Welcome to Vitamins

We all know about vitamins and minerals. But what do we really know about them? This article will give you a closer look at them.

Vitamins and minerals are referred to as micronutrients. It is ideal to obtain them from organic, whole foods, but at times supplementation is necessary.

Vitamins are referred to as either fat or water soluble. The difference in them is dependent on what solution they dissolve in, i.e. fats/oils, or water.

Fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E, F, & K. They are stored in the body, so there is an increased risk for toxicity.

The other category, the water soluble vitamins; are the B-group, C, & P. They cannot be stored in the body. These vitamins are lost through the body through perspiration and urination. Because of this, it is essential for you to replenish these on a daily basis. If this is not done, deficiencies can occur.

We are used to the RDA as our way of figuring out what we need of each vitamin on a daily basis. This stands for the Recommended Daily Allowance, and has been in use since the 1940’s. It is a standard dependent on only estimations, and assumes that we know all there is to know about micronutrients. These differ from country to country, and are the minimum requirements to avoid deficiency.

The somewhat outdated views of this system was proposed to be replaced in 1993. Some refer to it as “The New Paradigm’. This system is called the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). Within this are the Adequate Intake Levels (AI), the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR), the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), and the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UI). You can learn more about these in further detail by following the link…

About the Author: Mel Possehl

To learn more about vitamins and the new data, please click Vitamin Requirements to access. Mel Possehl can enlighten you on not only Vitamin Requirements, but many other things having to do with nutrition & holistic living!