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The Role Vitamins Play in your Health
Vitamins are an absolute essential for life. They perform a number of important functions in the body including creating strong bones and strong teeth, promoting good vision, developing normal blood cells, making sure that the heart and nervous system do what they are supposed to and stay in top form and so much more. Vitamins on their own do not supply the body with energy but some do help to convert food into the energy the body needs to work to its optimum best. In most cases we get enough of the necessary vitamins from the foods we eat, however in the case of a vitamin that is lacking, a supplement might be in order.
Research into vitamins has isolated 13 kinds of vitamins that are needed by human beings. These include A, C, D, E, K and B complex (which consists of eight vitamins B6, B12, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folacin and thiamine). Vitamins are further broken down into two categories, that of fat soluble and water soluble vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K. The water soluble vitamins are vitamins C and all eight of the B vitamins. The fat soluble vitamins are stored in the body, mainly in the liver and the fatty tissue, for a lengthy period of time whereas the water soluble vitamins are stored in a multitude of body tissues and they stay in the body for a temporary period of time. A deficiency of water soluble vitamins can show symptoms within a few weeks to many months if the vitamins are not quickly replenished in the body.
Every vitamin has its own special function and if the supply of a particular vitamin is depleted and/or is used incorrectly in the body then a vitamin deficiency will develop. Vitamins have been known throughout history to cure certain health conditions but only if a deficiency in that vitamin was to blame in the first place. To use some examples, vitamin A has been known to cure night blindness; B vitamins have increased energy levels and kept some mental problems at bay while vitamin C has gotten rid of cases of scurvy.
When figuring out how much you require of each vitamin on a daily basis there are two sets of guidelines you can go by. First of all the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council publishes 'The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)' and it is revised on a regular basis. It is this information guide that is used by most dietitians and nutritionists. An older and more simplistic version of the RDA is 'the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances (U.S. RDAs)'. It is the U.S. RDAs that determine ingredients that are to be included on food labels. These standards make note of the vitamin content to be found in foods by listing the percentages on the labels from the highest to the lowest. There is not a great deal of difference between the RDA and the U.S. RDA except the fact that the RDA gives more specific guidelines for males, females, pregnant or lactating women and a variety of age groups while the U.S. RDA only has two categories people over the age of four and pregnant women.
Vitamin A can be found in a variety of food products including liver, eggs, fortified milk, carrots, tomatoes, fish, apricots and cantaloupe. Vitamin C can be found in strawberries, tomatoes and citrus fruits. Vitamin D is to be found in fortified milk, fish and also vitamin D is made by the body as a direct result of sunlight. Vitamin E can be found in whole grains, asparagus, nuts, vegetable oils, olives and spinach. Approximately a half of the vitamin K the body requires is produced by it. The rest comes from broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cereals, soybeans, and spinach and beef liver.
Vitamin D BoneVitamin D Vitamin D, calciferol, is a fat soluble vitamin. It is found in food but also can be made inside body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Vitamin D ...
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is found in whole grains, fish, lean meats (in particular pork), and dried beans. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is found in dairy products, liver, and nuts. Vitamin B3 (niacin) is derived from dairy products, liver and nuts. Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) is found in eggs, nuts, whole grains and dried beans. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) comes from whole grains, eggs, nuts and dried beans while vitamin B12 comes from eggs, milk, beef, liver and shellfish. Folacin comes from leafy green vegetables, beans, grains, liver and wheat bran. Finally, biotin is available in eggs, milk, liver and yeast.
What Does Vitamin D DoFunctions of vitamin d: One of the most important and major biological functions of vitamin d is to maintain appropriate levels of calcium and phosphorus in human blood. Calcium is vital in the ...
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