Vitamin Supplements

Vitamin B3 Basic Functions

In concert with a variety of enzymes, niacin participates in a variety of metabolic processes. It helps convert energy derived from carbohydrates, fats, and protein into a form that the body can use.

In large doses, niacin (specifically, nicotinic acid) positively affects fats in the blood: it can decrease total cholesterol, while increasing the HDL (”good”) component of cholesterol. Read the rest of this entry »

Today we know that this vitamin exists naturally in foods in three closely related forms: pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. Nutrition supplements generally provide B6 in the form of pyridoxine.

Vitamin B6 Basic Functions

• Vitamin B6 is necessary to convert amino acids to proteins.
•  Vitamin B6 is important in forming tryptophan, an essential amino acid, and helps to convert tryptophan to niacin (vitamin B₃) in the body.
• Read the rest of this entry »

In order for your body to absorb the vitamin B12 that you consume, cells in the stomach lining must produce a protein called intrinsic factor. Without enough of this factor in the gastric juices, the intestines cannot absorb B12, and a deficiency may occur.

Vitamin B12 Basic Functions

•  Vitamin B12 is required for manufacturing and developing red blood cells in the marrow.
• Vitamin B12 is necessary for the body to use folic acid properly. Read the rest of this entry »

Thiamin, the first of the B vitamins to be discovered, was initially isolated in the mid-1920s. Today we know that thiamin plays an important part in changing energy stored in carbohydrates to a form that our bodies can use. Thiamin is also necessary for the nervous system to function properly, and it may be involved with producing nerve transmitters.

Signs of Thiamin Deficiency

The first symptoms of a thiamin deficiency can include constipation, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Probably the best-known thiamin deficiency disorder—a disease called beriberi—occurs in the most severe cases of deprivation. Read the rest of this entry »

Toward the end of the 19th century, a fluorescent pigment was detected in milk whey; subsequently, the pigment was found in other sources (liver and eggs) as well.

Riboflavin is important to the complex processes in your body that give you energy from the foods you consume. It is also needed to convert tryptophan to niacin.

Signs of Riboflavin Deficiency

Studies have shown that signs of deficiency can occur with a consumption of riboflavin at 0.55 mg per day or less. These signs won’t occur overnight, however, because your kidney and liver store small amounts of B2, thus postponing deficiency symptoms for some three to four months of deprivation. Read the rest of this entry »

Pantothenic acid gets its name from the Greek word pantos, which means “everywhere.” That’s an indication of just how prevalent this B vitamin is in plants and animals. At least a small amount of pantothenic acid is present in most of the foods we eat.

Once you consume pantothenic acid, your body changes most of this B vitamin into a substance called coenzyme A, which is required to convert carbohydrates, fats, and some proteins into energy. Pantothenic acid is also necessary for the body to produce hormones and to form hemoglobin and a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Read the rest of this entry »

At one time vitamin B was thought to be one single substance. Now we know there is a whole family of these vitamins, more than a dozen of them. We refer to them as the B complex vitamins. They are often found together in various foods. But they are all different in their effects upon the human body. Some are needed in the transfer of energy within the cells. Others are required for the formation of red blood cells. But they have other activities as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Who is at the Risk of Vitamin K deficiency?

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you (or your baby) have an above-average risk of developing a vitamin K deficiency.

• Do you have a chronic illness (particularly a liver disease) or a disorder that interferes with the absorption of fats (such as ulcerative colitis, sprue, or Crohn’s disease)? These diseases can impair the body’s ability to absorb and store vitamin K.

• Are you a chronic user of mineral oil, anticholesterol drugs, or antibiotics? The nonabsorbable fats of mineral oil attach to vitamin K and carry it out of the body. Some anticholesterol drugs (cholestyramine and colestipol) inhibit absorption of vitamin K. Certain antibiotics, including tetracycline, neomycin, and cephalosporins, suppress bacterial production of vitamin K. Read the rest of this entry »

But folic acid, also sometimes called folacin, is suddenly getting attention. Studies have found that it can protect against neural tube defects (NTDs), severe birth abnormalities involving the brain and spine. Based on this persuasive research, the U.S. Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics now advise all women in their child-bearing years to consume at least 0.4 mg of folic acid per day in order to reduce the risk of having a baby with an NTD.

Information from this research has fueled new interest in folic acid, a B vitamin that was identified, synthesized. It has also caused concern, since folic acid deficiency is common throughout the world, including in the United States, particularly among infants and pregnant women. This B vitamin is important to infants because it promotes cell replication and rapid growth. Pregnant women need extra folic acid not only to help their fetuses develop properly, but also because their bodies break down the vitamin at an increased rate. Read the rest of this entry »

Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the human body, makes up about 2 percent of your body weight. About 99 percent of that is in the bones and teeth; the rest is in tissues and in the body fluids that bathe the cells. In order for your body to absorb the calcium from your diet and make use of it, you also need sufficient amounts of vitamin D.

A mechanism built into your body keeps the levels of calcium in your blood balanced—at sufficient but not excessive amounts. When calcium levels begin to rise too high, the thyroid manufactures a hormone called calcitonin, which draws excess calcium from the blood and deposits it in the bones; urine and feces also carry extra calcium out of the body. Conversely, when calcium levels dip too low, the parathyroid produces a hormone that pulls stored calcium from the bones and sends it to the blood. If the latter process goes on for too long, the bones are depleted of the calcium they need and become thin and weak. Read the rest of this entry »