Vitamins & Disease Prevention, Vitamin Supplements

The protective role of vitamins Vitamins and minerals are essential for our ongoing good health, and are most effective when consumed in fresh, natural foods. Benefits of some of the more common vitamins and their prevalent food sources are listed below. Some people may not completely absorb or properly assimilate vitamins from their diet. Pollution, poor nutrition, illness, prolonged periods of stress and some medical treatments deplete our body's nutrient stores and can interfere with nutrient absorption. These situations may call for vitamin and mineral supplements to ensure that our body stores and reserves are topped up and remain so if we are to enjoy continued good health. However, we should exercise caution supplementing the minerals, as they are readily stored by our body and we can easily risk overdosing. Also, the B-group of vitamins should rarely be supplemented individually as they work in conjunction with each other.
Vitamin	Main attributes	Beneficial for	Main food source
A	anti-oxidant fat-soluble anti-cancer properties	dry skin mucous membranes night vision	dairy liver fish
B group	water-soluble	stress carbohydrate metabolism excess alcohol intake nervous system energy metabolism hormone synthesis lowering cholesterol red blood cell production heart and blood vessels	whole grain cereals legumes poultry and lean meat green vegetables dairy products yeast and peanuts liver, kidney, oysters
C	anti-oxidant* water-soluble anti-cancer properties	smokers lowering cholesterol immune system disease prevention blood capillaries	citrus fruits tomatoes sweet potatoes soybeans green vegetables
D	fat-soluble	regulating calcium and phosphorus in teeth and bones	all dairy foods fish liver
E	anti-oxidant* fat-soluble anti-cancer properties	inflammation control normal reproduction muscle development heart and blood vessels lowering cholesterol dry skin	wheatgerm vegetable oils wholegrain cereals leafy green vegetables
*Anti-oxidants provide a protective function by blocking the formation of damaging by-products generated as our body converts food to energy. Super anti-oxidant supplements, if taken in excess can interfere with some of the oxidative pathways that our body does need, so should be used with discretion. For more information on Vitamins see "Hot to Trot" or several of our other books, eBook, or CD's