notes/education/nutrition/Vitamins.md

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Vitamins were first discovered in 1921
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- Casamir Runk coined the term vitamin
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- Vita = life
- Amine = a type of nitrogen containing substance
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- The first discovered vitamin was thiamin
- There are 13 known vitamins, plus 5 vitamin like substances
- It is unlikely that any new vitamins will be discovered - (babies and sick people can live on synthetic liquid diet?)
- A vitamin is a complex organic compound that regulates certain metabolic processes
- Cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by the body
- Occurs naturally in foods
- Deficiency disorder occurs if substance is missing from the body
- They do not provide any energy
- Vitamins are organic, but they differ from macronutrients:
- **Not metabolized for energy**
- Present in small amounts in foods
- Required in milligram and microgram amounts
- Because vitamins are organic
- They are subject to heat degradation
- Exposure to excessive heat, alkaline substances, light, and air can destroy certain vitamins
- **Water soluble vitamins can leach out of food and dissolve in cooking water**
# Fat Soluble Vitamins
- Fat soluble vitamins are **K, A, D, E**
- Found in lipid portions of the body
- Associate with lipids in the body
- **Digested and absorbed with fats
- Stored in the body
- Can cause toxicity
# Water soluble vitamins
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- Water soluble vitamins are the **B-vitamins**: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, pantothenic acid, folate, biotin, vitamin B-12, and **vitamin C**.
- They dissolve in water
- **Very limited amounts are stored** with the exception of B-12
- **Kidneys will filter out excess water soluble vitamins**
- Less likely to be toxic