Vitamins & minerals
Get your vitamins from meals, not from a bottle.
Vitamins and minerals: a tiny treasure chest already sitting on your dinner table
All 13 vitamins you need daily weigh about as much as a few mung beans. Where to find vitamins and minerals from food in Vietnamese dishes, and what to pair.
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Where is the iron? Popeye, cast-iron pans and a plate of guava after dinner
Spinach is not the iron king Popeye promised. Which iron-rich foods Vietnamese dishes really offer, why guava helps absorption, and when to drink your tea.
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No cow's milk? Ask the dried anchovies, the tofu and the sesame jar where the calcium is
No cow's milk? Calcium-rich foods like dried anchovies, tofu, sesame and mustard greens have you covered. Why spinach holds its calcium tight, and a bone trick.
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Vitamin D: the "sunshine vitamin" you can still run short on in a sunny country
Few vitamin D foods exist: oily fish, egg yolks and an odd trick with sun-dried mushrooms. Why life in sunny Ho Chi Minh City can still mean too little sun.
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Vitamin B12 and vegetarians: the vitamin neither plants nor cows can make themselves
B12 is made by bacteria, not plants or animals. Where part-time, lacto-ovo and vegan eaters get vitamin B12 for vegetarians, and why seaweed falls short.
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Potassium in vegetables: the banana is the most famous, but not necessarily the richest
Bananas are famous, but potassium in vegetables like sweet potato, amaranth and beans keeps up. How many bananas you would need, and why soup keeps potassium.
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Magnesium: the mineral sitting right in the green of every leaf, and in your Tết bowl of pumpkin seeds
Each chlorophyll molecule has one magnesium atom at its heart. Why greens, pumpkin seeds, brown rice and cacao are magnesium-rich foods, and what milling takes.
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Where is the zinc? Why a few grilled oysters with scallion oil can carry the whole day
Oysters top the zinc charts; a few can cover much of a day's need. Which zinc-rich foods Vietnamese cooking offers, why beans need soaking, and a pill caution.
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Does cooking destroy vitamin C? Some of it, and here is how to keep the most
Does cooking destroy vitamin C? It fears heat, water and air. How much boiling, steaming and stir-frying keep, why guava beats orange, and why lime goes last.
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Beta-carotene in sweet potatoes and carrots: the orange that turns into vitamin A, and gấc sticky rice takes the crown
What is beta-carotene? The orange pigment your body turns into vitamin A when needed. Why carrots cooked in oil beat raw, why gấc is special, and a WWII myth.
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Folate: the vitamin named after a leaf, and why a bowl of beans is a folate bank too
Folate is named after the Latin word for leaf. Folate-rich foods include greens, beans and asparagus, but folate dislikes heat. How it differs from folic acid.
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How much salt do Vietnamese people eat? Nearly double the WHO limit, and most of it is in the dipping bowl
WHO advises under 5g of salt a day; Vietnamese adults eat about 9.4g. Where salt hides in fish sauce, seasoning powder and noodles, and how to read sodium.
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Do you need a multivitamin? The honest answer: it depends on who you are
Do you need a multivitamin? Healthy people eating varied meals often don't, but some groups have specific needs. What pills miss compared with real food.
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What are antioxidants? Start with a browning apple slice and a squeeze of lime
Why does a cut apple brown, but not with lime on it? What are antioxidants, how tea, vegetables and black rice carry them, and why pills can't replace greens.
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