Tag: vitamins

Vitamins – Storage In the Body and Out

Was it the naturalists or those who believe in laboratory created supplements who won the debate? You be the judge. Historically humans were meant to consume vitamins the natural way. Prior to the industrial age, fruits, vegetables, legumes and other foods were consumed immediately. They went from the farm to the table. But with the advent of refrigerators, freezers, canning, and other methods of preserving food, we now have a choice. Those choices affect the nutritional quality of the food we eat and therefore the amount of

Farmer's Market Fresh
Fresh from the Farmer’s Market

vitamins we actually consume the natural way. First, we’ll take a look at how vitamins are stored in the body, or not. Then we will explore the best methods to preserve the integrity of the fruits and vegetables we consume.

How Your Body Stores Vitamins – or Not

Fat-soluble vitamins, with the exception of vitamin K, are not excreted readily from the human body. They are stored. The opposite is true of the water-soluble vitamins. Generally, excess amounts of these vitamins are quickly lost from the body resulting in expensive urine. The exception is the water-soluble vitamins B-6 and B-12 which are stored more readily

Farmer's Market - Fruit
Farmer’s Market – Fruit

than vitamin C and the other B vitamins.

Due to the body’s limited ability to store a good deal of these vitamins, they need to be consumed on a daily basis. However, you should not be harmed by a periodic lapse in your daily intake, even if the lapse includes water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin deficiency becomes evident when it is not consumed and the person’s body stores are depleted. As an example, it will take an average individual 20-40 days without consuming vitamin C before the first symptoms of deficiency becomes evident.

Preservation

Significant amounts of vitamins can be lost between the time a vegetable

Karen in Cornfield
Karen in Cornfield

or fruit is picked and it is eaten. This is especially the case with the water-soluble vitamins (in particular folate, thiamin, and vitamin C) which can be destroyed with excessive cooking and incorrect storage. There are a number of factors that can destroy vitamins, including light, heat, alkalinity, cooking in water, and exposure to air. To minimize the risk of nutrient loss, it is best to eat a food soon after its harvest.

Generally, freezing the food is the best method of preservation to retain nutrients if the food is not eaten within a few days. Because frozen vegetables and fruits are usually frozen immediately after harvesting, they are as rich in nutrients as the freshly harvested ones. Additionally, vegetables are immersed quickly in boiling water (blanched) as part of the freezing process destroying those enzymes that would effectively break down the vitamins.

Farmer's Market
Farmer’s Market

With summer upon us don’t forget to visit your local farmer’s market! Not only will you support local businesses, but you can enjoy vitamin rich foods. Just remember, eat or freeze within a few days — the longer they sit, the lower the vitamin content. What’s your favorite summer fresh veggie recipe?

(C) 2016 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer

Supplements – The Great Debate

Whether or not to take a vitamin supplement has been a source of debate for decades. Between the health food stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, gyms, infomercials, and network marketing companies, the public is bombarded with ads on what and how much they need. Sifting through all the literature is a bit overwhelming, and determining what and who you can trust just muddies the waters. But, what exactly are these vital dietary elements?

Vitamins — What are they?
Picking Rasberries
Vitamins the Natural Way

They are essential organic (meaning carbon-containing) substances the body needs in the diet in small quantities for the normal growth, maintenance, and function of the body. Although vitamins do not produce energy for the body, often they are key components in reactions that are energy yielding. Some are fat soluble (vitamins A,D,E, and K) and others are water soluble (the B vitamins and vitamin C).

Vitamins — Why are they essential?

Generally, vitamins are essential in the human diet because the body can

The Sun & Vitamin D
The Sun — A Source of Vitamin D

not synthesize them or because environmental factors can decrease their synthesis. Of course there are exceptions, such as:

  • vitamin D which can be synthesized through the skin with adequate exposure to the sun,
  • vitamin A which can be synthesized through certain plant pigments, and others.

In order for a compound to be classified as a vitamin, certain criteria need to be met.

  1. The body cannot synthesize enough of a particular compound to sustain health.
  2. Deficiency symptoms arise if the compound is absent from the diet for a specific amount of time and these symptoms are cured upon its administration.
Vitamins — Where did they get their names?
In the Lab -- Supplements
Vitamins — Discovered

Just because the body can’t make it does not mean it is a vitamin. Interestingly enough, the vitamins primarily received their name alphabetically in the order they were discovered. At this point, most scientists believe that all vitamins have been discovered, although some optimistic researchers persist.

How about that vitamin supplement?

But the question remains, should you take a vitamin supplement? Because most people do not eat a proper diet on a regular basis, for the most part, vitamin supplements are recommended by the health care profession. It is important to recognize however, that although scientists have identified the majority, if not all compounds that can be classified as vitamins, certain unidentified trace elements beneficial to the human body for optimal health may still exist. Additionally, in nature, vitamins and minerals are usually paired with other compounds that maximize their absorption and therefore utilization by the body. Therefore, ideally each person should focus on those foods rich in these important nutrients. Some fruits and vegetables are classified as “superfoods” — they contain high doses of critical vitamins, minerals and other beneficial compounds, such as phytochemicals. More on that next week.

What is your opinion on taking supplements?

(C) 2016 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer