Vitamins are minor components of foods that play an essential role in human nutrition.
They are food substances contained in all living organisms and as such are absolutely necessary for proper growth and maintenance of health.
Many vitamins are unstable under certain condition of processing and storage and their levels in processed foods, therefore may be considerably reduced.
Synthetic vitamins are used extensively to compensate for these losses and to restore levels in foods. The vitamins are usually divided into two main groups, the water soluble and the fat soluble vitamins.
The occurrence of the vitamins in the various food groups is related to their water or fat solubility.
All vitamins found in liver and eggs are fat soluble, and those that are in fruits and vegetables are water soluble.
Some vitamins function as part of a coenzyme, without which the enzyme would be ineffective as a biocatalyst.
As catalysts vitamins speed up the processes in all living cells, plant and animal.
Some vitamins occur in foods as provitamins - compound but can be changed by the body into vitamins.
Lack of vitamins has long been recognized to result in serious deficiency disease. It can occur not only as a consequence of insufficient supply of vitamins by food intake, but an be caused by disturbances in resorption, by stress and by disease.
Almost all foods contain some vitamins and all the food groups contain foods that are good sources of a variety of vitamins. The sources of vitamins in significant amounts by food groups have been listed below:
*Meats, poultry, fish and beans provide thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, biotin and vitamin B12.
*Milk contains both fat and water soluble vitamins. Milk and milk products provide vitamins A and D, riboflavin, pyridoxine and vitamin B12.
*Bread and cereals provide thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folate, pantothenic acid and biotin.
*Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins A and K. ascorbic acid, riboflavin and folate.
*Fat and oil provide vitamins A and E.
There are 13 vitamins in all, you need every single one of them, no exceptions.
No one food is a good source of all vitamins and as such a variety of foods should be consumed.
Some foods are very high in selected vitamins whereas some contain precursors or substances at serve as building blocks for many the vitamin in the body.
Vitamin in Food