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Kaydee
Vitamin
~2.4 mins read
A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a chemically closely related set of molecules, i.e.
vitamers ) that is an essential micronutrient which an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism . Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism, either at all or not in sufficient quantities, and therefore must be obtained through the diet . Vitamin C can be synthesized by some species but not by others; it is not a vitamin in the first instance but is in the second. The term vitamin does not include the three other groups of essential nutrients : minerals,
essential fatty acids , and essential amino acids . [2] Most vitamins are not single molecules, but groups of related molecules called vitamers. For example, vitamin E consists of four tocopherols and four tocotrienols . Some sources list fourteen vitamins, by including
choline , [3] but major health organizations list thirteen: vitamin A (as all- trans- retinol, all- trans-retinyl-esters, as well as all- trans -beta-carotene and other provitamin A carotenoids), vitamin B 1 ( thiamine), vitamin B 2 ( riboflavin), vitamin B 3 ( niacin), vitamin B 5 ( pantothenic acid ), vitamin B 6 ( pyridoxine), vitamin B 7 ( biotin), vitamin B 9 ( folic acid or folate), vitamin B 12 ( cobalamins ), vitamin C ( ascorbic acid), vitamin D (calciferols ),
vitamin E ( tocopherols and tocotrienols ), and
vitamin K ( phylloquinone and menaquinones). [4]
[5][6]
Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions. Vitamin A acts as a regulator of cell and tissue growth and differentiation. Vitamin D provides a hormone-like function, regulating mineral metabolism for bones and other organs. The B complex vitamins function as enzyme cofactors (coenzymes) or the precursors for them. Vitamins C and E function as antioxidants. [7] Both deficient and excess intake of a vitamin can potentially cause clinically significant illness, although excess intake of water-soluble vitamins is less likely to do so.
Before 1935, the only source of vitamins was from food[citation needed ]. If intake of vitamins was lacking, the result was vitamin deficiency and consequent deficiency diseases. Then, commercially produced tablets of yeast-extract vitamin B complex and semi-synthetic vitamin C became available [citation needed ]. This was followed in the 1950s by the mass production and marketing of vitamin supplements , including
multivitamins , to prevent vitamin deficiencies in the general population. Governments mandated addition of vitamins to staple foods such as flour or milk, referred to as food fortification, to prevent deficiencies. [8] Recommendations for
folic acid supplementation during pregnancy reduced risk of infant neural tube defects.[9]
The term vitamin is derived from the word
vitamine, which was coined in 1912 by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk , who isolated a complex of micronutrients essential to life, all of which he presumed to be amines.[10] When this presumption was later determined not to be true, the "e" was dropped from the name. [11] All vitamins were discovered (identified) between 1913 and 1948[citation needed ].
Vitamins are classified as either water -soluble or fat-soluble . In humans there are 13 vitamins: 4 fat-soluble (A, D, E, and K) and 9 water-soluble (8 B vitamins and vitamin C). Water-soluble vitamins dissolve easily in water and, in general, are readily excreted from the body, to the degree that urinary output is a strong predictor of vitamin consumption. [24] Because they are not as readily stored, more consistent intake is important. [25] Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of lipids (fats). Vitamins A and D can accumulate in the body, which can result in dangerous hypervitaminosis . Fat-soluble vitamin deficiency due to malabsorption is of particular significance in cystic fibrosis.[26
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Kaydee
Fact About Honey
~0.6 mins read
Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water.
To make one pound of honey, the bees in the colony must visit 2 million flowers, fly over 55,000 miles and will be the lifetime work of approximately 768 bees.
A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
A single honey bee will visit 50-100 flowers on a single trip out of the hive.
Honey is the ONLY food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including water.
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