Salt 

Adults should have no more than 6 grams (g) of salt a day. On average people are actually having about 9g of salt a day. For information on the Agency's salt campaign visit our salt site.

Why we should cut down

Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. And people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure.

When most people think of salt, they think of shaking it on their food, or adding a pinch to cooking. But the salt we add ourselves makes up just a quarter of the salt we eat. Three-quarters (75%) of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy.

Lots of people think they don't eat a lot of salt, especially if they don't add it to their food. But don't be so sure!

In the UK, 85% men and 69% women eat too much salt. And remember that three-quarters of the salt we eat comes from foods that already contain it. So you could easily be eating too much salt without realising it.

Drinks

Drinks are very important for our bodies to work properly and to make sure we don't get dehydrated. But to make healthy choices it's important to know what to drink and when.

Drinking enough?  Are you getting enough fluids for your body to work properly? Can you spot the signs of dehydration?

Soft drinks

We should be trying to drink at least 6 to 8 glasses a day to avoid dehydration. But watch out for the empty calories in many soft drinks.

Alcohol

Find out how much you can drink and still be healthy and get some practical tips if you need to cut down.

Vitamins and minerals

This section contains the advice and safety information you need to make informed choices about all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that are essential for health. It also includes advice on others currently available as dietary supplements.

Using this section

Most people should be able to get all the nutrients they need by eating a varied and balanced diet. But if you choose to take supplements, it's important to know that taking too much or taking them for too long can cause harmful effects.

So if you choose to take supplements, make sure you're informed.

The advice given in this section is aimed at adults. You might also want to check out the information in the 'Ages and stages' section, which has nutrition advice for all ages and includes advice on what foods to avoid for women who are pregnant or trying for a baby.

Use the menu on the right hand side to go to a vitamin, mineral or trace element.

What are vitamins?

Vitamins are essential nutrients that your body needs in small amounts to work properly. There are two types of vitamins: fat-soluble and water-soluble.

Fat-soluble vitamins

Fat-soluble vitamins are found mainly in fatty foods such as animal fats (including butter and lard), vegetable oils, dairy foods, liver and oily fish.

Your body needs these vitamins every day to work properly. However, you don't need to eat foods containing them every day.

This is because, if your body doesn't need these vitamins immediately, it stores them in your liver and fatty tissues for future use. This means the stores can build up so they are there when you need them. But, if you have much more than you need, fat-soluble vitamins can be harmful.

These are all fat-soluble vitamins:

·                             vitamin A

·                             vitamin D

·                             vitamin E

·                             vitamin K

Water-soluble vitamins

Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body, so you need to have them more frequently.

If you have more than you need, your body gets rid of the extra vitamins when you urinate. Because the body doesn't store water-soluble vitamins, generally these vitamins aren't harmful.

Water-soluble vitamins are found in fruit, vegetables and grains. But unlike fat-soluble vitamins, they can be destroyed by heat or by being exposed to the air. They can also be lost in the water used for cooking.

This means that by cooking food, especially boiling, we lose lots of these vitamins from the food we eat. The best way to keep as much of the water-soluble vitamins as possible is to steam or grill, rather than boil.

These are all water-soluble vitamins:

·                             vitamin B6

·                             vitamin B12

·                             vitamin C

·                             biotin

·                             folic acid

·                             niacin

·                             pantothenic acid

·                             riboflavin

·                             thiamin

What are minerals?

Minerals are essential nutrients that your body needs in small amounts to work properly. We need them in the form they are found in food.

Minerals can be found in varying amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, cereals (including cereal products such as bread), fish, milk and dairy foods, vegetables, fruit (especially dried fruit) and nuts.

Minerals are necessary for three main reasons:

·                             building strong bones and teeth

·                             controlling body fluids inside and outside cells

·                             turning the food we eat into energy

These are all essential minerals:

·                             calcium

·                             iron

·                             magnesium

·                             phosphorus

·                             potassium

·                             sodium

·                             sulphur

What are trace elements?

Trace elements are also essential nutrients that your body needs to work properly, but in much smaller amounts than vitamins and minerals.

Trace elements are found in small amounts in a variety of foods such as meat, fish, cereals, milk and dairy foods, vegetables and nuts.

These are all trace elements:

·                             boron

·                             cobalt

·                             copper

·                             chromium

·                             fluoride

·                             iodine

·                             manganese

·                             molybdenum

·                             selenium

·                             silicon

                        zinc