What do you know about vitamins?

By Tim Burgard


You must have heard about vitamins many times and how essential they are for a healthy body. But how many of us actually know what they are? In a short sentence you can say that vitamins are substances that are essential for the proper functioning of your body. There are 13 vitamins and each of these nutrients has its own specific jobs to perform in the body. You can easily get vitamins from the food that you eat, however, in some instances you may need to take additional vitamins in the form of supplements.

There are mainly two types of vitamins, that is, fat soluble and water soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the fat tissues of your body and are also stored in the liver. They can stay in your body from a few days to even six months and are carried to the various parts of the body as and when they are needed.

While fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the fat tissues, water-soluble vitamins are different. These travel through the bloodstream and the body makes use of whatever it needs. Anything that remains unused is released when you urinate.

Four of the thirteen vitamins are fat-soluble and these are A, D, E and K. Vitamin A is good for your vision and the health of your skin and vitamin D is required to keep your bones healthy. Vitamin E is used to repair the tissues of the body and prevent free radical damage and the K vitamin plays an important role in the clotting of blood and bone formation.

The other vitamins are all water-soluble ones and these are the ones that people are often deficient in. Vitamin C is necessary for healthy bones, blood vessels as well as your skin.

Then there are the B vitamins which include thiamine, riboflavin, B6, B12, niacin, biotin, pantothenic acid and folic acid. These nutrients are important for your metabolism. They produce energy and then help release it whenever the body requires it.

Vitamin B12 is one of the most important vitamins of this group and it plays an essential role in making red blood cells. However, vegetarians are often deficient in this vitamin since it is mostly found in poultry, eggs, fish and dairy products.

Deficiency of vitamins can cause various diseases. This is why it is necessary that you consume a healthy and balanced diet. If you think you are not consuming enough vitamins through your diet or enough amounts are not getting absorbed into your body, you may want to consider taking multi-vitamins for keeping your body healthy and fit.




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