Vitamins and Supplements (All you need to know)

Definition of vitamins

Vitamins are organic compounds that are important for human body to perform their vital functions, human body can’t synthesis sufficient amounts of vitamins, but can obtain vitamins from healthy diets, as vitamins exist a lot in fruits, vegetables, meat, milk products, and some vitamins can be obtained from sun such as vitamin D.

Classification of vitamins according to their solubility :

There are two main types of vitamins :

• Water soluble vitamins: which body can’t store them like vitamin c, and B complex vitamin.
• Fat soluble vitamins : which body can store them for long times like vitamins ( A, D, k, E).

Different types of vitamins and their importance to human body:

Vitamin A

Importance of vitamin A

• Play an important role in vision strength.
• Enhance the activities of body’s immune system.
• Has strong antioxidant characters.
• Act as hormone, so it has high effect on body phenotype.
• Play an important role in skin and hair caring routine.
• Use as co factor in diabetes type 2.
• Help in protection from certain types of cancer like ( lung, colon, prostate cancer).

Sources of vitamin A

1. Fish.
2. Meat.
3. Milk products.
4. Orange colored fruits and vegetables like carrot.
5. Liver.
6. Eggs.
7. Fish oil.
8. Some vegetables like zucchini and broccoli.

Vitamin E

Importance of vitamin E:

• Has strong antioxidant characters.
• Useful for treating skin problems.
• Anti aging factor.
• Repair damaged body cells.

Sources of vitamin E

1. Nuts like ( Hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts).
2. Tomatoes and broccoli.
3. Fruits like (Banana, kiwi, and mango).
4. Some types of fish.

Vitamin k

Importance of vitamin k

• Play an important role in the synthesis of prothrombin.
• Help in blood clot formation especially after surgery operations, and accidents.
• Enhance bone health, by improving bone density and protecting against bone fraction.
• Promote heart health, by preventing hypertension.
• Promoting cognitive health, such as improving casual memory and memory.

Sources of vitamin k

1. Meat.
2. Eggs.
3. Dairy products.
4. Vegetables oils.
5. Fruits like grapes.

Vitamin D

Importance of vitamin D

• Increase the absorption of calcium, which help strength bone health.
• Helps increase immunity against certain types of cancer.
• Reduce the risk of some diseases such as influenza, diabetes.
• Useful for maintenance pregnant women health.
• Very important for child health, has important role in bone, teeth growth.

Sources of vitamin D

1. The main source of vitamin D is sun rays, so doctors recommend daily exposure to sun light foe 15 to 30 minutes to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D.
2. Liver fish oil.
3. Milk products especially supported fat free milk.
4. Some types of fish especially salmon and tuna fish.
5. Maitake mushroom.

Vitamin C

Importance of vitamin c

• Vitamin C is considered the most effective water soluble vitamin.
• Used in prevention and treatment of influenza and common cold.
• Enhance functions of human immune system.
• Reduce aging signs, such as skin wrinkles.
• Reduce the risk of some diseases such as ( head stroke, cancer, heart diseases, and inflammations).

Sources of vitamin c

1. Fruits like orange, tangerine, kiwi grapefruits, and lemon.
2. Tomatoes juice.
3. Broccoli.
4. Green pepper.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

Importance of vitamin B 1 (thiamine) :

• Help body to consume carbohydrates intake and burn it to produce energy.
• Play important role in regulation of nervous cells functions.
• Help prevention a lot of diseases like ( cancer, heart diseases, stomach and intestinal diseases, nervous diseases).
• Reduces the risk of infection with peri-peri disease that causes neurological disorders, and digestive system complains.

Sources of vitamin B1 (thiamine) :

1. Cereals.
2. Yeast.
3. Some types of nuts.
4. Liver.
5. Eggs.
6. Some types of vegetables like cauliflower, and potatoes.

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

Importance of vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

• Keep skin, eyes and nerves healthy.
• Increase body’s ability to absorb iron, folic acids, thiamine and vitamin B3.
• Maintenance liver health.
• Useful for growth and development of embryos.
• Keep digestive system’s mucous membranes healthy, so protect against ulcer.
• Stimulating the production of the herd hormone.

Sources of vitamin B2 ( riboflavin)

1. Eggs.
2. Milk products.
3. Liver, kidney.
4. Cereals.
5. Yeast and mushroom.
6. Bread.
7. Some vegetables like ( hockey rashers, avocado) .

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Importance of vitamin B3 (niacin)

• Lower hypertension.
• Reduce the risk of heart diseases.
• Lower blood cholesterol level.

Sources of vitamin B3 (Niacin)

1. Liver, kidney and heart.
2. Beef.
3. Meat.
4. Eggs.
5. Nuts.
6. Fish.
7. Legumes.
8. Leafy green vegetables.

Vitamin B5

Importance of vitamin B5

• Help in carbohydrates, fats metabolism.
• Help treat acnes.
• Moisture body skin.
• Help healing wounds.
• Lower blood cholesterol level.
• Lower blood triglycerides volume.

Sources of vitamin B 5

1. Liver, kidney, meat.
2. Legumes like lentil, soya beans.
3. Diary products.
4. Mushrooms.
5. Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, corn.

Vitamin B6

Importance of vitamin B6

• Help build hemoglobin.
• Reduce risk of some diseases like (stroke, depression, Alzheimer).
• Help organize biological clock of human sleeping.
• Help healthy development of children brain.

Sources of vitamin B6

1. Beef.
2. Fruits like banana.
3. Chicken.
4. Nuts.
5. Fish.
6. Supported cereals.
7. Hummus.

Vitamin B7 (Biotin)

Importance of vitamin B7 (biotin).

• Very important for pregnancy and deliver.
• Co factor that helps carboxylase enzymes doing their functions.
• Important for skin, hair health.
• Treatment of diabetes as it lowers level of blood sugar.
• Contribute to strengthening weak nails, and improve thickness of nails.

Sources of vitamin B7 (biotin)

1. Yeast.
2. Egg yolk.
3. Cheese.
4. Legumes.
5. Mushroom.
6. Nuts.
7. Green leafy vegetables.