Multi Vitamins

Multi Vitamins - are they necessary?

 

 

Multi Vitamin: Does it make a difference?

Whenever you hear of someone on the news or in a report in a magazine stating that multi vitamins are not needed, don't believe them. It's been proven that our food no longer contains the nutrients we need each day. Today the Journal of the American Medical Association recommends that people take a good quality multi-vitamin supplement because of the nutrient poor foods available.

Throughout North America there have been many reports of farmers’ soils that have lost essential minerals. There are other issues with transportation and storage that cause the fresh produce to oxidize, causing nutrient depletion. Fruits and vegetables, which often come from other countries, are usually picked early (before they gain the minerals and vitamins to make them nutrient dense) and transported from one warehouse to another before arriving at the retail outlet (possible 2-4 weeks later) to sell to the general public.

Vitamins are essential for life. They cannot be made in the body and therefore should come from food. Vitamins do not provide the body with energy – they only help the body release energy from food that is eaten. Vitamin supplements are indicated in some cases only. Excess intakes of fat - soluble vitamins are not recommended. A healthy varied diet will usually supply the body with all the vitamins needed.

Several studies on human nutrition have shown that taking a balanced multi vitamin is essential to maintaining optimal health. It is an insurance policy to ensure that the human body gets all the essential nutrients it requires to keep it balanced. There are many health issues that are associated with vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore they should be the starting point to each individual’s health regime.

Multi Vitamins are necessary for our growth, development, reproduction and many other functions, for instance together with enzymes to break down our food so that it can be absorbed and used in the body. The need for vitamins varies from a few micrograms (µg) to several milligrams (mg) per day.

Vitamins are necessary for the utilisation of energy.

In the body, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats combine with other substances to yield energy and build tissues. These chemical reactions are catalyzed, or accelerated, by enzymes produced from specific multi vitamins, and they take place in specific parts of the body.

The vitamins needed by humans are divided into two categories: water-soluble vitamins (the B vitamins and vitamin C) and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). The water-soluble multi vitamins are absorbed by the intestine and carried by the circulatory system to the specific tissues where they will be put into use. The B vitamins act as coenzymes, compounds that unite with a protein component called an apoenzyme to form an active enzyme. The enzyme then acts as a catalyst in the chemical reactions that transfer energy from the basic food elements to the body. It is not known whether vitamin C acts as a coenzyme.

When a person takes in more water-soluble vitamins than are needed, small amounts are stored in body tissue, but most of the excess is excreted in urine. Because water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body in appreciable amounts, a daily supply is essential to prevent depletion.

Fat-soluble vitamins seem to have highly specialized functions. The intestine absorbs fat-soluble vitamins, and the lymph system carries these vitamins to the different parts of the body. Fat-soluble vitamins are involved in maintaining the structure of cell membranes. It is also believed that fat-soluble vitamins are responsible for the synthesis of certain enzymes.

The body can store larger amounts of fat-soluble vitamins than of water-soluble vitamins. The liver provides the chief storage tissue for vitamins A and D, while vitamin E is stored in body fat and to a lesser extent in reproductive organs. Relatively little vitamin K is stored. Excessive intake of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly vitamins A and D, can lead to toxic levels in the body.

Many multi vitamins work together to regulate several processes within the body. A lack of vitamins or a diet that does not provide adequate amounts of certain vitamins can upset the body's internal balance or block one or more metabolic reactions.

 

For more information on vitamins click on the following links

Wikipedia - Vitamins
Linus Pauling Institute - Vitamins
Medline Plus (US National Library of Medicine - Vitamins

Multi Vitamins - Vitamin C - Vitamin E - Vitamin B12 - Vitamin D - Vitamin B Complex - Vitamin C Chewables - Vitamin C - Ester C - Vitamin B15