VITAMINS AND “VITAMINDRINKS”-THEIR EFFECTS

Food is a substance or material taken to provide nutritional support for the body or for pleasure. It usually consists of plant or animal origin, which contains essential nutrients, such as, carbohydrates (rice, flour, wheat), fats (animals), proteins (lintils), vitamins, or minerals (vegetables, fruits) , and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life. These substances are essential to the living beings. Deficiency of any of them produces detrimental effect to an animal. Each ingredient of food has its own function to keep the body right. Now-a-days, the necessity of different vitamins has properly evaluated and assessed. Deficiency of any of the vitamins causes different diseases and affects our body.

Vitamins and minerals are substances that are found in foods we eat. Our body needs them to work properly, for our growth and development. When it comes to vitamins, each one has a special role to play. For example: vitamin D in milk helps your bones, vitamin A in carrots helps us to see at night, vitamin C in oranges helps our body heal if we get a cut, B vitamins in leafy green vegetables help our body make protein and energy.

There are two types of vitamins: fat soluble and water soluble.

When we eat foods that contain fat-soluble vitamins, the vitamins are stored in the fat tissues in your body and in your liver. They wait around in our body fat until our body needs them.

Fat-soluble vitamins are happy to stay stored in your body for awhile — some stay for a few days, some for up to 6 months! Then, when it’s time for them to be used, special carriers in our body take them to where they’re needed. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are all fat-soluble vitamins.

Water-soluble vitamins are different. When we eat foods that have water-soluble vitamins, the vitamins don’t get stored as much in our body. Instead, they travel through your bloodstream. Whatever our  body doesn’t use comes out when you urinate (pee).

Our body is one powerful machine, capable of doing all sorts of things by itself. But one thing it can’t do is make vitamins. That’s where food comes in. Our body is able to get the vitamins it needs from the foods we eat because different foods contain different vitamins. The key is to eat different foods to get an assortment of vitamins.

Vitamin A

This vitamin plays a really big part in eyesight. It’s great for night vision, like when you’re trick-or-treating on Halloween. Vitamin A helps us see in color, too, from the brightest yellow to the darkest purple. In addition, it helps us grow properly and aids in healthy skin. Various sources of A are milk fortified with vitamin A, liver, orange fruits and vegetables (like cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes) ,dark green leafy vegetables (like kale, collards, spinach),etc.

The B Vitamins

There’s more than one B vitamin. Here’s the list: B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid. Whew — that’s quite a group!

The B vitamins are important in metabolic activity — this means that they help make energy and set it free when our body needs it. This group of vitamins is also involved in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout our body. Every part of our body needs oxygen to work properly, so these B vitamins have a really important  job. Important sources of B vitamins are whole grains, such as wheat and oats, fish and seafood, poultry and meats, eggs, dairy products, like milk and yogurt, leafy green vegetables, beans and peas etc.

Vitamin C

This vitamin is important for keeping body tissues, such as gums and muscles in good shape. C is also key if we get a cut or wound because it helps us heal. This vitamin also helps our body resist infection. This means that even though we can’t always avoid getting sick, vitamin C makes it a little harder for our body to become infected with an illness. Important sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits, like oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, kiwi fruit, sweet red peppers etc.

Vitamin D

No bones about it . . . vitamin D is the vitamin we need for strong bones! It’s also great for forming strong teeth. Vitamin D even lends a hand to an important mineral — it helps our body absorb the amount of calcium it needs. Important sources vitamin D are milk fortified with vitamin D, fish, egg yolks, liver, fortified cereal etc.

Vitamin E

Everybody needs E. This hard-working vitamin maintains a lot of our body’s tissues, like the ones in our eyes, skin, and liver. It protects our lungs from becoming damaged by polluted air. And it is important for the formation of red blood cells. Important sources vitamin E are whole grains, such as wheat and oats, wheat germ, leafy green vegetables,  sardines, egg yolks, nuts and seeds etc.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is the clotmaster! Remember the last time we got a cut? Our blood did something special called clotting. This is when certain cells in our blood act like glue and stick together at the surface of the cut to help stop the bleeding. Important sources of vitamin K are leafy green, vegetables, dairy products, like milk and yogurt, broccoli, soybean oil etc.

Is vitaminwater good for us ?

On a large scale,Glaceau,owned by Coca-Cola, markets vitamimdrinks having different colors, by emphasizing its nutritional value.  Is there any science behind the marketing though?

A vitamin-fortified drink may sound like a swell idea, but there are two caveats to keep in mind. First, most Americans aren’t vitamin-deficient, according to Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University. A government survey  in 1999 showed that the median American adult man or woman already consumes more than the Recommended Dietary Allowance  (RDA) of vitamins thiamin, riboflavin,niacin, B6 and B12, and three-quarters of the RDA of vitamins C, B9 and A (including carotenes ). In fact, vitamin E is the only surveyed vitamin Americans consume at less than half of the RDA – but it’s found in only a third of vitaminwater drinks.

