This is a funny one, because most children growing up in America (and I am sure around the world) remember waking up in the morning and taking our children sized, multi-vitamin. But what is sad is that most people don’t know much more about vitamins than that.
Vitamins just like minerals are found in foods we eat, and your body needs them to maintain a strong immune system, and fight of disease and sickness. When it comes to vitamins, each one does a different job in the body. For example:
* Vitamin D in milk helps your bones.
* Vitamin A in carrots helps you see at night.
* Vitamin C in oranges helps your body heal if you get a cut.
* B vitamins in leafy green vegetables help your body make protein and energy
There are two types of vitamins: fat soluble and water soluble.
Fat-soluble vitamins- these are stored in the fat tissues in your body and in your liver. They wait around in your body fat until your body needs them, they actually stay stored in your body for awhile — some stay for a few days, some for up to 6 months! Then, when it’s time for them to be used, special carriers in your body take them to where they’re needed. These include:
-Vitamin A _______ 1 mg/day
-Vitamin D _______ 500 to 900 IU/day
-Vitamin E _______ 10 mg/day
-Vitamin K _______ 80 mg/day
Water-soluble vitamins- When you eat foods that have water-soluble vitamins, the vitamins don’t get stored as much in your body. Instead, they travel through your bloodstream. Whatever your body doesn’t use comes out when you urinate. These to be replaced often because they don’t stick around, They include:
-Vitamin C ____________________60 mg per day
-B1 (thiamin)__________________1.4 mg/day
-B2 (riboflavin_________________1.6 mg/day
-Niacin ______________________6-12mg a day
-B6 (pyridoxine)_______________1.3 mg to 2.00 mg/day
-Folic acid ___________________400-500mcg/day
-B12 (cobalamine)_____________2.4 micro grams/day
-Biotin ______________________ 30 mcg/day
-Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid)____ 4 to 7 mg/day
Your body is one powerful machine, capable of doing all sorts of things by itself. But one thing it can’t do is make vitamins, I promise you that one. That’s where food and when you can’t get it in your food, supplementation are very important. Your body is able to get the vitamins it needs from the foods you eat because different foods contain different vitamins. The key is to eat different foods to get an assortment of vitamins.
I will discuss further about how to find quality supplements in later posts, because to be completley honest there are a lot of crap products on the market, and you have to know what to look for or you will be wasting your money on products you would be better off not taking.
Knowledge is Key, The more your know, the better your heath will be!
Thanks for your time, I will be talking about water in my next post and really going into what is best for you. Please leave your comments below and let me know what you think. Also subscribe to my RSS and enjoy the blog.
DECIDE to live healthy today!
thehealthking said,
March 26, 2009 @ 8:45 pm
I agree with you, your body will assimilate the nutrients from real food more efficiently, and effectively from food rather that supplements. I advocate supplements when you are having a hard time getting certain nutrients into your daily diet, or when you need a boost of a particular nutrient or vitamin for a period of time. The problem is that 98% of the products in the market place are very poor quality, so you need to be able to tell the difference between the 98% junk and the good quality supplements when you do take one. Thanks for the comment, If you have any questions let me know, Have a wonderful day!