Vitamins contain essential nutrients your body requires in order to remain healthy. You can find vitamins in food as well as in nutritional supplements.
Water-soluble vitamins quickly break down and are flushed from the body while fat-soluble ones remain for an extended period. To maximize absorption, it's best to include whole food sources as part of a nutritious diet.
Vitamins are a type of nutrient
Vitamins are organic molecules our bodies need in small amounts for proper metabolic function. Since they cannot be produced within our bodies, vitamin supplements must be obtained through food sources.
Vitamins come in both water- and fat-soluble varieties, and its solubility determines both how it acts in your body and where you store it.
Vitamins are most often water soluble; however, some are classified as minerals as they dissolve in fat (lipid). Examples of fat-soluble vitamins are vitamin A, D and K and B complex vitamins including thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5) pyridoxine (B6) biotin (B7) folate (B9) and cobalamin (B12).
These vitamins are absorbed with other fats from food you eat and then stored in your liver and fat tissues until needed. As such, these four fat-soluble vitamins don't need to be consumed frequently like water-soluble vitamins; rather they can be taken at various intervals throughout the month or year.
They are water-soluble
Vitamins are vital in helping your body remain healthy and work correctly, and can be found both in food sources as well as through supplements.
Most vitamins you take are water-soluble, meaning they're quickly absorbed and processed through your system before being excreted from your system through urine.
Not necessarily; more isn't necessarily better. A healthy diet includes fruits, vegetables and whole grains in combination with protein sources like meat, poultry, fish eggs dairy products legumes or seeds for optimal nutrition.
Water-soluble vitamins include vitamins C and the B complex group, such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid biotin folic acid and B12. You can find water-soluble vitamins in foods like fruits vegetables nuts and grains.
They are fat-soluble
Diet and exercise remain key components of weight loss; however, supplementation with certain vitamins may provide additional help. Magnesium has long been recognized for its role in energy production; furthermore it's said to reduce appetite while simultaneously increasing metabolism.
Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E and K and are absorbed through the small intestine and then stored as body fat.
These particles are clustered into fatty droplets for ease of absorption into the bloodstream.
Fat-soluble vitamins may not be easily metabolized from your system due to not absorbing into your bloodstream, meaning they tend to get stored in liver and adipose tissue and can accumulate to toxic levels over time.
Water-soluble vitamins can easily be flushed from the body through urine as they do not remain for too long in the system and any excess is eliminated through pee.
They are a part of a healthy diet
Experts agree that eating healthy food is the best way to obtain all of your daily vitamins. A diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, fruits and lean meats while restricting fat and refined sugar consumption will ensure you are receiving all necessary nutrition.
A healthy diet helps you feel satisfied without overeating, which helps with both weight loss and maintaining an ideal bodyweight.
The B complex vitamins, which include thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid pyridoxine biotin and folate, help our bodies convert food-source energy into fuel while supporting nerve and skin health.
Water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C and the B vitamins cannot be stored by your body and must be eaten on a regular basis to avoid deficiencies or excesses in urine output. One exception may be vitamin B12 which can be stored for long-term storage purposes in liver cells.
