The importance of vitamins

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a vital nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. By convention, the term vitamin does not include other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it include the large number of other nutrients that promote health. vitamins are essential for the normal growth and development of a multi-cellular organism. Using the genetic blueprint inherited from its parents, a fetus begins to develop, at the moment of conception, from the nutrients it absorbs. It requires certain vitamins and minerals to be present at certain times. These nutrients facilitate the chemical reactions that produce among other things, skin, bone, and muscle. If there is serious deficiency in one or more of these nutrients, a child may develop a deficiency disease. Even minor deficiencies may cause permanent damage.

Once growth and development are completed, vitamins remain essential nutrients for the healthy maintenance of the cells, tissues, and organs that make up a multi-cellular organism; they also enable a multi-cellular life form to efficiently use chemical energy provided by food it eats, and to help process the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats required for respiration. Humans, being the most complex form of multi-cellular life, need vitamins to sustain everyday activity.

At present, only thirteen vitamins are universally recognized. But among these there are a number of very important vitamins whose regular intake is necessary for good health. Vitamin B, for example, is necessary to support and increase the rate of metabolism, maintain healthy skin, hair and muscle tone, enhance immune and nervous system function, promote cell growth and division, including that of the red blood cells that help prevent anemia, and reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. All B vitamins are water-soluble and are dispersed throughout the body. Most of the B vitamins must be replenished regularly, since any excess is excreted in the urine. It is also believed that B vitamins can improve the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Vitamin E is another important nutrient. It has many biological functions, which include helping gene expression, improving neurological function, and serving as an anti-oxidant.

vitamin c is another highly effective anti-oxidant—acting to lessen oxidative stress—and it is essential to a healthy diet as well. Vitamin C is also needed for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body; it is used to form an important protein used to make skin, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels, heal wounds and form scar tissue, repair and maintain cartilage, bones, and teeth. Vitamin C is the most widely taken dietary supplement. It is available in caplets, tablets, capsules, drink mix packets, in multi-vitamin formulations, in multiple antioxidant formulations, and as crystalline powder.

Dietary supplements, often containing vitamins, can be used to ensure that adequate amounts of nutrients are obtained on a daily basis, if optimal amounts of the nutrients cannot be obtained through a varied diet. Scientific evidence supporting the benefits of some vitamin supplements is well established for improving general health and for certain health conditions.

Article Posted By : Stuart Zane For more information about vitamins and vitamin c please visit http://www.vitamins.biz