The Role of Vitamins to Peoples Bodies - Essay Example

Intro: We have all heard it at least once during our life time at one point or another. Somebody, probably a parent or guardian was sitting down at atable and told us to remember to take our vitamin. Or we were told how important it was to make sure we got all of our vitamins and minerals in our diet. Vitamins are important to our bodies’ different functions, and we should make sure to have a proper intake of all of the different vitamins. Vitamins are important nutrients that are needed for many of the body’s processes. They act on both ends of chemical reactions and help out in various cell processes. We however, have it much easier than our forefathers did when it comes to taking vitamins. Originally the only way to obtain vitamins was from eating the right balance of the right food containing exactly the right about of which vitamins you needed, a process that was difficult and not always exact. However, now we can take vitamin pills to make sure we receive all of the vitamins we need in order to be healthy. These vitamin supplements allow us to receive the right amounts of all the vitamins out body needs, and allows us to stay healthy without having to eat more food than we really need. Vitamins are very important to our body, and we need to be sure to take the right amounts of the vitamins we need. Eating fruits and vegetables can make up most of these vitamins, which are already part of a healthy diet. Body: Vitamins are important nutrients that our body needs in order to survive. These nutrients work with our body to help several of our body’s functions work properly, and help many of the different reactions that take place inside the body. Without these important vitamins to help start, or even sometimes end these reactions, our body would be left with no outlet to which conduct these important reactions. Vitamins are important in many chemical reactions that take place inside the body, such as the extreme importance of Vitamin K in the bodily process that leads to blood clotting. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). In the past, vitamins were only originally let into the body by food intake. This means that a person only received the vitamins that they needed directly from the food they ate. However, foods have different balances of vitamins, so if you change your diet or are eating the improper amount of certain foods, you could end up with a huge vitamin deficiency and not be healthy. This can lead to adverse effects in the human body, and eventually “Disease caused by a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E) has always been rare. Levels of water-soluble vitamins (all B-vitamins and C) can become deficient state in the body in a matter of days (hours in the case of drug-induced deficiencies), but the effects (Scurvy, in the case of an Ascorbate deficiency) may not display for weeks. When the cause of a disease is not microbial, then a major alternate diagnosis is a deficiency in what is needed. Vitamins have been produced as commodity chemicals and made widely available as inexpensive pills for several decades, allowing supplementation of the dietary intake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). Vitamins can be classified into two different groups, depending on the substance that most easily breaks them down. Water-soluble vitamins dissolved very quickly and rapidly in water, and fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed in the digestive system with the help of lipids. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). Most of all the vitamins have important roles in various different bodily reactions, and therefore can also have various important roles they need to play in the body. There are 13 vitamins that are at work inside humans. They are divided into two groups, the four fat-soluble vitamins(A, D, E, K) and the remaining nine water soluble vitamins( 8 B vitamins and vitamin c.)( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). Vitamins play an important role in the expected normal growth of a multi-cellular organism. From the beginning stages of a fetus, it is dependent on nutrients and various vitamins for different bodily functions and reactions. Without these important vitamins during these vital growing stages, a organism may not have regular growth, or may experience defects upon birth. However, “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 eaten, and to help process the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats required for respiration.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). If a person has not been taking vitamin pills, and does not have enough of a certain vitamin in their diet, they can become vitamin deficient. There are two types of this deficiency and these “Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when you do not get enough of the vitamin in the food you eat. 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 the bodys use of the vitamin. Individuals 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.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins).” However, even to much of a good thing can be a bad thing. To much of certain vitamins have had registered side effects, and the side effects and increase with the increase of dosage of the vitamin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins). Supplements such as dietary or vitamin supplements are used to help combat vitamin deficiency without making a person risk taking to many of a certain vitamin. These supplements “re used to ensure that adequate amounts of nutrients are obtained on a daily basis, if optimal amounts of the nutrients cannot be obtained through a varied diet”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins), and help a person stay healthy and keep vitamins in their diet. Conclusion: Vitamins are very important nutrients that need to make up a part of every person’s diet. Even way back in Egyptian times, people noticed that they had to eat the right amounts of certain foods, and keep certain fruits and vegetables in their diets to stay healthy. They may not have known it yet, but they were stumbling upon the building blocks of the idea of vitamins. Even these ancient people realized the important of a healthy diet and the right nutrients, and how important all of these were to a healthy and happy life. Without nutrients our bodies would not be able to first off, grow and develop properly, and secondly would be hard pressed to do many of the chemical reactions that involve vitamins without them. And since humans are not able to produce their own vitamins, or store vitamins inside their bodies, we must take them in with the food we eat. Thankfully however we do not need to worry so much about vitamins anymore, as there are supplements available so people can make sure they receive the right amount of the healthy vitamins and not overdose. This helps make sure a person receives a healthy amount of each vitamin every day. While we may once have said we didn’t want to eat fruit or vegetables, and not wanted to take our vitamins, one can see that vitamins are just another part of what is needed to ensure a healthy lifestyle, and that they are an essential part of every diet. Read More