Vitamins – Vital for Good Health

vitamins

The human body needs proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins and other nutrients for a healthy existence. Among these, vitamins are significant as its deficiency results in many diseases. They are natural substances, found in plants and animals and the name is derived from “vital amines” as it was earlier supposed that all substances were amines. Vitamins support many important functions of the body and it can be basically divided into – water soluble and fat soluble vitamins.
The importance of vitamins is that it helps in regulating energy-producing processes and vitamins cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained from diet except of vitamin D and K. There are 13 different types of vitamins and each one has a special role to play in the body, like helping to regulate the processes such as cell growth and repair, reproduction and digestion; Vitamin B-6, Niacin, Natural Vitamin E and Zinc support sexual function in men.
Normal growth and development of a multi-cellular organism requires sufficient vitamins. Pregnant women should take care that a developing fetus requires the presence of several vitamins at certain times and if there is a deficiency, the child may also develop the deficiency disease. These deficiencies of vitamins can be classified as primary or secondary – Primary deficiency occurring due to lack of such food while absorption or use of vitamins.

Many diseases also have vitamins’ role in them; like the disease of mal-absorption can cause the vitamin deficiency and excess of vitamins may be used as drugs like niacin for hypercholesterolemia, while the deficiency and excess can cause disease in and of themselves e.g., vitamin A intoxication and liver disease. One should always have a healthy and wholesome diet for a healthy body.