Food and Nutrition zone

Water-Soluble Vitamins Like fat-soluble vitamins, water-soluble vitamins are essential organic substances needed in small amounts for the normal function, growth, and maintenance of body tissues. For example, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and biotin are especially important for energy metabolism. Vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12 are important for amino acid metabolism and red blood synthesis. Vitamin C participates in the synthesis of numerous compounds, including collagen, and choline is required for nervous system function and aids amino acid and lipid metabolism.  In contrast to the fat-soluble vitamins, only small amount of water-soluble vitamins are stored in the body. The risk of water-soluble vitamin toxicity tends to be low because, unlike fat-soluble vitamins, water-soluble vitamins are readily removed by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. In fact, Tolerable Upper Intake Levels have been set only 4 of the water-soluble vitamins and choline. ...

 Vitamin K Vitamin K food sources Vitamin K appropriately gets its name from the Danish word koagulation ("coagulation" or "clotting"). Its primary action s blood clotting, in which its presence can make the difference between life and death. Blood has a remarkable ability to remain liquid, but it can clot within seconds when the integrity of that system is distributed.  It has other names such as Phylloquinone (vitamin K1), menaquinone (vitamin K2), and menadione (in supplements). Roles in the Body: More than a dozen different proteins and the mineral calcium are involved in making a blood clot. Vitamin K is essential for the activation of several of these proteins, among them prothrombin, made by the liver as a precursor of the protein thrombin. When any of the blood-clotting factors is lacking, hemorrhagic disease results. If an artery or vein is cut or broken, bleeding goes unchecked. Of course, this is not say that hemorrhaging is always caused by vitamin K de...

Vitamin E Vitamin E The vitamin E family consists of to subgroups __the tocopherols and the tocotrienols __each containing four members designated by letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). All consist of a complex ring structure with a long saturated (in tocopherols) or unsaturated (in tocotrienols) side chain. The positions of methyl groups (CH3) on the side chain and their chemical rotations distinguish the four members within each subgroup. Of all the members of the vitamin E family, only alpha-tocopherol is maintained in the body and can meet the body's needs for the vitamin. The others are not converted to alpha-tocopherol in the body, nor are they recognized by its transport protein. For these reasons, the RDA is based only on alpha-tocopherol. Most vitamin E research has focused on alpha-tocopherol, but recent studies suggest that the other tocopherols and tocotrienols have unique antioxidant and anti-inflammatory roles that better protect against ...