Vitamin Basics

The word "vitamin" is a relatively new term. The word first appeared in dictionaries in 1912 and was coined to describe the organic substances in food essential for most chemical processes in the body .Before vitamins were discovered ,doctor recommended food itself : carrots (rich in vitamin A) to maintain vision ,citrus fruit (high in vitamin C) to prevent scurvy, and whole grains and legumes (abundant in vitamin B1) to ward off beriberi.
Scientists have identified 13 vitamin that are considered essential for health-essential because the body does not manufacture these nutrients itself. In other words, these vitamins must come either from food or from supplements. Essential vitamins are grouped into two categories : fat-soluble and water-soluble.
Essential fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K.These are stored in the body's fat to be used as needed .Because the body stockpiles fat-soluble vitamins, although this rarely occurs. Vitamin overdose can lead to various symptoms, including headaches and irritability.
The essential water-soluble vitamins are C, B, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 ,B12, folic acid, and biotin . These are not stored in the body: The body uses just what it needs at any given time and excretes the unused amount in the urine.
Two important points about vitamins. Many people believe that if they take nutritional supplements, they won't have to worry about a balanced diet . But vitamin are just that , supplements. It is important to remember that the human body absorbs vitamins from food more readily than from pills. In addition , science is rapidly discovering dozens of health-supportive phytonutrients in food that work with vitamins to promote health-and these phytonutrients are unavailable in pill form.
Another important point to remember when it comes to vitamins is that you can have too much of good thing . While large amounts of some vitamins are helpful in specific situations, too much may cause side effects that range from the merely annoying (such as dry skin or sleep disturbances) to the truly dangerous (such as liver damage).