Vitamins - Where to Start

Vitamins and minerals can be found in mostly all foods (not necessarily processed foods) and all at different levels. All are needed for you to remain balanced, therefore healthy and functioning correctly.  If deficiencies start, your body still can still run without, however it has severe impacts on the rest of your body. Find out what you need and where it can be found:

Vitamin A

Vitamin A, is an important vitamin for vision and bone growth.

Food sources:
Apple, Apricots, Beef, Beetroot, Broccoli, Butter, Cantaloupe Melon, Carrots, Eggs, Lemon, liver, Mango, Meat(white and red), Milk, Pumpkin, Sweet potatoes, Spinach and other leafy green vegetables.

Vitamin B

B1 (Thiamine) plays an important role in helping the body metabolize carbohydrates and fat to produce energy. It is essential for normal growth and development and helps functioning of the heart, nervous and digestive systems.

Food Sources:
Green peas, Spinach, Liver, Beef, Pork, Nuts, Bananas, Soybeans, Goji berries, Whole-grains, Breads and Yeast.

B2 (Riboflavin) is needed healthy skin, hair and nails and is an all over energy provider.

Food Sources:
Mushrooms, broccoli, bean sprouts (not fried)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
Good for the nervous system in in particular blood cell formation and is made up by bacteria in the gut. This vitamin may be hard to obtain from vegetables as most are washed of it when in transport to our shelves.

Sources:
Soya products, non-hydrogenated margarine, breakfast cereals, yeast extract and food supplements.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
The main roles of this vitamin is DNA repair, energy metabolism and removes unwanted bad cholesterol.
Deficiency leads to symptoms including aggression, dermatitis, insomnia, weakness, mental confusion, and diarrhoea.

Food Sources:
Meat (white and red), fish, milk, eggs, leafy vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, nuts, mushrooms and avocado's.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Essential for protein utilisation (1)
Deficiency may lead to anaemia, depression, dermatitis, high blood pressure, water retention.

Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid)

Food Sources:
Leaf vegetables, dried beans and peas, sunflower seeds, fruits.

Vitamin C
Helps build a strong immune system and considered a very powerful antioxidant.

• Good for skin and scar tissue.
• Humans are one of the own species that doesn't self generate it (maybe this is due to millions of years of evolution?). We need to constantly stock up on this Vitamin either through food or supplements with food.
• Helps the absorption of Iron.
• Helps prevent most cancers and cardiovascular disease, yet we don't get a tenth of what we should be getting daily (60mg RDA).
• If you smoke, you will nearly need double the standard dose as smoking kills vitamin C and helps speed up the growth of ageing.

Food Sources:
Liver, Oysters, Red Pepper, Parsley, Kiwi Fruit, Broccoli, Orange, Strawberry, Lemon, Papaya and other fruits and vegetables contain smaller amounts than these but all are good!

Vitamin D
Vitamin D uses and regulates Calcium and to Phosphorus in the blood to function and strengthens bone formation. The vitamin D is broken down into two:
D2 - which is found in foods.
D3 - Which is created in the human skin when exposed to the sun.
Deficiency can lead to softening of the bones (osteomalacia - where soft bones fail to absorb calcium and not osteoporosis where calcium is taken from the bones for use in other parts of the body causing the bones to become denser and crumble)

Food Sources:
Fish such as Mackerel, Cod, Salmon, Tuna, Sardines, Milk, Yogurt, Mushrooms and cereal grains

Calcium and Vitamin D
Calcium is great for your bones or so we are told but here are a few facts:
Your body needs a good supply of magnesium.
Without enough calcium, your body takes it from your own bones causing osteoporosis.

Food Sources:
Almonds, Brazil nuts, Chickpeas, Figs, Green Vegetables, Tofu, Okra, Swede, Cheese* and many more. 



A great source of calcium and magnesium is water. Another reason why drinking water is good for you.



Vitamin E
Helps the body to make use of oxygen as well as fighting against free radicals.
It helps vitamin A to:
- to manufacture red blood cells and stops chances of clotting.
- be stored in the muscle.
Deficiency can lead to nervous system problems and anaemia

Food Sources:
Almonds, Asparagus, Carrots, Chestnut, Coconut, Corn, Green leafy Vegetables, Hazelnuts, Oats, Peanuts, Pistachios, Prawns, Sunflower seeds, Soya beans, Tomatoes and Wheat germ.