If we want to drink an additional amount of vitamin E, there’s a second caveat: our body may not absorb it. To understand why, it’s important to know that vitamins can be divided into two groups: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Vitamin C and the B complex group are water-soluble and can easily enter the bloodstream with water. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. That means they can only enter the bloodstream to carry out their functions if they are dissolved in dietary fat, like that found in a meal. An Italian study published by the American Heart Association in 2001 showed that subjects who took vitamin E for two weeks on an empty stomach increased their vitamin E concentration in blood little or not at all, compared to an 84 percent increase in subjects who took the vitamin E supplement during dinner. So unless we prefer vitaminwater to wine with our meal, vitamins A and E will pass largely unused into our city’s septic system.

Even if we were to absorb all the vitamins, vitaminwater might have trouble living up to its image as a salubrious alternative to sugary soft drinks: Each bottle of vitaminwater contains 32.5grams, or two heaping tablespoons, of crystalline fructose. Fructose is a simple sugar that sweetens many fruits, although the crystalline fructose in vitaminwater is produced from cornstarch , not fruit, by crystallizing the fructose in fructose-enriched corn syrups. As one would expect, nobody needs these extra sugars, according to Nestle, the NYU nutritionist. One research team has even indicated that the intense sweetness of sugary drinks may be addictive.

“The way that vitaminwater is marketed and positioned it’s made to look more healthful than other sugary beverages, but it’s not – it’s still just a soft drink,” said Margo G. Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy at the Center for  Science in the Public interest. “It has this aura of healthfulness that is not deserved. Adding vitamins and minerals to junk food doesn’t make it healthy.”

About 35 percent of Americans are now considered medically obese. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight. Health experts tend to disagree about almost everything, but they all concur that added sugars play a key role in the obesity epidemic, a problem that now leads to more medical costs than smoking.

A federal judge ruled that Vitaminwater will not, as its labels promise, keep you “healthy as a horse.” Nor will it bring about a “healthy state of physical or mental being”. Instead, Vitaminwater is really just a sugary snack food; non-carbonated fruit coke disguised as a sports drink. Because it’s composed mostly of sugar and not vitamin-laden water, judge John Gleeson held that Vitaminwater’s absurd marketing claims were likely to mislead consumers.

Coke tried to explain away claims like “vitamins + water = all you need” as “only puffery.” The judge disagreed.

“By including the suggestion that the product will “keep you healthy” or “help bring about a healthy state of physical and mental being” alongside such statements, the quoted language implies that the nutrient content of vitaminwater may help consumers maintain healthy dietary practices. I conclude, therefore, in light of the language and context in which they are used, that the statements on the “defense” and “B- Relaxed” labels constitute implied

When you think of the B vitamins most people think of vitamin B6 or B12 or b complex which makes up the whole group. Vitamin B12 is the most widely known of the vitamin B group however B6 and b complex are starting to become well known due to the huge influx of people with vitamin B deficiencies. On average 1 out of 31 adults above the age of 51 have low vitamin B12. Even though vitamin B12 deficiencies are largely seen in the elderly populations, a study in 2002 found that 40% of healthy men and women had low levels of B vitamins. There are likely a large number of people who go undetected with vitamin B deficiencies.

The B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that play a huge role in the body. The group of vitamin B’s are essential nutrients to the body because they are involved in so much of the bodies metabolism. The B vitamins are responsible for cellular differentiation, transmission of nerve electricity, health of nerve cells, heart pulse rate, muscular contraction, digestion, brain function, thought processes, energy production, metabolism, maintenance of skin and muscle tone, enhancing the immune and nervous system functions, promoting cell growth and division, and DNA synthesis. Originally the B vitamins were thought to be one vitamin but were later discovered to be a complex set of vitamins that coexist.

Although each individual vitamin has its own set of functions they work in conjunction to maintain the health of the human body.  Each vitamin although specifically categorized within the B group also has their own chemical name ie. B12- cyanocobalamin or methylcobalamin, B2- riboflavin, B9- folic acid.  B vitamins are found in whole unprocessed foods such as meat, poultry, milk, eggs, and fish. Additionally B vitamins can be found in whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, nutritional yeast and molasses. However, B12 is the only one of the B group that cannot be found in plant products. Lower levels of vitamin B can be found in processed sugars and flour, as well as beers, and energy drinks, however the effects from these products can cancel out the benefit of the B vitamins or even cause a net deficit of vitamin B within the body.

