Sources of essential vitamins in the wild?

**Everything Mac** · 08-02-2011, 17:38

I know they must be out there but I'm buggered if I know where?

So what foods available in the wilds of the UK contain good sources for vitamins and minerals?

cheers

Andy

**jonnie drake** · 08-02-2011, 19:26

probably some good greens out there, wild garlic and dandelion probably have a good vit content.

**Andy BB** · 08-02-2011, 19:49

pine-needle tea. Extract from Wiki

The soft, moist, white inner bark (cambium) found clinging to the woody outer bark is edible and very high in vitamins A and C. It can be eaten raw in slices as a snack or dried and ground up into a powder for use as a thickener in stews, soups, and other foods, such as Finnish pine bark bread (pettuleipä). Adirondack Indians got their name from the Mohawk Indian word atirú:taks, meaning "tree eaters".

A tea made by steeping young, green pine needles in boiling water (known as "tallstrunt" in Sweden) is high in vitamins A and C.

**Shewie** · 08-02-2011, 20:15

Nettles, Watercress and Dandelions are rammed with good vitamins, not sure which ones but I think Watercress is amongst the most useful.

Toddy will have a good list

**mountainm** · 08-02-2011, 20:22

Rosehips - used in the war as a vitamin C supplement.

**v-ness** · 08-02-2011, 20:27

Hi Andy,

I had a quick look in my new hedgerow medicine book.

Bilberry, cherry, chickweed, dandelion, nettle, sheperds purse, rosehips

I'm sure there are loads more

Cheers
Ness

**Everything Mac** · 08-02-2011, 20:55

cheers guys!

**Harvestman** · 08-02-2011, 21:34

Fruit - cherries, apples, pears, bilberries, blackberries, elderberries, etc

**EdS** · 08-02-2011, 21:36

Originally Posted by Harvestman

Fruit - cherries, apples, pears, bilberries, blackberries, elderberries, etc

any you can preserve all that goodness for the winter in gin, whisky, brandy, vodka

**spiritwalker** · 08-02-2011, 21:59

dont forget seaweeds too

**Toddy** · 08-02-2011, 23:33

Seaweeds are excellent sources of both vitamins and some minerals. The bladderwrack gives a source of B12 for instance, and many are good for iodine, etc.,

Vitamin C is relatively straight forward even in Winter, the kale manages to survive the cold and wet, but all of the fruits, haws, hips and drupes have this one. Thing is that the body doesn't store it so we need it renewed all the time.
With insufficient vitamin C iron absorption isn't as effective as it ought to be and (I think) calcium processing isn't all it could be either.
Lots of iron rich green leaves around, like the docks (sorrel) and nettles.
Fat hen, good king Henry, chickweed, bittercress, cuckooflower (lady's smock) are all Vit C rich and all again are good sources of multiple minerals.
Horsetail (equistum arvense, make sure it's this one and only use the green infertile stems) is an excellent source of not only silcates (supposed to aid muscle, cartilage and bone, hair and nail growth and repair)but also trace minerals such as potassium and manganese.
Be a bit wary of horsetail unless your diet is rich in B vitamins however.

Raspberry & strawberry leaves, parsley, red clover, dandelion, mallow, burdock root....

This is going to take forever.
I'm thinking that this whole question might be easier if we just started with a list of the vitamins and minerals, and folks named plants we knew contained them. That way we might get a range for each that would cover the whole year.

Yes ? No ?

cheers,
Toddy

**Shewie** · 09-02-2011, 00:29

Originally Posted by Toddy

This is going to take forever.
I'm thinking that this whole question might be easier if we just started with a list of the vitamins and minerals, and folks named plants we knew contained them. That way we might get a range for each that would cover the whole year.

Yes ? No ?

cheers,
Toddy

That sounds like a great plan.

I've often wondered why there isn't a decent foraging calendar on here, having one place to reference it all would be great.

**BOD** · 09-02-2011, 02:01

Originally Posted by Everything Mac

I know they must be out there but I'm buggered if I know where?

So what foods available in the wilds of the UK contain good sources for vitamins and minerals?

cheers

Andy

If not sure about plants, kill animals and eat them raw.

