Did You Know Just That Many Cancers
Are Linked To A Vitamin Deficiency?
Why Take Vitamins?
Why take Vitamins?
By: Dr. George Obikoya
Vitamins
are substances that are found in many of the foods we eat.
Your body needs vitamins to work properly, which makes them
some really important substances! Your body uses vitamins
to do many things, like help you grow and develop. It needs
vitamins to help your blood clot when you get a cut. Some
vitamins help us make energy. Vitamins are even involved
in making sure you can see in color, the world would look
black and white without them! And if you've ever wondered
what helps make your teeth healthy and strong, then you'll
be sure to smile when you find out it's, guess what, vitamins!
Besides
vitamins, there is also something similar called provitamins.
A provitamin is similar in structure to a specific vitamin
and can be converted to it by a few metabolic reactions,
for example, beta-carotene can be converted to vitamin A;
7-dehydrocholesterol into vitamin D3. The amino acid tryptophan
is called a precursor of the vitamin nicotinic acid because
the conversion pathway is less direct than that of a provitamin.
Vitamins
regulate metabolism reactions, in contrast to other dietary
components known as macronutrients, for examples, fats,
carbohydrates, proteins, which are the compounds utilized
in the reactions regulated by the vitamins. Absence of a
vitamin blocks one or more specific metabolic reactions
in a cell and eventually may disrupt the metabolic balance
within a cell and in our entire body. Vitamins contain no
calories but play an essential role in your body. Think
of vitamins kind of like the fluids in your car. If you
have no oil (vitamins) in your car, it does not matter how
much gasoline (calories) you put in your car, your car will
not run. For this reason, it is critically important to
ensure a proper supply of vitamins in your car. Unlike the
oil in your car, many vitamins are purged from your body
daily. A high-quality liquid multivitamin will replenish
lost vitamins and minerals.
With
the exception of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), all of the water-soluble
vitamins assist enzymes that function in energy transfer
or in the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
In other words, it will be difficult for our body to break
down these nutrients into energy we can use without vitamins.
Some
of the fat-soluble vitamins form part of the structure of
biological membranes or assist in maintaining the integrity
and functioning of these membranes. Some fat-soluble vitamins
also may function at the genetic level to control the synthesis
of certain enzymes. Fat-soluble vitamins are necessary for
specific functions in highly differentiated cells.
A
characteristic deficiency disease (or hypovitaminosis) results
when we take an inadequate amount of a specific vitamin.
The severity of this disease depends upon the degree of
vitamin deprivation (see the figure below).
Symptoms
of the disease may be specific such as functional night
blindness when we take too little of vitamin A or nonspecific,
for examples, loss of appetite and failure to grow. Some
effects of vitamin deficiencies cannot be reversed by simply
adding the vitamin to the diet, especially if damage to
non-regenerative tissue such as cornea of the eye, nerve
tissue, or calcified bone has occurred.
A
vitamin deficiency may be “primary” (or dietary), in which
case the dietary intake is lower than the normal requirement
of the vitamin. A “secondary” (or conditioned) deficiency
may occur (even though the dietary intake is adequate) if
a pre-existing disease or state of stress is present such
as malabsorption of food from the intestine, chronic alcoholism,
repeated pregnancies and lactation. Many people today have
micro deficiencies, in which they do not have clinical symptoms
but they may suffer from difficulty concentrating, lack
of energy, poor wound repair and a whole host of other mild,
but cumulative symptoms.
When
you take fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K), the vitamins
are stored in the fat tissues in your body and in your liver
until your body needs them, some are stored for a few days,
some for up to six months! Water-soluble vitamins such as
Vitamin C and the B group of vitamins, on the other hand
are different. They are not stored as much in your body.
Instead, they travel through your bloodstream and whatever
your body doesn't use comes out when you urinate. So these
kinds of vitamins need to be replaced often, and many people
fail to do so as in this case, often means daily.
Vitamins
are, no doubt, absolutely critical for a healthy body and
mind.
A
good multivitamin is the foundation of health and nutrition.
Take a look at our scientific reviews of many of the popular
brands for factors such as ingredients, areas of improvement,
quality level, and overall value.
http://www.vitamins-nutrition.org/vitamins/why-take-vitamins.html
