Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: stana on 16/12/2007 17:00:15
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Hey guys. Ive got a few questions about vitamins and minerals we need in a day.
Why do older men need more selenium than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Iodine than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Thiamin than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Riboflavin than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Vitamin B6 than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Vitamin B12 than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Vitamin C than teenage boys?
Why do older men need more Vitain A than teenage boys?
Thanks! I would really REALLY appreciate it if you could get the answers to me A.S.A.P. Ive searched and scanned the internet..but No luck [:(]
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Because they are generally bigger would be a reasonable guess.
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Thanks. But i kinda need a different answer for every question?
D'ya think these would be good answers also?
Because their body cant produce it well enough
Because their body doesnt absorb ir from food aswell as it should
Thanks
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The B12 one I have some knowledge of, because I know older people (not particularly men) who are deficient in B12. By older, I am talking about people in their 60s and 70s, not people in their 40s.
B12 is a vitamin one does not tend to take a lot of, and generally the body does not absorb it well at the best of times. Because of this, it tries to make sure that as little of it as possible will escape the body, so that not much of it needs replacing. For this reason, the bowels tend to reabsorb B12 that is just on its way out of the body. The problem is that older people who may be suffering bowel problems may not recover the B12 properly, and so too much B12 then is allowed to escape from the body.
With iodine, I am not aware that adults are supposed to have greater intakes of Iodine, and if anything, I thought the converse was true.
One of the issues one has to ask is whether you are looking at the minimum daily requirement, of the maximum safe dosage. As Bored Chemist pointed out, safe dosages would be dependent on body mass, and so the bigger you are, the more you can safely take. Minimum body requirements on the other hand will often be greater for a growing body than for a full grown one (e.g. vitamin A is required for, amongst other things, bone growth - and so I would expect that if you are of an age where your bones are still grwoing, you would actually need more of it).