Vitamins are micronutrients and supply your body with a huge amount of health benefits when consumed. Vitamins will keep your skin healthy, strengthen your teeth and bones, give your immune system a boost, aid in calcium absorption, help the body metabolize carbs and protein, aid your nervous system with daily functions, and vitamins can even help your brain perform better. There are 13 different kinds of essential vitamins that are organized into two separate groups which are classified based off of the materials they dissolve in. These groups are known as water soluble vitamins which are carried through the blood stream and fat-soluble vitamins.
Water soluble vitamins:
· Vitamin B-1/Thiamin: This vitamin allows the body to use carbohydrates as a source of energy. Thiamin can be found in foods like cauliflower, liver, oranges, eggs, potatoes, asparagus, kales, beef, pork, nuts, and whole grains. This vitamin is not stored in our bodies therefore, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s part of your daily diet. A diet that lacks in Vitamin B-1 can lead to multiple problems including short term memory loss, weakened muscles, cardiovascular issues, and a condition known as beriberi. Beriberi will create problems for your peripheral nerves and should be avoided.
· Vitamin B-2/Riboflavin: Riboflavin is crucial when it comes to your body doing things like breaking down food, absorbing other nutrients, and maintaining healthy tissue. Your body is only able to store small amounts of Riboflavin and is used up quickly by the body. Your body enjoys breaking down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats so it’s crucial to have this vitamin in your diet. Riboflavin can be found in foods such as liver, beef, turkey, eggs, milk, avocado, artichokes, kelp, mushrooms, pumpkins, nuts, parsley, sweet potatoes, whole grain breads, broccoli, spinach, and a lot of other foods. Since there’s so many foods that contain vitamin B-2 it shouldn’t be too difficult to incorporate into your diet. A lack of these vitamins can lead to problems like cracked lips, dry skin, inflammation in your mouth, red lips, sore throats, anemia, eye sensitivity, and other horrible issues. Drinking an excessive amount of liquor can put you at risk of having vitamin B deficiencies.
· Vitamin B-3/Niacin: Niacin has a role in converting the food we eat into energy it also, helps the body properly use protein and fats. This is another vitamin that the body will not store and will remove any unneeded niacin in your urine. Therefore, it should be a vitamin that is consumed on a daily basis. Deficiency in Niacin is quite rare but can lead to complications like rashes, a bright red tongue, fatigue, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, and depression. Good sources of Niacin are grilled chicken breasts, turkey breast, sockeye salmon, cooked brown rice, beef liver, and dry roasted peanuts.
· Vitamin B-5/Pantothenic Acid: This vitamin has a presence in nearly every kind of food there is which is good because it performs a lot of important functions. These important functions include things like synthesizing cholesterol, forming sex and stress related hormones, creating red blood cells, and converting food into glucose. Pantothenic acid also helps the body break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins so that our bodies can use them for energy. (This is something all B vitamins do so I’m going to stop repeating it since you probably get the point now.) Some studies have even shown that Pantothenic acid can work as a moisturizer on the skin and aid in the battle against acne. A deficiency in Vitamin B-5 can result in things like depression, irritability, nausea, vomiting, numbness, muscle cramps, burning feet, sleep disorders, stomach pains, and more.
· Vitamin B-6/Pyridoxine: This vitamin heavily benefits your central nervous system and is involved in the creation of several neurotransmitters. It even helps manufacture hemoglobin which is a component of red blood cells that carries oxygen. Pyridoxine plays a role in over 95 enzyme reactions. This vitamin is in most the usual foods you’ve been seeing in this chapter but the best sources for it are chickpeas, beef liver, roasted chicken breast, tofu, bananas, and yellow fin tuna. Symptoms from a deficiency of this vitamin include things like anemia, depression, confusion, seizures, and a weakened immune system. Deficiencies are rare but do sometimes happen to people taking estrogens, corticosteroids, and some other medications.
· Vitamin B-7/Biotin: This vitamin is also sometimes known as Vitamin H which honestly has a better ring to it if you ask me. Biotin is what’s known as a coenzyme and is involved in metabolizing things like fatty acids, leucine which is an essential amino acid, and gluconeogenesis which is the synthesis of glucose from molecules that are not carbohydrates. Research has shown that biotin may even control diabetes and aid the body with using glucose more efficiently. If you enjoy having hair this vitamin is not one you want a deficiency of especially since a deficiency could also cause things like dry eyes, a loss of appetite, insomnia, depression, numbness in your extremities, and other health related issues. There aren’t really any foods with a lot of biotin in them, but these contain more than most; liver, peanuts, yeast, cheddar cheese, salmon, pork, mushrooms, bananas, egg yolk, cauliflower, raspberries, sardines, and avocados.
