Alphabet Of Vitamins: From A To K

What are vitamins?

Vitamins are any compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in small quantities in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the body. Therefore you need to make sure that if you are not getting adequate amounts in the foods that you eat its a good idea to take a multivitamin to make sure you have sufficient amounts.

Vitamin A Strengthens The Immune System

This particular vitamin is sometimes known as retinol and has some specific functions. Its key for helping the body to strengthen its immune system to fight off infections as well as to help improve vision in dull light conditions. The last role it plays is helping to keep the skin and linings of the body health in particular the nose. In terms of what foods to eat to maintain your levels of vitamin A the following are all great sources

• cheese
• eggs
• fortified low-fat spreads
• yogurt
• liver is also a rich source but should only eat once a week

The average dose is 0.7mg a day for men and 0.6mg a day for women, it is particularly important that you do not exceed 1.5mg per day as this has been linked to weakened bones in the elderly and could increase the risk of fractures. Also pregnant women are advised not to take excessive amounts of vitamin A or any multivitamins that include A.

Vitamin B Family Takes Care Of Energy, Skin And Nervous System

There are a variety of vitamin B's and they all have very different and specific functions. Some of them are

• thiamin (vitamin B1) - works to break down food to release energy and can easily be found in peas, beans, eggs and wholegrain bread. The average intake should be about 1mg a day.
• riboflavin (vitamin B2) - keeps the skin, eyes and nervous system healthy and good sources are milk, eggs and rice. The recommended daily dose is 1.1-1.3mg for males and females.
• niacin (vitamin B3)- keeps the nervous and digestive system healthy as well as helping to break down carbohydrates for energy. Found in high quantities in meat, fish and eggs. Recommended daily amount is 13-17mg.
• pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) - this is a B vitamin that helps to release energy from food and can be found in a wide range of foods but is particularly high in cereals that are fortified with pantothenic acid. Also you cannot store this vitamin so you need it in your daily diet.
• vitamin B12- helps to make red blood cells, release folic acid and produce energy. Its found in good sources in meat, eggs and fish in particular salmon or cod. You only need a small amount of B12 so if you eat fish or dairy products you should get enough.

Vitamin C Keeps Cold and Flu Away

This is probably the most well known vitamin and we all associate it with keeping colds and flu's away.

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 It comes in huge amounts in fruits and vegetables which is why five a day is so important. Some of the best sources are:

• oranges/orange juice
• red and green peppers
• strawberries
• blackcurrants

Adults should be consuming around 40mg per day and it cannot be stored so you need to make sure you get enough in your diet - but this is easily achievable if you eat fruit and vegetables every day.

Vitamin D, Sunshine And Healthy Bones

Any sun lovers out there know that the sun/sunshine is our greatest source of vitamin D and its essential that we have to keep our bodies functioning smoothly.

A lack of vitamin D can cause rickets in children which is bone disease and for adults leads to a condition called osteomalacia which causes pain and tenderness in the bones. Good sources of vitamin D other than sunlight are:

• oily fish, such as salmon, sardines and mackerel
• eggs
• fortified fat spreads

It is not as easy to measure how much vitamin D a person needs because we cannot quantify sun light but those at risk of low vitamin D are breastfeeding parents, those confined to indoors or those who cover up completely when outdoors.

Vitamin E Protects The Body Cells

This vitamin is one of the lesser known in the vitamin family as it has lots of underlying functions such as protecting the bodies cells by strengthening the cell membrane. All life sustaining chemical reactions occur in our cells so without this vitamin they would not function correctly. It can be found in a wide variety of foods but the best sources are plant oils such as soya or olive oil. Some other good sources are:

• nuts and seeds
• wheat germ, found in cereals and cereal products

Adults should consume between 4-5mg of vitamin E a day and this is easily achievable in a varied daily diet so there isn't much need to supplement this particular vitamin. However there is little evidence to suggest any complications with excessive amounts but guidelines suggest any less than 500mg should be harmless per day.

Vitamin K Is Essential For Blood Clotting

Again this falls in the lesser known category but it is needed to help the body in blood clotting which is essential to stop you from bleeding too much. Recent studies have shown a link with vitamin K to improved bone strength as well. Vitamin K is found in abundance in the following sources:

• green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach
• vegetable oils
• cereals

Adults need approximately 0.001mg per kg of body weight per day. For example a 75kg female: 75 x 0.001 = 0.075mg per day of vitamin K which is very easily achieved from eating a healthy and balanced diet. Again there is little evidence about the harmfulness of too much vitamin K but guidelines suggest less than 1mg per is the optimum.

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Other Vitamins Are Also Important

As well as the A-K vitamins the body also needs other vitamins such as calcium for bone health which is found in dairy products and iron for keeping the blood healthy which is found in broccoli for example.

You should seek nutritional advice from a qualified professional before supplementing any of the above. Follow a healthy lifestyle and try to eat 3-5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and you will have more than enough vitamins in your system to function correctly!