Why are vitamins important? Vitamins play a crucial role in keeping our bodies functioning at their best. Without the right balance, we can’t maintain optimal health. Discover why vitamins are so vital and how to ensure you’re getting enough of them.
We've been told that we need to make sure we get our vitamins. And it's no wonder, because they're essential for our bodies to function optimally.
And although they're called micronutrients, which means we only need small amounts of them, they have anything but a "microscopic" function in the body. In this article, we'll dive into why vitamins are so important for the body.
To understand why vitamins are important for the body, it’s essential to first grasp what vitamins actually are.
Vitamins are a group of chemicals that serve as vital substances within the body, supporting a wide range of functions. If we don’t get enough vitamins, our body becomes unbalanced, increasing the risk of illness.
For instance, a deficiency in vitamin A can impair our vision, while a lack of vitamin B12 can hinder the production of red blood cells, which are crucial for transporting oxygen throughout the body.
In short, vitamins are vital for the body’s functions and play a key role in maintaining our health.
It is, therefore, crucial to ensure that our vitamin needs are met. With the exception of vitamin D, which can be synthesised through exposure to sunlight, our bodies cannot produce vitamins. As such, we must obtain them through our diet.
In general, there are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble. The distinction between them lies in how they are absorbed by the body:
As we've established, vitamins are essential for our health and bodily functions, serving as vital contributors to various processes. Each vitamin has a specific function, playing an important and often crucial role in maintaining our well-being. Let’s take a brief look at what the different vitamins do and where you can find them.
Vitamin A is also known under the name retinol and has some important functions in the body. Vitamin A contributes to the development of bones, muscles, mucous membranes, and skin, and it is essential for vision. You can find vitamin A in liver, fish, and eggs, as well as in fruits and vegetables such as carrots, spinach, and apricots.
The term "B vitamins" refers to a group of eight different vitamins, all of which play crucial roles in various bodily functions. For example, they help convert carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from our food into energy. Vitamin B12, in particular, is important for the formation of red blood cells. B vitamins are found in many foods, including cereals, fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables.
READ MORE: Vitamin B Complex
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, helps build and maintain bones, muscles, mucous membranes, and skin. It is also a vital component of the body’s immune system.
Vitamin C is found in most fruits and vegetables, including oranges, kiwis, berries, red peppers, cauliflower, and potatoes.
As mentioned earlier, we can produce vitamin D from the sun's rays, which means it's important to ensure we get enough of this vitamin during winter when we're more covered up and the sun's rays are less available. In addition to sunlight and vitamin D supplements, you can obtain vitamin D from fatty fish, such as salmon and mackerel, as well as from some dairy products and eggs.
Among other benefits, vitamin D helps us absorb calcium and is important for maintaining healthy bones and muscles.
READ MORE: Vitamin D
Vitamin E is also known as an antioxidant and plays an important role in our immune system to protect us against illness and infections. It is also important for our skin and eyes.
It is found in plant oils, nuts, and seeds, among other sources.
Among other functions, vitamin K helps the blood to clot and also plays a role in building and maintaining the skeleton, muscles, and mucous membranes.
Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables, avocado, cabbage, and herbs, among other sources.
Hopefully, this article has provided you with an answer to why vitamins are so important for the body and why we need vitamins to feel our best. As we've seen, vitamins are essential building blocks, and without them, the body's functions would not work optimally.
Even though we only need small amounts of the different vitamins, they are crucial for our health.
Since we don't produce vitamins ourselves, with the exception of vitamin D via sunlight, we need to obtain them through our diet, so it's important to eat a healthy and varied diet to meet your needs.
However, there are many situations where you may not get enough through your diet. It could be during the winter when many people may lack vitamin D, or you may be pregnant and need an extra boost of certain vitamins. If you follow a specific diet or don't eat a varied diet, you could also lack essential vitamins.
If you're unsure whether you need a vitamin supplement, it's a good idea to check with your doctor.
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