Vegetarians make up a portion of people with B12 deficiency due to the lack of eating meat. Because of the huge number of people who are vitamin B deficient it is important to understand the reasons behind vitamin B deficiencies. Most people who have low levels or are deficient in vitamin B consume the proper amounts of the vitamin B’s. However, their stomachs have trouble absorbing the vitamin because of reduced levels of stomach acidity or intestinal disorders. In addition a disease called pernicious anemia, destroys the stomach cells that absorbs vitamin B12. Heartburn medicines and ulcer medicines also have this affect on the stomach as well. Surgical procedures on the stomach or intestines can also lead to trouble absorbing vitamin B12. Still there are other reasons for low levels or B deficiencies.

Stress plays a huge role on body functioning and is known for causing physical reactions within the body. Stress actually causes vitamin B levels to deplete within the body and the longer stress is present the longer the body will be deficient of vitamin B. A poor diet that is filled with processed foods and refined sugar leads to lower levels of vitamin B. Ultimately a poor diet leads to malnutrition which can lead to more severe health problems. Also all the food we eat is cooked, baked, heated or fried which leads to the elimination of nutrients. Excessive heating can destroy essential nutrients in the foods that we eat. By eating more raw foods our body can get adequate amounts of all vitamins, minerals and nutrients.  In addition drugs, both recreational and prescription medications deplete the levels of vitamin B. Toxic poisons and chemicals not only in the environment but through personal products can lead to lower levels of vitamin B.

It has been discovered that initially there are no detectable signs that signify a lowered level or deficiency in vitamin B. Lowered levels of vitamin B can cause severe, debilitating problems within the body overtime. Unfortunately the first signs of deficiency are ignored, misinterpreted or diagnosed as something else. This includes signs of altered or diminished capacity such as fatigue, weakness, low energy and poor health. Overtime as the body goes without vitamin B more and more symptoms arise such as mental problems, heart palpitations, heart arrhythmias, fibrillation, indigestion, chronic fatigue, chronic exhaustion, paranoia, nervousness, feeling of uneasiness, easy agitation, frustration, insomnia, restlessness, tingling in hands, fingers and toes, rashes, crying spells, soreness all over, weight loss, cheilosis, sore throat, aggression, dermatitis, mental confusion, diarrhea, acne, paresthesia, anemia, depression, hypertension, impaired growth, peripheral neuropathy, memory loss, and many more. In addition to physical symptomology, diseases and illnesses are soon to appear including beriberi, scurvy, Wernicke’s encephalopathy, ariboflavinosis, pellagra, microcytic anemia, Multiple carboxylase deficiency, and Pernicious anemia. Furthermore with the lack of vitamin B the adrenal system goes into overdrive to produce energy within the body. If the adrenal system continues to work overtime it can become worn out or impaired causing the body even more severe problems.

If you have been diagnosed with lowered levels of vitamin B or a vitamin B deficiency then taking a vitamin B supplement is pertinent to avoiding problems within the body. Although, eating foods that are rich in vitamin B are better than taking a supplement in some cases supplementation is necessary. To raise your vitamin B levels it is necessary to take in at least 1000 mcg a day, which is near impossible to do with regular food. Dietary supplementation is necessary and there are several B vitamin supplements on the market including pills, tablets, capsules, and injections. If a medical doctor diagnoses you with a vitamin B deficiency, they can prescribe B12 or vitamin B complex in pharmaceutical grade. This is more potent than nutritional supplements because it is regulated by the FDA and has to go through a rigorous approval process. Vitamin B injections are more easily absorbed into the bloodstream. They are given once a week and are usually taken for the rest of your life. However vitamin B pills are just as effective as vitamin B shots. Ask your doctor for recommendations on a brand of nutritional supplementation for vitamin B.

People do not realize what vitamins can do for them. Vitamins are great for those who need them. On the other hand, if you have sufficient vitamins, then you will not need regimens of vitamins. Building vitamins in your system, which has too much already, or sufficient nutrients can cause harm. Vitamins will make you look younger and feel younger as well as make you feel good about yourself, providing you need regimens suited for your system.

How do I learn what vitamins are good for me?

We get natural vitamins in the foods we eat. Some times, you do not get the right amount so you have to take vitamins, which come in many ways. You can get them in a pill form, liquid, powder, etc. If the vitamins you choose do not work for you, your doctor can give you a shot. You can get almost all the vitamins you may need at local drug stores. You will find vitamins at supermarkets, department stores and so on. If you cannot determine which vitamins are right for you, check with your doctor. He may have some recommendations. In fact, you should visit your family doctor first and ask him/her, which vitamins may be suitable for your body type.

How vitamins help you:

Taking vitamins will help you to relieve stress. Vitamins w