Vitamins and Diets
Vitamins are essentials for our diets as they are needed for metabolic reaction
in the body to function properly and efficiently.
The word vitamin, however, does not include essential nutrients such as fatty
acids, dietary minerals and amino acids.
Vitamins are basically biomolecules that are catalysts and substrates in chemical
reactions. They are bound to enzymes when they act as catalysts and are called
cofactors. Additionally, they also act as coenzymes which are responsible for
carrying chemical groups between enzymes.
Humans know about vitamins since time immemorial, but only until recently that
vitamins are available freely and cheaply in the form of pills. Before, a large
amount of vitamins could only be obtained through food intakes. For example,
to avoid scurvy, a large amount of limes and lemons were recommended for consumption.
Furthermore, vitamins are normally classified into two categories. First being
the water soluble type, meaning that they dissolve in water. The second is the
fat soluble type and can only be absorbed by the intestinal tract with the help
of lipids (hydrocarbon-containing organic compounds).
They are thirteen vitamins for human beings; nine are water solubles (eight
B vitamins and C vitamin) and four are fat soluble (A, D, E, and K vitamins).
Vitamin deficiencies can be a big problem for people who do not intake enough
vitamins or those who have problems absorbing certain vitamins due to excessive
smoking and/or alcohol consumption.
And as some vitamins are hard to be found in food and some are not naturally
stored in the body, one must regularly take vitamin supplements in order to
avoid vitamin deficiencies.
On the other hand, taking too much vitamins isn't also good as there can be
side effects such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, but unlike drugs, vitamins
overdose is not as harmful and doesn't cause permanent damage to one's health.
Original Authors: Stephen Palmer
Edit Update Authors: None
Updated On: 10/12/2006
