When we think about the benefits of being ensuring a good bill of health by keeping track of our daily intake of prescribed vitamins, minerals and as well as the other nutrients that are needed by your body in order to stay healthy. It is important to be conscious of the fact that deficiencies in the daily intake of vitamins and minerals can negatively affect not only your physical capabilities but your how your mind functions as well. Recent research has indicated that such deficiencies can even contribute to one of the most common mental illnesses of all, depression.

The Vitamin B complex is incredibly important to our mental well-being and functioning. Even relatively small deficiencies can have an adverse effect on a person's mental health over time. While serious nutrient deficiencies can actually contribute to serious mental illnesses. As for the case of trying your best to avoid mental illnesses, it is highly important to make sure that your daily diet meets the recommended amount of the Vitamin B complex.

It is also interesting to note that those with alcohol problems ? often used as a way to cope up with depression can actually worsen one's situation, are often suffering from Vitamin B complex deficiencies. This is because alcohol actually destroys the Vitamin B in a person's body.

A lack of thiamine can also lead to a lack of energy as well as to being sluggish all the time. When ignored and not taken care of immediately, it can actually lead to deep fatigue, anxiety, depression and even to having suicidal tendencies. It can also bring on insomnia, which can contribute to the worsening of each and every one of these symptoms. Serious deficiency in niacin has been clinically associated with various mental symptoms like cognitive slowness which concerns the processing of information, dementia, anxiety and psychosis. Vitamin B5 has been found to play a big role in the formation of hormones as well as other brain chemical processes that are related to a person's mood. Nutritional deficiencies can lead to stress and certain types of depression. Vitamin B6 is essential to the production of serotonin and dopamine. If continuously ignored, the lack of Vitamin B12 can eventually lead to various mental disorders such as serious mood swings, mania, paranoia, dementia and even hallucinations.

Vitamin C is also important in the prevention or easing the state of depression that a person is in. It is important to note that many common medications, both over the counter and prescription drugs, can actually rob the body of Vitamin C, which is why a lot of doctors tend to add vitamin C supplements alongside their anti-depressant prescriptions.

Deficiencies in a number of minerals have been highly associated with depression and other mental disorders. Among these are magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and manganese. They actually all combine in order to produce and release serotonin and other compounds that can have positive effects on a person's mood and mental health. Other symptoms of a poor mental health which are greatly associated with deficiencies in the essential minerals that a person needs, include paranoia, confusion, anxiety, depression, fatigue and tearfulness.

The brain is ruled by the chemical interactions that obviously take place within it. These chemicals have a delicate balance to maintain and nutrition definitely plays an integral role both in the formation of these essential chemicals and their proper maintenance. On every level of mental mood and functioning, it is absolutely necessary that we make sure to meet the recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals as well as the other nutrients. Dietary supplements, when used according to recommended dosages, are a safe means of seeing to it that our minds are functioning properly and effectively..

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Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/