Posts Tagged ‘Vitamin’

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Information About Vitamin A

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Vitamin A

Introduction

Often touted as a miracle vitamin, vitamin A is the secret to great skin, higher immunity levels and holistic growth. Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that also improves eyesight, helps strengthen bones, protects the body from heart related diseases, alleviates acne and psoriasis conditions, reduces wrinkles, alleviates respiratory ailments and helps improve measles and glaucoma conditions.

Functions within the body

Retinol, which is a by-product of vitamin A, is responsible for helping the eyes adapt to dark environments easily. Therefore, regular intake of vitamin A can help prevent a condition known as ‘night blindness.’  Retinol acids help regulate genetic conditions and expressions within the body and an adequate intake of vitamin A helps preserve the physiological characteristics of cells in the body. Vitamin A is also an effective agent against any infections as it helps to strengthen the mucous linings, skin, urinary tract and digestive tract, so forming the primary defences against most infections. Whilst vitamin A may be needed for proper growth and development in the body, too little or too much of this vitamin can cause defects in a foetus.  Red blood corpuscles originate from stem cells, which depend on vitamin A to become blood cells. Vitamin A is also responsible for mobilising iron to incorporate it into the form of haemoglobin.

Deficiency conditions

Since vitamin A is required for maintaining eyesight and immunity, a deficiency can cause impaired vision and increased incidence of diseases in the body. Night blindness is one of the foremost conditions caused by a deficiency of this vitamin. When the deficiency is less, it manifests itself as a slight change on conjunctive tissue of the eye. These are Bitot’s spots. In cases where the deficiency has reached more severe proportions, it can cause dryness of the eyes and finally result in ulcers on the cornea, scarring and ultimately blindness in the person.

Children who have lower amounts of vitamin A in the blood tend to get more respiratory diseases as well as diarrhoea. Children who already have a condition of measles or diarrhoea as well as insufficient vitamin A tend to suffer more than children with a healthylevel of vitamin A. In such children, the severity of the infection is more.

Deficiency Symptoms in Adults and Infants

Vitamin A is responsible for the healthy growth of bones and tissues in children. Hence, a reduced level of this vitamin can result in retarding growth in a child. Therefore, the child could develop a growth defect and even dwarfism which is where the body parts fail to grow normally and assume a stunted appearance. Often the face will assume a mongoloid appearance and the facial bones will not develop fully resulting in a distorted facial appearance.

In adults as well as children, a deficiency of vitamin A can cause conditions like night blindness, inflammation in the eyes, inability to see properly at night, dryness of eyes, inflammation in the cornea etc. In addition to conditions associated with the eyes, a person can experience roughness of the skin, dryness and increased presence of wrinkles. Children with insufficient vitamin A are more prone to respiratory ailments as well as urinary tract infections. This can also manifest itself in adults who do not have sufficient vitamin A in their bodies.
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Vitamin Benefits

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Vitamin benefits are substantial. From multi vitamins that offer our body all of the missing nutrients we do not get from eating the wrong foods, to supplements that boost energy, stave off disease, increase libido, and build our immunity. There are many different vitamin benefits.

Most doctors will advise you to take a multivitamin supplement. A multivitamin supplement gives us the nutrients we lack in our daily diets. Many of us do not get the proper vitamins that are derived from certain foods for a variety of reasons. In the world of today, everyone is in a hurry and many of us do not eat right. In addition, many essential vitamin benefits are derived from foods that certain people do not like to eat. Our body still needs these vitamins, however, so taking a supplement is one good way to get the nutrients needed without having to eat foods we do not like.

Vitamin benefits vary as do the different types of vitamins themselves. Vitamin A, for example, has many different benefits. It is shown to be a proven antioxidant and can protect against cancer. Vitamin A is also very useful in curing skin disorders, such as acne. It can even reverse cornea damage in some people.

Foods that are high in Vitamin A contain carrots, broccoli, dairy products, greens, peaches, liver, cherries and squash. When taking Vitamin A, one must be careful about overdosing on this vitamin. Symptoms of a Vitamin A overdose include nausea, vomiting, dry skin and fatigue and may even include hair loss.

Another essential vitamin that provides wonderful vitamin benefits is Vitamin B-1. The vitamin benefits of B-1 include helping with respiratory disorders, acne, fatigue, weakness and effectively fighting off many different diseases. Foods that are high in Vitamin B-1 include broccoli, cauliflower, nuts, eggs, rice, asparagus, turkey, peas, and parsley to name a few.

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What is Vitamin B? What are the Benefits of Vitamin B?

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

There is no single B vitamin, but rather there are eight water soluble vitamins, each of which plays an important role in the cell metabolism process, making up what is known as the B-Complex vitamin. While the B vitamins were once believed to be just a single vitamin, research has showed that these are eight chemically distinct vitamins that can coexist in the same foods, but that can also be found separately in other whole food sources as well. While these eight vitamins can be combined in a supplement known as the vitamin B complex, individual B vitamin supplements are also available. Each of the Vitamin B vitamins is differentiated by a number, and also has its own unique name.

Vitamin B1 – Vitamin B1 is also referred to as Thiamine, and is a water soluble vitamin that is essential for healthy neural function, and metabolism of carbohydrates. The result of a thiamin deficiency in most cases is Beriberi, which is a disease of the nerves and the heart. Less severe deficiencies may result in weight loss, confusion, irritability and malaise. Vitamin B1 can be found in small dosages in many whole food sources including peas, asparagus, cauliflower, yeast, brown rice, oranges, pork, eggs and potatoes.
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Why Might Your Children Need A Chewable Multiple Vitamin Supplement

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Unfortunately, refined, fast, and junk food is becoming easier and easier for children to buy and consume. Vending machines offer candy bars, sugar-filled soft drinks, and snack foods loaded with fat and salt to children in both grade schools and high schools. Many school cafeterias also sell fast-food to children for lunch every day. It seems as if nutritionally lacking snacks and soft drinks are sure to be available everywhere children go and gather. Parents who are determined to fight this disturbing trend are seeking solutions everywhere to help their children get their needed nutrition. One answer they are finding is supplemental multivitamins, many of which are formulated especially for children. There are superior multivitamins and exceptional immune boosting products that actually taste great.
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12 Sources of Natural Vitamin Supplements

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Taking vitamins has long been considered as a prerequisite to good health. In fact, health experts are in agreement, that these organic molecules are needed to be taken by the human body in minute quantities, to ensure proper health. According to these experts, a person deprived of a particular vitamin would eventually exhibit disease symptoms particular to the said vitamin.

The importance of vitamins for good health is a fact well known to everybody. Even children at the primary school level are well aware of this because they are being educated on the importance of vitamins for their body. But while everybody knows how important vitamins are, not everybody knows where to get them. In fact, many believe that the only source of vitamins is the medicine bottle.

Vitamins, however, are not limited to those that are sold on drug stores as food supplements. In fact, vitamins do exist naturally. To give more light on this topic, it may be better if we give you first a background on the basic types of vitamins available today.

The Basic Types of Vitamins Available in the Market

There are three general types of vitamins being sold in the market today. These three types are the natural vitamins, crystalline vitamins, and synthetic vitamins.
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