First Author: BrandonR
Second Author: Colby Helffrich
Face of Vitamins
Multivitamin Supplements
- An increasing number of the world's population is now eager and interested in looking after their health and in keeping in tune with their well-being. It is important to note that this awareness is increasingly contributing to the creation of several health supplements to benefit both adults and children.
- An excellent daily multivitamin supplement does not only develop your general bodily functions but also improves your mental and physical condition and well being. Multivitamin supplements include all the vitamins and nutrients essential for recommended daily dosage. They are also formulated to meet the needs of individual conditions like pregnancy and specific age brackets. It is a well settled fact that multivitamins in liquid form are more efficient than the ordinary pill forms. This is due to the fact that the body can easily absorb liquid nutrients five times more than ordinary multivitamins in capsule form.
- Basically the body needs 13 essential vitamins to function properly and it regulates crucial performance of the body. They are A, B, C, D, E, K, B12, and the 7 B-complex vitamins. Majority of these vitamins are obtained by our body through the food that we eat. This is the main reason that is very important to eat a balance diet.
- Taking multivitamin supplements everyday reduces the risk of transmitting malnutrition from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby. Other conditions such as old age, alcoholism, smoking, and exposure to excessive pollution have long-term harmful effects to the body system which can be successfully counteracted by multivitamins.
- Stress is also one risk factor which multivitamins can provide supplementation for. Especially with people who have so much to do and have a hard time keeping up with their daily health needs; multivitamins are a must to keep them always on the go without any health complications in the long run. Stress formulations benefit both your mental ability and daily patience.
- While daily intake of multivitamin supplements may have proven benefits, it is not a 100% guarantee that you will be free of serious illness attributed to other factors. It is often a misconception that symptoms of disease may always be cured by taking multivitamins. Health experts have the better opinion of immediate medical assistance rather than resorting to multivitamins alone.
- Health experts do agree an excellent daily multivitamin supplement does not only develop your general bodily functions but also improves your mental and physical condition and well being..
Major Functions of Vitamins-
- Help Chemical reactions take place.
- Critical in the production of red blood cells and the maintenance of the nervous, skeletal, and immune systems.
- Act as antioxidants, which help preserve healthy cells in the body.
Main Sources of Vitamins-
- Vitamins are abundant in fruits, vegetables, and grains.
- Many processed foods, such as flour and breakfast cereals, contain added vitamins.
- Skin makes vitamin D when it is exposed to sunlight, and intestinal bacteria make vitamin K.
Now to illustrate how important vitamins are, lets look at Vitamin C...
Vitamin C - also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin. Unlike most mammals, humans do not have the ability to make their own vitamin C. Therefore, we must obtain vitamin C through our diet.
- Humans cannot synthesize it so it is an ESSENTIAL VITAMIN - which means humans must acquire it through food or supplements.
- Vitamin C has a very specific fatal disease associated with a deficiency of its intake (scurvy) - which conversely can be cured simply by intake of the Vitamin
- It effects the collagen elasticity and it plays a role in blood vessel health
- It is effected by levels of carboxyhemoglobin and conversely effects levels of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood - and this is important because carboxyhemoglobin forms when carbon monoxide intake happens - (smoking increases CO thus carboxyhemoglobin)
- Carboxyhemoglobin effects lipid characteristics. Cholestorol is a lipid for example. Carboxyhemoglobin causes lipids to be more sticky and thus more prone to clump and go into blood vessle walls. Which increases the risk of coronary disease. If Vit C can clear out some of the carboxyhemoglobin then we are less prone (incrementally better at least) to the devastating effects of carboxyhemoglobin.
Vitamin C's Dramatic Positive Health Benifits
(This video gives a medical doctor's beliefs about the numerous health benefits of Vitamin C)
Vitamin C and Smokers (Example of Environmental Depletion)
This analysis of a large, population based, cross-sectional survey demonstrates that the association of smoking with decreased serum ascorbic acid (AA) levels is independent of the reduced AA intake found in smokers. Smokers have a threefold higher incidence of low serum AA levels (< or = 11 mumol/L) which could place them at increased risk for the clinical manifestations of AA deficiency. Smokers not taking vitamin supplements who consumed less than 15 servings weekly of fruits and vegetables were especially prone to have serum AA levels less than 11 mumol/L. An AA intake of > or = 200 mg was necessary to provide smokers with equivalent protection from hypovitaminosis AA as had nonsmokers whose AA intake exceeded the recommended dietary allowance (RDA [60 mg]). This level of dietary AA intake is considerably higher than the newly increased RDA for smokers of 100 mg. Although the simplest and most direct method to increase the low serum vitamin C levels found in many smokers would be to stop smoking, markedly increasing dietary AA consumption is appropriate when this is unsuccessful. However, if dietary modification fails to sufficiently increase AA intake, then vitamin supplementation may be necessary to significantly reduce the high prevalence of hypovitaminosis AA present in smokers.
Common Diseases Associated With Vitamin Deficiency
Vitamin Name
|
Chemical Name
|
Associated Disease
|
Vitamin A |
Retinol |
Night-blindness and Keratomalacia |
Vitamin B1 |
Thiamin |
Beriberi |
Vitamin B2 |
Riboflavin |
Ariboflavinosis |
Vitamin B3 |
Niacin |
Pellagra |
Vitamin B5 |
Pantothenic Acid |
Paresthesia |
Vitamin B6 |
Pyridoxine |
Anaemia |
Vitamin B12 |
Cobalamin |
Megaloblastic anemia |
Biotin |
Biotin |
Dermatitis, Enteritis |
Folic Acid |
Folic Acid |
Deficiency during pregnancy is associated with birth defects, such as neural tube defects |
Vitamin C |
Ascorbic Acid |
Scurvy |
Vitamin D |
Calciderol |
Rickets and Osteomalacia |
Vitamin E |
Tocopherol |
Deficiency is very rare; mild hemolytic anemia in newborn infants |
Vitamin K |
Phylloquinone |
Bleeding diathesis |
Comments (4)
Michael_Scott said
at 10:52 am on Dec 3, 2008
Nice article, I'm glad I finally started taking vitamins!
Whitney Jones said
at 11:15 am on Dec 3, 2008
Great article, I really need to start taking vitamins!
Lacy Poe said
at 4:05 pm on Dec 4, 2008
Good information about a lot of different vitamins.
Answer Blip said
at 9:23 am on Feb 12, 2010
We would love your experts to help answer questions at http://www.answerblip.com/faqabout/vitamin-faqs
You don't have permission to comment on this page.