Vitamin Supplements and Minerals

Vitamin Supplements

Anti aging products in their Vitamins Supplements are what most people are looking for today. There are no anti aging miracle products on the market. There is also no “best multi vitamin” or “best whole food supplement”. There is only the “best multi vitamin for you or me”. Most people are buying vitamins and Minerals separately, the anti aging ones that everyone needs, like calcium supplements and B complex.

 Continued Below

Vitamins

Vitamin A

Beta Carotene

Vitamin C

Bioflavinoids

Vitamin D

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Vitamin B Complex

Biotin

Choline

Folate

Inositol

Vitamin B1

Vitamin B2

Vitamin B3

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B12

Minerals

Boron

Calcium

Chromium

Copper

Iron

Magnesium

Manganese

Potassium

Selenium

Silicon

Zinc

From Wikipedia.org...:

A Vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism...and it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet... Dietary Minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements  carbon,  hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules...

Vitamins

 Thus, the term is conditional both on the circumstances and the particular organism.

For example, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is a vitamin for humans, but not for most other animals, and biotin and vitamin D are required in the human diet only in certain circumstances.

The term vitamin does not include other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it encompass the large number of other nutrients that promote health but are otherwise required less often.

B Vitamins In Whole Grains

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Vitamins are classified by their biological and chemical activity, not their structure.

Thus, each "vitamin" refers to a number of vitamer compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin.

Such a set of chemicals are grouped under an alphabetized vitamin "generic descriptor" title, such as "vitamin A", which includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and four known carotenoids.

Vitamers by definition are convertible to the active form of the vitamin in the body, and are sometimes inter-convertible to one another, as well.

Vitamins and Minerals In Fruit & Cheese

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Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions.

Some have hormone-like functions as regulators of mineral metabolism (e.g. vitamin D), or regulators of cell and tissue growth and differentiation (e.g. some forms of vitamin A).

Others function as antioxidants (e.g. vitamin E and sometimes vitamin C). 

The largest number of vitamins (e.g. B complex vitamins) function as precursors for enzyme cofactors, that help enzymes in their work as catalysts in metabolism.

In this role, vitamins may be tightly bound to enzymes as part of prosthetic groups: for example, biotin is part of enzymes involved in making fatty acids.

Alternately, vitamins may also be less tightly bound to enzyme catalysts as coenzymes, detachable molecules which function to carry chemical groups or electrons between molecules.

For example, folic acid carries various forms of carbon group – methyl, formyl and methylene - in the cell.

Although these roles in assisting enzyme-substrate reactions are vitamins' best-known function, the other vitamin functions are equally important.

The Ancient Egyptians knew that feeding a patient liver (back, right) would help cure night blindness.

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Until the 1900s, vitamins were obtained solely through food intake, and changes in diet (which, for example, could occur during a particular growing season) can alter the types and amounts of vitamins ingested.

Vitamins have been produced as commodity chemicals and made widely available as inexpensive pills for several decades, allowing supplementation of the dietary intake.

Vitamin C and more In Peppers

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The term vitamin was historically derived from "vitamine," a combination word from vita and amine, meaning amine of life, because it was suggested in 1912 that the organic micronutrient food factors which prevented beriberi and perhaps other similar dietary-deficiency diseases, might be chemical amines.

This proved incorrect for the micronutrient class, and the word was shortened to vitamin.

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Governmental regulation of vitamin supplements

Most countries place dietary supplements in a special category under the general umbrella of foods, not drugs.

This necessitates that the manufacturer, and not the government, be responsible for ensuring that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed.

Regulation varies depending on the country.

In the E.U., the Food Supplements Directive  requires that only those supplements that have been proven safe can be sold without a prescription.

In nutrition and diseases

Vitamins are essential for the normal growth and development of a multicellular organism. Using the genetic blueprint inherited from its parents, a fetus begins to develop, at the moment of conception, from the nutrients it absorbs. It requires certain vitamins and minerals to be present at certain times. These nutrients facilitate the chemical reactions that produce among other things, skin, bone, and muscle. If there is serious deficiency in one or more of these nutrients, a child may develop a deficiency disease. Even minor deficiencies may cause permanent damage.

