used the name kobold ore for some minerals, cobalt was only discovered in 1735 by Georg Brandt....
       (Co) (as part of Vitamin B-12)
    • Copper
      Copper

      Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
       (Cu)
    • Iodine
      Iodine

      Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
       (I)
    • Iron
      Iron

      Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
       (Fe)
    • Magnesium
      Magnesium

      Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass....
       (Mg)
    • Manganese
      Manganese

      Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
       (Mn)
    • Molybdenum
      Molybdenum

      Molybdenum , is a Group 6 element chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It has the List of elements by melting point melting point of any element....
       (Mo)
    • Nickel
      Nickel

      Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge....
       (Ni)
    • Phosphorus
      Phosphorus

      Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
       (P)
    • Potassium
      Potassium

      Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
       (K)
    • Selenium
      Selenium

      Selenium is a chemical element with the atomic number 34, represented by the chemical symbol Se, an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, chemically related to sulfur and tellurium, and rarely occurs in its elemental state in nature....
       (Se)
    • Sodium
      Sodium

      Sodium is an element which has the symbol Na , atomic number 11, atomic mass 23 amu , and a common oxidation number +1. Sodium is a soft, silvery white, highly reactive element and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1" ....
       (Na)
    • Sulfur
      Sulfur

      Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
       (S) numerous roles
    • Zinc
      Zinc

      Zinc is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a first-row transition metal of the group 12 element of the periodic table....
       (Zn)
The body's requirements vary widely. At one extreme a 70 kg human contains 1.0 kg of calcium but only 3 mg of cobalt.

Elements with speculated role in human health

Many elements have been implicated at various times to have a role in human health. For none of these elements has a specific protein or complex been identified:
  • Boron
    Boron

    Boron is a chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a trivalent metalloid element which occurs abundantly in the evaporite ores borax and ulexite....
     (B)
  • Chromium
    Chromium

    Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is a steely-gray, Lustre , hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point....
     (Cr) See chromium deficiency
    Chromium deficiency

    Chromium deficiency is a disorder that results from an insufficient dietary intake of chromium. Whether or not such a deficiency ever occurs in people eating a normal diet is debated, and clear cases of deficiency have only been observed in hospital patients who were fed defined liquid diets intravenously for long periods of time....
  • Silicon
    Silicon

    Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
     (Si)


Further reading

  • Hausman, P, 1987, The Right Dose. Rodale Press, Emaus, Pennsylvania. ISBN 0-87857-678-9


See also


  • Avitaminosis
    Avitaminosis

    Avitaminosis is any disease caused by chronic or long-term vitamin deficiency or caused by a defect in metabolic conversion, such as tryptophan to niacin....
     (vitamin deficiency)
  • Dietary Reference Intake
    Dietary Reference Intake

    The Dietary Reference Intake is a system of nutrition recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the US United States National Academy of Sciences....
  • Dietary supplement
    Dietary supplement

    A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to provide nutrients, such as vitamins, Dietary minerals, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet ....
  • Illnesses related to poor nutrition
    Illnesses related to poor nutrition

    Many diseases in humans are directly or indirectly caused by improper eating habits and malnutrition. These include, but are not limited to, deficiency diseases, caused by a lack of essential nutrients....
  • Malnutrition
    Malnutrition

    Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or inadequate diet and nutrition.According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases....
  • Orthomolecular medicine
    Orthomolecular medicine

    Orthomolecular medicine, or megavitamin therapy is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that purports to prevent or treat diseases with nutrients prescribed as dietary supplements or derived from diets....
  • Vitamin poisoning
    Vitamin poisoning

    Vitamin poisoning, hypervitaminosis or vitamin drug overdose refers to a condition of high storage levels of vitamins, which can lead to toxic symptoms....
  • Health freedom movement