Nutrition-Vitamins

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By Brian Gokey, CFT, BSMET

What are Vitamins?

Vitamins are organic compounds required as nutrients in tiny amounts by living organisms, like humans. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism and must be obtained from the diet. This means that vitamins are nutrients that we need in our body that we would normally get out of our diet.

Why do we need Vitamin Supplements?

Normally, we would be getting all of the nutrients our bodies need from our regular intake of food. However, this is often difficult and close to impossible in the age we live in. In our chemically polluted and stress-filled world, our nutritional requirements have been increasing, but the number of calories we require are decreasing, as our general level of physical activity and energy we expend has declined.

How much of each Vitamin do I need?

Each vitamin out there has recommended serving size on the label as warranted by the US government. Will this always be the perfect amount for you? No, you may have to make judgments on your body weight, previous experience with a vitamin, and or the recommendations of a health care professional. This will also depend on the vitamin if there is a risk of toxicity in the body if too much of the vitamin is taken.

So now, we are faced with getting more nutrients into our bodies from less food. In addition, with the increase in cooking and processing of foods, which destroys most of the nutrients, we are hardly capable of getting even the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of nutrients. With this said, it is now necessary to get our required nutrients in the form of vitamin supplements.

How can I take Vitamins

Vitamins come in many shapes, sizes, colors, amounts, and combinations. They come in tablet, capsule, gel-capsule, powder, lozenge, and in liquid forms. Vitamins can also be administered by injection on occasion. How you take most vitamins is up to you, however, due to variations in how rapidly the supplements are absorbed and assimilated in the body, sometimes one form is better than another.

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Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins

Vitamin supplements can be divided into two main groups: synthetic and natural. Synthetic vitamins are produced in laboratories from isolated chemicals that imitate the counterparts found in nature. Natural vitamins are derived from food sources. The vitamins from the laboratories may chemically be the same as the natural vitamin, but the natural vitamin in most cases contains the nutrient in conjunction with other nutrients that science may not yet understand the value of. Both are good for us and will help with a certain vitamin deficiency, but the natural choice is usually the better if we can get it. Each brand and type of vitamin supplement may contain different levels of “natural” ingredients in them. You must read the labels to discern how much if any of the supplement is natural. Taking vitamins with meals will usually help the assimilation in our body whether the vitamin is synthetic or natural.

Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a standard for the daily amounts of vitamins needed by a healthy person instituted the Recommended Daily Allowances over 50 years ago in the US. Unfortunately, the amounts they came up with give us only the bare minimum required to be able to ward off deficiency diseases such as rickets and scurvy. The RDA’s on bottles of vitamins do not recommend the amount needed to maintain maximum health. When we are talking about a particular vitamin in this section of wellness4everyone.com, we will give you the recommendations that we believe are better for good health.

Water Soluble and Oil Soluble Vitamins

Of the main types of vitamins, some are water-soluble and some are oil soluble. Water-soluble vitamins must be taken into the body daily as they cannot be stored in the body and are excreted in one to four days. Vitamin C and the B-Complex vitamins are water-soluble. Oil soluble vitamins can be stored in the body for longer periods than water-soluble vitamins. Oil soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K. We do need both types of vitamins to ensure proper functioning of the body and all its organs.

What are the Main Vitamins?

Vitamin A

Vitamin B Complex

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin, Niacinimide, Nicotinic Acid)

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)

Biotine

Choline

Folic Acid

Inositol

Para-Aminobenzoic Acid (PABA)

Vitamin C (Absorbic Acid)

Vitamin D

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Bioflavonoids

Coenzyme Q10

More Information on Vitamins

More information on the Vitamins can be found in the articles section of the Nutrition area of www.wellness4everyone.com or following the links above.

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