For the most part, vitamins are obtained with food, but a few are obtained by other means. For example, microorganisms in the intestine—commonly known as "gut flora"—produce vitamin K and biotin, while one form of vitamin D is synthesized in the skin with the help of the natural ultraviolet wavelength of sunlight. Humans can produce some vitamins from precursors they consume. Examples include vitamin A, produced from beta carotene, and niacin, from the amino acid tryptophan.

Once growth and development are completed, vitamins remain essential nutrients for the healthy maintenance of the cells, tissues, and organs that make up a multicellular organism; they also enable a multicellular life form to efficiently use chemical energy provided by food it eats, and to help process the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats required for respiration.

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In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).

In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS)  to monitor for new adverse events and errors that might occur with these marketed supplements.

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) also requires that manufacturers and distributors who wish to market dietary supplements that contain "new dietary ingredients" give notification to FDA, which must include information that a dietary supplement containing a new ingredient will “reasonably be expected to be safe under the conditions of use recommended or suggested in the labeling.” 

Deficiencies

Humans must consume vitamins periodically but with differing schedules, to avoid deficiency. Human bodily stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B12 are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the liver, and an adult human's diet may be deficient in vitamins A for many months and B12 in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition. However, vitamin B3(niacin and niacinamide) is not stored in the human body in significant amounts, so stores may only last a couple of weeks.. For vitamin C, the first symptoms of scurvy in experimental studies of complete vitamin C deprivation in humans have varied widely, from a month to more than six months, depending on previous dietary history which determined body stores. No vitamin must be consumed every day, however, or even every week.

Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when an organism does not get enough of the vitamin in its food. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or limits the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a “lifestyle factor”, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of medications that interfere with the absorption or use of the vitamin. People who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin deficiency. In contrast, restrictive diets have the potential to cause prolonged vitamin deficits, which may result in often painful and potentially deadly diseases.

Well-known human vitamin deficiencies involve thiamine (beriberi), niacin (pellagra), vitamin C (scurvy) and vitamin D (rickets). In much of the developed world, such deficiencies are rare; this is due to (1) an adequate supply of food; and (2) the addition of vitamins and minerals to common foods, often called fortification. In addition to these classical vitamin deficiency diseases, some evidence has also suggested links between vitamin deficiency and a number of different disorders.

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Many countries have welcomed guidance from International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations (IADSA), an expert organization that aims to build an international platform for the development of the food supplement sector worldwide.

The climate is constantly changing in the dietary supplement industry, and will most likely continue to evolve. See also the “Regulation” section of Dietary Supplements.

Side effects and overdose

In large doses, some vitamins have documented side effects that tend to be more severe with a larger dosage. The likelihood of consuming too much of any vitamin from food is remote, but overdosing (vitamin poisoning) from vitamin supplementation does occur. At high enough dosages some vitamins cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.

When side effects emerge, recovery is often accomplished by reducing the dosage. The doses of vitamins different individual can tolerate varies widely, and appear to be related to age and state of health.

In the United States, overdose exposure to all formulations of "vitamins" was reported by 62,562 individuals in 2004 (nearly 80% of these exposures were in children under the age of 6), leading to 53 "major" life-threatening outcomes and 2 deaths; This may be compared to the 19,250 people who died of unintentional poisoning of all kinds in the U.S. in the same year (2004). In 2007, 58,000 exposures to various vitamins and multivitamin-mineral formulations were reported to poison control centers, which resulted in 17 severe reactions and 1 death. In 2008 there were no deaths reported from vitamin overdose but represented 2.8% of all exposures reported to poison control and 68,911 individual cases.

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Read an article in Wikipedia with references and links Sept 15, 2011

** Vitamin. (2011, September 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Retrieved 03:51, September 16, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=

Vitamin&oldid=450266794

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See references for complete information including notes, comments, complete symptoms, sources, concerns and cautions.

Disclaimer :

In accordance with FDA regulation, we do not make any therapeutic claims for any Dietary Supplements in accordance with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act.

Information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physicians, health care professional or other professional. You should not use the information on this website for diagnosing or treating any health problem, symptom or disease, prescribing any medication or other treatment, or in place of any other professional advice. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. Your discretion is advised.

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