Vitamins: What are they and what do they do?

Author: Handling Emotions

Vitamins are organic compounds that are needed in small quantities to sustain life. Most vitamins need to come from food.

Here are the different types of vitamins

Vitamin A

Chemical names: Retinol, retinal, and four carotenoids, including beta carotene.

  1. It is fat soluble.
  2. Deficiency may cause night-blindness and keratomalacia, an eye disorder that results in a dry cornea.
  3. Good sources include: Liver, cod liver oil, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, butter, kale, spinach, pumpkin, collard greens, some cheeses, egg, apricot, cantaloupe melon, and milk.

Vitamin B

Chemical name: thiamine.

  1. It is water soluble.
  2. Deficiency may cause beriberi and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
  3. Good sources include: yeast, pork, cereal grains, sunflower seeds, brown rice, whole-grain rye, asparagus, kale, cauliflower, potatoes, oranges, liver, and eggs.

Vitamin C

Chemical name: Ascorbic acid

  1. It is water soluble.
  2. Deficiency may cause megaloblastic anemia.
  3. Good sources include: fruit and vegetables. The Kakadu plum and the camu camu fruit have the highest vitamin C contents of all foods. Liver also has high levels. Cooking destroys vitamin C

Vitamin D

Chemical names: Ergocalciferol, cholecalciferol.

  1. It is fat soluble.
  2. Deficiency may cause rickets and osteomalacia, or softening of the bones.
  3. Good sources: Exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) through sunlight or other sources causes vitamin D to be produced in the skin. Also found in fatty fish, eggs, beef liver, and mushrooms.

Vitamin E

Chemical names: Tocopherols, tocotrienols

  1. It is fat soluble.
  2. Deficiency is uncommon, but it may cause hemolytic anemia in newborns. This is a condition where blood cells are destroyed and removed from the blood too early.
  3. Good sources include: Kiwi fruit, almonds, avocado, eggs, milk, nuts, leafy green vegetables, unheated vegetable oils, wheat germ, and whole-grains.

Vitamin K

Chemical names: Phylloquinone, menaquinones

  1. It is fat soluble.
  2. Deficiency may cause bleeding diathesis, an unusual susceptibility to bleeding.
  3. Good sources include: leafy green vegetables, avocado, kiwi fruit. Parsley contains a lot of vitamin K.

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