They did all the vitamin collection.

**Everything Mac** · 09-02-2011, 09:00

Good idea Toddy.

Vitamins:

A
B
C
D
E

minerals:

iron
magnesium
zinc
iodine
copper
manganese
chromium
selenium (brazil nuts

)
potassium
phosphorus
folic acid

**sandbender** · 09-02-2011, 09:51

Vitamins:

A
B1 (thiamine) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Frogs
B2 (riboflavin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Roe Deer, Frogs
B3 (niacin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Hare, Crayfish, Frogs
C - Wood Sorrel, Cow Parsley, Rosehip, Fat Hen, Good King Henry, Chickweed, Bittercress, Cuckooflower (lady's smock), Dandelion (young leaves), Scots Pine (needles)
D
E

minerals:

iron - Sorrel, Nettles
magnesium
zinc
iodine
copper
manganese
chromium
selenium (brazil nuts

)
potassium
phosphorus
folic acid

**sam_acw** · 09-02-2011, 11:21

In an outdoor situation I'd have thought that Vitamin D would be produced more effectively by exposure to sunlight than by diet.
I've read that nuts and seeds contain vitamin E but I don't know which and how much.

**Toddy** · 09-02-2011, 11:33

Very neatly done Sandbender

VITAMINS:
A - Kale, dandelions, mustard family greens, cabage family greens.
B1 (thiamine) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Frogs
B2 (riboflavin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Roe Deer, Frogs
B3 (niacin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Hare, Crayfish, Frogs
C - Wood Sorrel, Cow Parsley, Rosehip, Fat Hen, Good King Henry, Chickweed, Bittercress, Cuckooflower (lady's smock), Dandelion (young leaves), Scots Pine (needles)
D - 15-20 minutes a day of strong sunlight on the fair skinned will produce enough

however, D comes as D2 and D3. D2 is animal based, while D3 can be obtained from yeast. Mushrooms that have grown in full sun provide a very good source too. Indeed mushrooms are now exposed to UVB light to make sure that the bought ones carry that extra nutritional value.
E

MINERALS:
iron - Sorrel, Nettles
magnesium
zinc
iodine
copper
manganese
chromiumselenium (brazil nuts

)
potassium
phosphorus
folic acid

**Tengu** · 09-02-2011, 12:35

But what about the two groups,

fat vitamins A, D, E, K

the body stores, in the liver. (but I wouldnt eat the liver of a predator; as they have too much vitamin A, a dreadful poison if overeaten...in fact most vitamins are deadly in high doses)

Water vitamins. C and B

which you dont store, hence need a fairly regular supply.

**BOD** · 09-02-2011, 12:58

VITAMINS:
A - Kale, dandelions, mustard family greens, cabage family greens, liver.
B1 (thiamine) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Frogs
B2 (riboflavin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Roe Deer, Frogs
B3 (niacin) - Black Grouse, Grouse, Capercaillie, Hare, Crayfish, Frogs
C - Wood Sorrel, Cow Parsley, Rosehip, Fat Hen, Good King Henry, Chickweed, Bittercress, Cuckooflower (lady's smock), Dandelion (young leaves), Scots Pine (needles); non-primate animals
D - 15-20 minutes a day of strong sunlight on the fair skinned will produce enough
however, D comes as D2 and D3. D2 is animal based, while D3 can be obtained from yeast. Mushrooms that have grown in full sun provide a very good source too. Indeed mushrooms are now exposed to UVB light to make sure that the bought ones carry that extra nutritional value.
E- animals and plants
K -many plants and liver egg yolks

MINERALS:
iron - Sorrel, Nettles
magnesium
zinc
iodine
copper
manganese
chromiumselenium (brazil nuts )
potassium
phosphorus
folic acid

**sam_acw** · 12-02-2011, 10:45

Aren't iodine and magnesium present in seawater?

**locum76** · 12-02-2011, 18:19

Originally Posted by sam_acw

Aren't iodine and magnesium present in seawater?

Yup, i reckon raw oysers would get you a good dose of those.

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