High homocysteine levels have been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart illness. You are not deficient -- that is, you won't show disease signs -- but you take in lower than is thought to be the perfect for good well being. Surveys show that lower than half of adult women meet the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for vitamin A, probably because they don't eat sufficient fruits and vegetables wealthy in beta-carotene -- a precursor of vitamin A. Suboptimal intake might weaken your immune system. If you're consuming "suboptimal" amounts of a nutrient, it's not good. Women and men require most nutrients in similar amounts -- males slightly more of some. The following vitamins and minerals are ones that you may not be getting in sufficient amounts. Getting sufficient vitamins and minerals for regular metabolism was our major concern, however we now know that certain vitamins and minerals may be useful in even greater quantities. Regardless of the place you encounter vitamins and minerals -- in a drugstore, in a bottle, listed on the again of your cereal field -- you recognize you want them.