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Vitamins and minerals – which foods top the list?

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To eat a balanced diet is not always easy. We are bombarded with so much information about what and how much we should eat, that it is sometimes really difficult to keep track of it all.

But, chances are nevertheless slight that you'll get scurvy or beriberi or any of the vitamin deficiency diseases. That said, there was a student on an American campus last year who developed scurvy after eating only chocolates, cheese, biscuits and coffee for six months, but you wouldn't dream of doing that, would you?

The list below tells you which foods contain the highest amounts of various vitamins and minerals. Eat these just once a week and chances are that your body will be getting what it needs – at least enough to ward off scurvy and other ills.

Vitamin or mineral Foodstuffs with high contents of this
Vitamin A Lamb's liver, butter, margarine
Vitamin B1 Wheatgerm, Cornflakes, Brazil nuts
Vitamin B2 Cornflakes, Almonds, Muesli
Vitamin B3 Cornflakes, peanuts, boiled prawns, roast turkey, roast chicken
Vitamin B6 Cornflakes, muesli, walnuts
Vitamin B12 Lamb's kidney, sardines in oil, raw oysters, pilchards in tomato sauce, cod's roe
Folic acid Chickpeas, calf's liver, cornflakes, asparagus
Vitamin C Blackcurrants, strawberries, Brussels sprouts
Vitamin D Margarine, cornflakes, cheddar cheese
Vitamin E Sunflower oil, Hazelnuts, Almonds, Peanuts
Calcium Whitebait, Cheddar cheese, Sardines, flour, almonds
Iron Cornflakes, Muesli, lentils, almonds
Magnesium Brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, wholemeal flour
Selenium Boiled egg, cheddar cheese, boiled lentils, wholemeal flour
Zinc Beef, lamb, Brazil nuts, peanuts


(Picture: couple having breakfast from Shutterstock)

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