Vitamin Supplements

Vitamin E Health Merits

Keeping up with all of the recent research into the potential health benefits of vitamin E is difficult. The impressive findings of the best of this research, however, are impossible to ignore.

Vitamin E against Cancer

A growing body of research indicates that vitamin E can provide protection against a variety of cancers, including oral, lung, cervical, and breast cancers. For example, an eight-year Finnish study of 36,265 adults concluded that individuals with low blood levels of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) were 1.5 times more likely to develop cancer than people with higher amounts. Read the rest of this entry »

Phosphorus

Another very important mineral upon which the body depends is phosphorus. This mineral plays a leading part in many of our vital processes.

It is present in every tissue and has much to do with the growth and functions of all the cells of the body. Phosphorus enters into a great many different chemical reactions, especially those involving enzymes, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Phosphorus is essential for all the muscles. Believe it or not, you could not lift an eyebrow without phosphorus! It is part of the nuclear structure of every cell. Phosphorus also helps to maintain the normal acid-base balance of the body.

In combination with calcium it forms a large part of the bony framework on which the rest of the body depends. It is essential in building sound, healthy teeth. Most of the phosphorus in the body is stored in the bones. Like calcium, it can be drawn upon for needs elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

Within the human body there is a surprising assortment of minerals. They have much to do with keeping us in good physical condition. Some minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus, are needed for building strong bones and teeth. If it were not for these, our bodies would collapse. Other minerals act more or less like chemical “spark plugs” through their association with the enzyme systems of the body. Still others have special functions of their own to perform.

The chief minerals of the body are calcium, phosphorus, iron, and iodine. We need more of these than of the others. For that reason, these four are the most likely to be missing from a deficient diet. There are only traces of the other minerals in the body, but most of them must also be present for normal health. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a popular belief that B vitamins are ‘good for the nerves‘. In fact this is rather an upside-down statement and it would be better to say that lack of vitamin B is bad for the nerves. In health our nerves function very efficiently. They take information from outside our body to the brain and we know if something is hot or cold, red or green, sweet or sour. This information travels along ingoing (afferent) nerves to the brain which sifts the evidence and decides on a plan of action, i.e. to take the hand away from the hot water. It sends messages back along outgoing (efferent) nerves to the muscles concerned, and the hand is pulled away from the heat. We take much of this basic behaviour for granted but the reactions involved are many and complicated. Read the rest of this entry »

Many other actions of vitamin C contribute to its role as a protective vitamin. Ascorbic acid is found in close association with the white cells of the blood, particularly those that destroy harmful bacteria. They are found in the lymph cells which take part in immune reactions, and there is also a high concentration of ascorbic acid found in adrenal glands which is used up during times of stress.

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and cannot be stored in the body for a long time, nor in large quantities. There is, however, a small reserve known as a ‘pool’ which consists of approximately five grams in a healthy individual. This is distributed between bone, blood, muscles and glands. When the diet is adequate this ‘pool’ remains constant and in times of shortage it can act as an emergency supply of the vitamin. Read the rest of this entry »

Vitamin C is probably the most popular vitamin. Everyone knows something about it, and it features in advertisements, articles and discussions. It is easy to buy, relatively cheap and many people ‘believe’ in it. Every winter quantities of vitamin C tablets are swallowed, chewed or drunk in an attempt to combat the common cold. The strange thing is that when put to the test vitamin C does not produce very convincing evidence that it can help us in the way we expect. We do need it (30 mg per day is the recommended daily allowance) and it has important functions, particularly as it affects the structure of bones, muscles, blood vessels and skin. It has been described as the ‘cement’ of the body, and without it wounds do not heal, bones cannot mend and bacterial infection can spread rapidly throughout the tissues. Read the rest of this entry »

The vitamin is also found in the retina of the eye. It forms part of a substance called rhodopsin which enables us to distinguish black and white objects in low light. We have two separate visual systems in the eye, colour, and black and white. During the daytime they work together, but in a dim light, we cannot distinguish colours and must rely on the black and white system. There are types of receptors at the back of the eye called rods and cones. The cones interpret colour and the rods give us our black and white vision. Rhodopsin, composed of protein and retinol, is found in the rods. Light entering the eye causes a chemical reaction in the rods and is said to ‘bleach’ the rhodopsin. This change causes electrical impulses to leave the eye and travel to the brain, and we see an image. The bleaching process destroys the rhodopsin and it must be re-formed if we are to see the next image clearly. Read the rest of this entry »

Vitamin A is the generic, or family name which covers the active vitamin, retinol, and the provitamin, carotene. Retinol is found in animal products and carotene is found in fruit and vegetables. Carotene is described as a provitamin because it does not turn into an active vitamin until it has been eaten and digested. The conversion to retinol occurs in the wall of the intestines before reaching the bloodstream. Retinol and some of the unchanged carotene is carried in tiny droplets of oil which enter the blood after leaving the intestines and pass to the liver. Vitamin A is stored here before it is transported to other parts of the body. Being fat soluble it cannot mix directly with the watery medium of the blood, but the liver forms special protein carriers for the vitamin so that it can be transported into the main bloodstream. Read the rest of this entry »

There are two distinct schools of thought about vitamin E and they can be divided between those who are concerned with the known facts and findings about the vitamin, and the others who prefer to promote its more attractive, but as yet unproven, qualities. If you study an academic text on the subject you will find that vitamin E is a true vitamin and is essential in our diet. Few of us are likely to go short of it or suffer any form of deficiency disease and the only exceptions are premature babies, and people who cannot digest and absorb any fat. Compare these facts with those presented in praise of vitamin E and you will find a very different story. It seems that vitamin E is a magic ingredient which will ensure health and happiness, improved sex life and eternal youth. It is hard to believe we are discussing the same substance, and inevitably we are faced with the problem of who to believe, and we need to know why there is such a discrepancy between the scientist’s evidence and the layman’s approach. Read the rest of this entry »

When the skin is cut the blood flows freely for a few moments and then a clot is formed and the healing process can begin. This change from a liquid to a solid state involves a number of complicated chemical reactions, which are often referred to as the cascade sequence and one of these is controlled by vitamin K. In simple terms we can condense this cascade of events into two important changes; pro- thrombin, present in the blood, changes to thrombin, and the clot is formed. If vitamin K is missing then thrombin cannot be formed and the bleeding will not stop. Read the rest of this entry »