Fill in the blanks: A/an ________ is a nutrient that the body requires in large quantities, whereas a/an ________ is one that the body requires in much smaller quantities. A/an ________ is a nutrient that the body cannot produce and so must be supplied from the diet.

Video transcript

Hi, everyone and welcome. Our next question says, vitamins and minerals are examples of which of the following. A macronutrient b, micronutrient c natural nutrients or d supplication nutrients. So let's recall what the purpose of vitamins and minerals are in the body. And these are essential nutrients needed for the body to function, but only in very small amounts. For example, iron, you wouldn't want to eat a whole lot of iron, but the body does need a small amount of iron for the crucial function of being involved in for example, part of every hemoglobin molecule necessary to carry oxygen throughout the body. Absolutely crucial function of the body. But you only need a very tiny amount of iron. So that takes us right to our answer choice. B micronutrient, that micro prefix. Of course, meaning small. When we look at our other answer choices. Choice. A macronutrient. Of course, we can see that prefixed macro, these are nutrients essential for survival, but in larger amounts. So things like proteins, fat carbohydrates where we need to regularly take in fairly large amounts of these in our diet. So not our correct answer choice as vitamins and minerals are only needed in very small amounts even though both are essential for survival. And then I see natural nutrients. Well, this is just a very vague term used more in marketing than anything else. It doesn't mean anything specific in terms of nutrition or biology and then choice these supplication nutrients. This just isn't a real thing. Uh, it's probably going for the idea of supplements. Many vitamins and minerals are sold in the form of supplements that can be taken. But this just is not real, I guess we'll put. Um, so that's why choices C and D aren't correct. So, once again, vitamins and minerals are examples of which choice b micronutrient. See you in the next video.