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We Know: All About Vitamins and How They Work
What are vitamins?
The word "vitamins" came from the term "vital amino acids." Most vitamins are collections of amino acid building blocks the body uses to build a variety of proteins we need to be healthy; a few are other essential organic compounds. When we lack appropriate vitamins, the body can often make them, but much more slowly than we need them.
Commercial vitamin tablets are actually vitamin and mineral tablets, providing essential amino acids, as well as trace minerals
that we need in addition, for a variety of different body functions.
Where Do We Get Vitamins?
In a perfect world, we would all get the vitamins we need from a balanced and healthy diet. Of course, we don't live in a perfect world. We do get many of our vitamins from any food that contains proteins: meat, milk, vegetables and fruit, and grains. We don't get vitamins from "empty calorie" foods like sugar-sweetened drinks (unless they're fortified) and sugar-based candies.
Because only a few of us eat a truly balanced diet, it's hard to tell whether we're getting the proper vitamins. For this reason,
doctors and nutritionists often recommend people take a multivitamin formulated for their special needs. In the normal course of things, you can't overdose on a multivitamin if you take it as recommended; if you take a lot of them or if you take certain vitamins in massive doses, it is possible to overdose.
Why Are Vitamins Named in Letters?
Vitamins were named in letters as a completely arbitrary thing; it separated them from other substances that were named in numbers. The first lettered vitamin was vitamin D, which at the time was named vitamin A for complicated reasons.
What Do The Different Vitamins Do?
The main human-active vitamins are as follow:
- Vitamin A: Retinol – for vision
- Vitamin B1: Thiamine – helps joint health
- Vitamin B2: Riboflavin – for cellular energy
- Vitamin B3: Niacin – energy and metabolism
- Vitamin B6: Pyridoxine – serotonin and nerve function, and may help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome
- Vitamin B9: Folic Acid – prevention of anemia, healthy cell division, and healthy fetuses
- Vitamin B12: Cyanocobalamin – often used for joint problems and anemia
- Vitamin C: Ascorbic or Citric Acid – for proper formation of collagen
- Vitamin D: A range of vitamins for proper bone formation
- Vitamin E: Tocopherol – prevention of some cancers and cataracts
- Vitamin K: A group of vitamins that promote proper digestive function
Many letters are skipped because vitamins now grouped in the B or D category were once in these positions; for instance, vitamin B2 was once vitamin G. When they were reorganized, those letters were left blank.
By no means should you assume we know everything about vitamins. Every day new compounds are studied for their effect on human nutrition.
How About the Minerals?
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, a few minerals commonly found in multivitamins include:
- Iron, for building blood
- Calcium, for building bones
- Zinc
- Phosphorus, which is critical for cellular energy
- Iodine
- Selenium
Minerals are not vitamins, but any multivitamin you take should include the above at a minimum,
with the exception of iron (especially for men); most people these days already
get enough iron from the food they eat; special multivitamins sold today tout
the fact they have no iron in them.
Should I Know Anything Else?
- Vitamins are in water-soluble and fat-soluble forms; for proper absorption by the body, you should take them with a glass of water and a food with at least a little fat in it; or you can take them with a glass of one or two percent milk.
- Proper nutrition also requires essential fatty acids (the omega-3 and omega-6 groups) and essential amino acids like lysine. Best way to supply these? Have an occasional tuna-on-wheat sandwich.
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