Vitamins

Vitamins are essential nutrients to the body. That means the body can not make the vitamins and that they have to be obtained through the diet. There are two kinds of vitamins: fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins.

Fat-Soluble vitamins

Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the fat of your body. You can go a few days without these vitamin intakes. The fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and K. Let’s start with vitamin A.

Vitamin A is essential to vision, bone growth, reproduction and more. Vitamin A is present in foods of animal origin. So meats, eggs, milk are rich in Vitamin A. Also vitamin A can be found in its precursor beta-carotene. Rich food source of beta-carotene include, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, mangos, cantaloupe, apricots, as well as dark green veggies. Basically if a fruit or veggie is orange or dark green there is vitamin A present.

Vitamin D raises calcium levels in the blood and is important to bone formation and maintenance. Vitamin D is a really cool vitamin that body can synthesize through sun shine! You can get Vitamin D by sitting out in the sun. Other sources of vitamin D can come from fish and fortified milk. Most labels in the grocery store say that the milk is fortified with vitamin D.

Vitamin E is important antioxidant in cell membranes. Much of vitamin E comes from vegetable oils and products made with them.

Vitamin K is necessary for blood to clot. Good sources of vitamin K come from green leafy veggies.

Water-Soluble vitamins         

Water-soluble vitamins are easily absorbed and excreted from the body. They must be comsumed frequently in the diet. Sometimes the vitamins can be lost or destroyed during food preparation and processing. The water-soluble vitamins include vitamins Bs and C.

Vitamin C helps protect against infections, acts as an antioxidant, and it helps with the absorption of iron. Vitamin C can be found in fruits and veggies. It can also be found in animals, especially the liver of animals. YUCK!

Vitamin B’s are plural because there are several of them. They are usually numbered B₁, B₂, etc.. However, some of the B’s are so important that they have named. These vitamins work everywhere in the body to help metabolize carbs, lipids, and protein. Important vitamin B’s are:

·         Thiamin(B₁) –Found in pork and whole grains

·         Riboflavin(B₂) -Found in milk products and enriched grains

·         Niacin(B₃) –Many sources like animal products, fruits and veggies, and legumes

·         Folate(B₉)-Sources include legumes and enriched grains

·         Vitamin B₁₂-Only found in animal origin

·         Vitamin B₆- Found in meat

Vitamins-the pill kind

Although there are vitamins out there for us to take, I strongly feel that most people should get all their vitamins through their diet. All if these foods that vitamins are present in are very healthy for our bodies. I also think it is a waste of money, when you just spend money on foods full of these vitamins. However, I understand sometimes people do need the extra help of a vitamin pill.