Good Food Sources of Vitamins

By Jane Thurnell-Read

Some people are reluctant to take nutritional supplements and, even those who aren’t, need to get as many of their nutrients as they can from food. So here is a list of good dietary food sources of the different vitamins, but do remember that food storage and other factors will affect how much of a nutrient is in any particular food that you eat.

Vitamin A/ Retinol
Eggs, milk & dairy products, fish liver oil, carrots, parsley, spinach, broccoli.

Vitamin B1/ Thiamin
Wheat germ, yeast, liver, whole grains, brazil nuts, peanuts, soya flour, oatmeal, lentils, fish, poultry, beans, pork.

Vitamin B2 / Riboflavin
Fortified breakfast cereals, meat, eggs, almonds, blue cheese, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables, offal, nuts.

Vitamin B3 / Niacin/ Nicotinic Acid / Nicotinamide
Poultry, fish, peanuts, almonds, potatoes, yeast extract, hard cheese, haricot beans.

Vitamin B5 / Pantothenic Acid
Meat, whole grains, legumes, yeast.

Vitamin B6 / Pyridoxine
Fish, poultry, lean meat, whole grain cereals, walnuts, butterbeans, bananas, peanuts.

Vitamin B12 / Cyanoco-Balamin / Cobalamin
Eggs, oily fish, cheese, alfalfa sprouts.

Biotin (Classified as both Vitamin H/ and B Vitamin)
Yeast, eggs, milk, cheese, soya beans, peanuts, walnuts, beans, cauliflower.

Choline
Widely available in food.

Inositol
Widely available.

Folic Acid / Folate / Folacin
Green leafy vegetables, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, melons, pumpkins, peanuts, butter beans, carrots, egg yolk, apricots, avocado, tomatoes.

Vitamin C / Ascorbic Acid
Citrus fruit, nectarines, strawberries, melons, vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes. Most other fruits and vegetables contain some vitamin C.

Vitamin D / Calciferol
Oily fish, oysters, egg yolks, blue cheese, cream.

Vitamin E / Tocopherols
Vegetable oils, margarine, green vegetables, wheat germ, eggs, corn, nuts, seeds, olives.

Vitamin K
Green leafy vegetables, fruits, cereals, meat, soybeans.

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Health Benefits of Vitamin C “Ascorbic Acid”

The health benefits of Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid include the prevention and cure of scurvy, treatment of common cold, boosting the immune system, lowering hyper tension, cure of lead toxicity, curing cataracts, treatment of cancer, combating stroke, maintain elasticity of skin, healing of wounds, and controlling the symptoms of asthma.

Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid is the one of the most effective and safest nutrients. It is a water soluble vitamin. It is the powerful antioxidant for the synthesis of collagen which helps to make blood vessels and body muscles strong. Human body doesn’t have the capacity to generate Vitamin C. Therefore, it needs to receive it through foods and other supplements.

Deficiency Symptoms:
A severe deficiency of Vitamin C can cause scurvy, a fatal disease. The symptoms of scurvy are loose teeth, bleeding and bruising, joint pain and swelling, tooth and hair loss, hemorrhages, inability to fight infections, and mild anemia.

Important Sources:
The important sources of Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid are any citrus fruits such as oranges and grapes. Strawberry, raspberry, cabbage, cauliflower, other leafy vegetables, red pepper, potatoes, broccoli, chilies, watercress, parsley, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, mange tout, and kiwi fruit are also rich sources of this vitamin. The cooking of food at low temperature and for short time is important to keep the Vitamin C preserved.

