In my last few articles I have been talking about vitamins. Today I am going to be discussing in greater detail the vitamin at the beginning of the alphabet – Vitamin A. Vitamin A was the first vitamin discovered hence it being given the the first letter of the alphabet. It was officially discovered between 1912 and 1914 by Elmer McCollum and M. Davis, although in 1913 Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel found that butter contained a fat soluble nutrient that would soon become known as vitamin A. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and its most notable function is that it helps improve … [Read more...]
What Are Fat Soluble Vitamins?
In my last post I provided a basic introduction to vitamins. Today I am going to discuss the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in greater detail. Fat soluble vitamins dissolve within the body's fat cells and are usually found in fats and fatty foods. Unlike water soluble vitamins, (which are quite easily removed from food during cooking and preparation) fat soluble vitamins normally stay in the food when it is cooked. If they are not needed immediately, the body will store fat soluble vitamins for later use in the liver and fatty tissues. Therefore, fat soluble vitamins do not need to be … [Read more...]
What Are Vitamins?
In a number of my previous articles I have mentioned vitamins in passing. However, I have never really expanded on this topic further and discussed exactly what vitamins are. So today I thought I would write about this exact topic and answer the question 'What are Vitamins?' Vitamins are essential nutrients that your body needs to help the cells function properly. They contain no calories and do not provide the body with energy but they are required for a number of important functions. Vitamins are distinguished from minerals because they are organic compounds (they come from plants and … [Read more...]