· Vitamin B-9/Folate: This vitamin is extremely important during periods of rapid growth such as childhood and pregnancy. Folate will assist with many important functions like producing DNA, converting carbohydrates into energy, and ensuring your bone marrow has red and white blood cells in it. Consuming enough folate could help protect against miscarriages and congenital deformities. Being low in folate is also linked to depression and can limit the bodies response to antidepressant medication. Most meats tend to not have much folate in them which means you can’t rely on a carnivore diet for it. The best sources of folate are asparagus, lentils, beans, spinach, avocados, egg yolks, bananas, mushrooms, broccoli, and lettuce.
· Vitamin B-12/Cyanocobalamin: This vitamin is necessary for the health of your nerve tissue, the production of red blood cells, and brain function. Out of all the B vitamins this one is probably the most important one to make sure you have enough of. A vitamin B-12 deficiency can lead to irreversible neurological symptoms among other problems like anemia, a sore mouth, weight loss, pale or yellowing skin, diarrhea, and menstrual problems. Good sources of vitamin B-12 are beef, pork, ham, poultry, lamb, fish, milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs. Deficiencies tend to be kind of common which is in part because the vitamin is only naturally found in animal products. Since the vitamin isn’t usually found in plant-based foods that means you should talk to your doctor about a vitamin B-12 supplement if you’re a vegan. Vitamin B-12 is the biggest and the most structurally complicated vitamin there is. It’s absolutely essential to consume B-12 if you’re interested in living a healthy lifestyle and want to avoid potential nerve damage.
· Vitamin C: Just like the B vitamins, Vitamin C is water soluble and the body needs a daily consumption of foods that contain vitamin C. This vitamin plays a vital part in the production of collagen, L-carnitine, and some neurotransmitters. Collagen is especially important considering it is the main component of connective tissue. Collagen is vital for the healthy function of your gut, skin, tendons, ligaments, cornea, bones, cartilage, and bone tissue. Vitamin C does much more than the things listed above as well and can help with multiple different problems from anemia to scurvy. Some good sources for vitamin c include red peppers, oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, and spinach.
Fat Soluble Vitamins:
· Vitamin A: This vitamin is super necessary for cell recognition, immune function, and reproduction. Vitamin A is found in different forms and is not like water soluble vitamins which are not really stored in the body. Retinol is the predominant active form of Vitamin A that is found in our blood. Retinyl Palmitate is the storage form of the vitamin. Some of the best sources for retinol the active form of vitamin A are liver, herring, salmon, fish oils, butter, milk, cheese, and eggs. However, there are plant-based foods that contain carotenoids which are antioxidant forms of vitamin A that will later on convert into retinol. These carotenoids contribute to the orange colouring found in fruits and vegetables like squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, papayas, and mangos. Be wary though because preformed vitamin A can be toxic if consumed in excessive amounts.
· Vitamin D: This vitamin isn’t actually a vitamin at all, it’s really a prohormone which is the precursor of a hormone. Vitamins are nutrients that the body isn’t able to produce but our bodies actually have the ability to produce vitamin D. There’s a lot of benefits to vitamin D it plays a big part in regulating insulin levels, supporting, lung function, having healthy bones, reducing the risk of getting the flu, and many other things. Where we get our vitamin D from is the most interesting part considering our vitamin D consumption comes mostly from sun exposure. However, if you’re not able to get some sun consistently then you can still get some vitamin D from foods like tuna, salmon, herring, egg yolks, beef liver, and mushrooms.
· Vitamin E: Obtaining enough vitamin E is essential for blood vessel health, your immune system, and keeping your skin youthful. Some of the best foods to find vitamin E in are trout, butternut squash, swiss chard, spinach, avocados, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and almonds. There are 8 different forms of vitamin E but it’s believed that only 1 of them help us meet our nutritional needs and is known as alpha-tocopherol.
· Vitamin K: This vitamin plays a large role when it comes to things like blood clotting and bone metabolism. Its role in blood clotting though is why you should speak to a doctor before adding more of it to your diet especially if you’re on blood thinners. Vitamin K is associated with bone health, cognitive health, and cardiovascular health. Infants even normally get a vitamin K injection to prevent bleeding in the skull. Some good sources of vitamin K are grapes, soybean oil, eggs, parsley, spinach, and kale.
As you probably noticed vitamins are one of the more complicated 6 essential nutrients and you could read several books and still not have a full understanding of them. Above was only a brief explanation of the 13 different types of vitamins and in no way will make you an expert on the subject. Hopefully though this brief summary can give you more understanding about how your body works and how your dietary choices effect your health. Bringing value to your body will allow you to bring value to other parts of your life for more extensive periods of time.