Benefits:

• Prevention of Scurvy: Scurvy is prevented by sufficient intake of vitamin C. The symptoms of scurvy appear due to the weakening of connective tissues, bones and blood vessels which include collagen. Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, is required for the production of collagen.
• Treatment of Common Cold: It enhances the immune system of our body which protects us from cold and cough. It facilitates the absorption of iron and hence strengthens the resistance to infection. It fights with viruses.
• Lowering Hypertension: People with hypertension are at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The supplement of vitamin C intake helps in lowering the blood pressure.
• Treatment of Vasodilation: Treatment with vitamin C has effectively resulted in proper dilation of blood vessels in the cases of atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, high cholesterol, angina pectoris, and high blood pressure. Results have been found that supplements of vitamin C improve blood vessel dilation.
• Cure of Lead Toxicity: Lead Toxicity is a severe health problem found mostly in children, especially in the urban areas. Abnormal development and growth has been found in children who are exposed to lead. They develop behavioral problems, learning disabilities and have low IQ. It may damage the kidney and increase blood pressure in adults. Vitamin C supplements reduce the blood lead level.
• Curing Cataracts (Eye Disorder): Cataracts are the most common reasons of visual problems. Decrease in the level of vitamin C in the lens of the human eye has been found with increased number of cataracts. Increase of vitamin C intake increases the blood supply to the visual zones of the body.
• Treatment of Cancer: Researchers have found that high consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits have a linkage with a minimised risk for the various types of cancer. The studies have shown that increased consumption of vitamin C is connected with the decreased possibilities of cancers of lung, mouth, vocal chords, throat, colon-rectum, stomach, and esophagus.
• Combating Stroke: Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid helps in reducing the risk of stroke, a kind of cardiovascular disease. A diet full of vegetables and fruits produces good quantity of vitamin C which maintains the appropriate blood pressure level. It also protects the body from free radicals which could be the reason for the stroke.
• Mood: Vitamin C plays a key role in the production of neurotransmitters, norepinephrine. They affect the mood of a person as they are critical to the proper functioning of the brain.
• Immunity: Immunity is another important benefit of this vitamin. Vitamin C is widely known for its contribution to the immune system of the body.
• Wound repair: Vitamin C helps to repair wounds. It facilitates the growth of the connective tissues, which fastens up the process of healing of wounds.
• Controlling Asthma: It also helps to reduce the symptoms of asthma.It helps to protect against the harmful effects of pollution on human body.
• Curing Diabetes: One of the chief reasons for diabetes as found by various studies is lower levels of vitamin C. Supplements of vitamin C are beneficial as a cure to diabetes as they help in processing of insulin and glucose.
• Preventing Heart Diseases: Adequacy of vitamin C is essential for protection of blood vessels from the damage that free radicals can cause to them. This could be a major cause of a heart disease called atherosclerosis. Vitamin C acts as a preventing agent of this heart disease as well as various other cardiac problems.

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Why “sunshine” vitamin D is so crucial to our health

Vitamin D is vital in activating human defences and low levels suffered by around half the world’s population may mean their immune systems’ killer T cells are poor at fighting infection, scientists said on Sunday.

The findings by Danish researchers could help the fight against infectious diseases and global epidemics, they said, and could be particularly useful in the search for new vaccines.

The researchers found that immune systems’ killer cells, known as T cells, rely on vitamin D to become active and remain dormant and unaware of the possibility of threat from an infection or pathogen if vitamin D is lacking in the blood.

“When a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or ‘antenna’ known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D,” said Carsten Geisler of Copenhagen University’s department of international health, immunology and microbiology, who led the study.

“This means the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won’t even begin to mobilize.”

Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption, and that there is a link between levels of the vitamin and diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

“What we didn’t realize is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system — which we know now,” Geisler wrote in the study in the journal Nature Immunology.

Most Vitamin D is made by the body as a natural by-product of the skin’s exposure to sunlight. It can also be found in fish liver oil, eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel, or taken as a supplement.

Almost half of the world’s population has lower than optimal levels of vitamin D and scientists say the problem is getting worse as people spend more time indoors.

Geisler and his research team said the findings offered much needed information about the immune system and would be of particular use when developing new vaccines.

“This is important not only in fighting disease but also in dealing with anti-immune reactions of the body and the rejection of transplanted organs,” they wrote.

Active T cells multiply at an explosive rate and as well as fighting infection, can also mistakenly attack the body itself.

After and an organ transplant, for example, T cells can attack the new organ as a “foreign invader,” and in autoimmune disease, hypersensitive T cells mistake parts of the body’s own cells as threats, prompting the body to attack itself.

Geisler said there were no definitive studies on the optimal daily vitamin D dose but experts recommend 5000 IUs a day.

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