VITAMINS

Understanding Vitamins Complex organic substances. Found in very small amounts in your foods. Crucial to normal health, growth, and development. Classified as water soluble or fat soluble. Your body cannot produce most vitamins, so they must come from your diet.

Water Soluble Vitamins Eight B vitamins and vitamin C (9 total) –B vitamins include: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B 6, folate (folic acid or folacin), vitamin B 12, pantothenic acid, and biotin. Found in the watery parts of foods. Excesses are excreted through urine (not stored long term). Fragile and can be destroyed during storage or cooking.

Thiamin (B 1 ) Daily Intake — mg/day Function: Helps your body release energy from carbohydrates. Food Sources: meat, fish, whole grains, enriched grain products. Deficiency: Beriberi Toxicity: causes headache, insomnia, and irritability.

Thiamin Deficiency--Beriberi Gastrointestinal ↓appetite, indigestion, severe constipation Nervous system Fatigue, numbness, poor memory Cardiovascular Rapid heartbeat, edema Musculoskeletal Severe pain

Riboflavin (B 2 ) Daily Intake — mg/day Function: Helps body get energy from carbohydrates, fats, and protein; promotes healthy skin and eyes. Food Sources: milk products, dark green leafy vegetables, whole grain or enriched grain products. Deficiency: Too little causes eye, skin, and nose problems Toxicity: no reports

Niacin (B 3 ) Daily Intake —14-16 mg/day Function: release energy from food; Promotes healthy skin and digestive system. Food Sources: meats, poultry, whole grain and enriched grain products, nuts, beans Deficiency: Pellagra Toxicity: low blood pressure and abdominal problems.

Pellagra

Vitamin B 6 Daily Intake — mg/day Function: Helps antibodies form; helps body use fat and protein. Food Sources: meats, beans, whole grain products, green leafy vegetables, bananas. Deficiency: nervous system disorders. Toxicity: fatigue, irritability, and nerve damage.

Folate/Folic Acid Daily Intake —400 μg/day (microgram) Function: red blood cell formation and new cell division. Food Sources: green leafy vegetables, beans, strawberries, tomatoes, seeds, citrus and tropical fruits. Deficiency: anemia, neural tube defects (newborn) Toxicity: irritability and insomnia.

Folate and Pregnancy –Essential for growth of the fetus's spinal cord and brain –Deficiency of folate can lead to neural tube defects in babies (happens in 1 st trimester) –Pregnant women—folate supplementation prior to pregnancy.

Vitamin B 12 Daily Intake: 2.4 μg/day Function: Helps maintain nerve cells and red blood cells. Food Sources: animal products (meat/dairy) Deficiency: causes nervous disorder problems. Toxicity: none reported

Pantothenic Acid and Biotin Daily Intake: 5 mg/day (P.A.), 25 μg/day Functions: Coenzyme in energy metabolism. Food Sources: Found in most foods. Deficiency: rare but may cause diarrhea, trouble sleeping, and fatigue. Toxicity: none reported

Vitamin C Daily Intake: mg/day Functions: Helps wounds heal. Helps bones maintain strength, antioxidant, strengthens immune system, and helps body absorb iron. Food Sources: citrus fruits, cabbage family, dark green vegetables, cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes. Deficiency: Scurvy Toxicity: abdominal discomfort.

Scurvy

Fat Soluble Vitamins Four fat soluble vitamins: vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Generally found in the fats of foods. Absorbed in the digestive track with the aid of fats. Move around the body via proteins in the blood. Excess is stored in the liver and do not need to be consumed every day.

Vitamin A Daily intake: μg Functions: eye health, repairs and builds body tissues, helps bones form. Food Sources: milk products, dark green leafy vegetables, deep orange fruits and vegetables. Deficiency: night blindness, susceptibility to infection. Toxicity: nose bleeds, abdominal problems, and liver disease.

Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin D Daily Intake: 5 μg/day Functions: absorbing and using calcium and phosphorous for strong teeth and bones. Food Sources: Fortified milk, eggs, fish; made by body when exposed to sunlight. Deficiency: Rickets Toxicity: abdominal discomfort.

Rickets

Vitamin E Daily Intake: 15 mg/day Functions: Protects red blood cells. Food Sources: Found in vegetables oils, green leafy vegetables, wheat germ, egg yolks and nuts. Deficiency: muscle wasting, anemia, and hemorrhaging. Toxicity: general discomfort.

Vitamin K Daily Intake: 75 μg/day Function: Helps blood clot. Food Sources: liver, green leafy vegetables, cabbage family; made by the digestive track. Deficiency: Blood hemorrhaging. –Vitamin K shot for newborns Toxicity: rare (jaundice)

Antioxidants Chemical reactions lead to the release of oxygen. Loose oxygen molecules are called “free radicals”; build up in the body leads to chronic diseases and cancer. Antioxidant vitamins flush out the excess oxygen molecules. Vitamin C, vitamin, E, and beta-carotene (a form of vitamin A) are antioxidants.