Vitamin

Vitamins, or coenzymes, are organic compounds required by living things to function. To be considered a vitamin, the organism must not be able to synthesize enough of it to survive and thus would have to get it from __diet__. Vitamins are not oxidized, which means they do not generate ATP for energy. They are classified by their respective biological and chemical activity and not their structure. Vitamins do not include other essential nutrients, like minerals or amino acids. Vitamins can also be classified as either essential or nonessential. There are 13 vitamins total, and each is needed in only small amounts to supplement an organism's diet. Fat soluble and water soluble is another classification of vitamins. The fat soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K; the water soluble vitamins are the nine remaining ones.

Wikipedia Table: The discovery dates of the vitamins and their sources||~ Year of discovery
 * ~ Vitamin ||~ Food source ||
 * 1913 || Vitamin A (Retinol) || Cod liver oil ||
 * 1910 || Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) || Rice bran ||
 * 1920 || Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) || Citrus, most fresh foods ||
 * 1920 || Vitamin D (Calciferol) || Cod liver oil ||
 * 1920 || Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) || Meat, eggs ||
 * 1922 || Vitamin E (Tocopherol) || Wheat germ oil, unrefined vegetable oils ||
 * 1926 || Vitamin B12 (Cobalamins) || liver, eggs, animal products ||
 * 1929 || Vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone) || Leafy green vegetables ||
 * 1931 || Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) || Meat, whole grains, in many foods ||
 * 1931 || Vitamin B7 (Biotin) || Meat, dairy products, eggs ||
 * 1934 || Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) || Meat, dairy products ||
 * 1936 || Vitamin B3 (Niacin) || Meat, eggs, grains ||
 * 1941 || Vitamin B9 (Folic acid) || Leafy green vegetables ||

List of Vitamins: Vitamin A (Retinol) Functions in vision and gene expression Beta Carotene is also vitamin A. It's a color pigmentation that's found in plants. It's mostly yellow and orange fruits and vegetables that have this pigmentation, which makes their color richer. Carrots are a great example. This is good for vision and eye health, a strong immune system, __healthy skin__, and healthy mucus membranes. Getting high amounts of beta carotene, though, is unhealthy, especially for smokers. It can cause skin discoloration, loose stools, bruising, and joint pain. It has been said that beta carotene can be beneficial for people with certain skin sensitivities as a sunscreen, but it doesn't protect against sunburns.

Vitamin B (Thiamine) Functions in calcium homeostasis



Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)



Vitamin D (Calciferol )



Vitamin B 2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin E (T ocopherol ) Functions as an antioxidant

Vitamin B 12 (Cobalamins)

Vitamin K 1 (Phylloquinone) Functions in blood clotting

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vitamin B 5 (P antothenic acid)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vitamin B 7 <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (Biotin)



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vitamin B 6 <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (Pyridoxine)



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vitamin B <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">3 <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(N <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">iacin <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">)

Niacin is a Vitamin B3. this vitamin helps prevent Pellagra, which is a chronic disease. It functions as a coenzyme that helps with the metabolism of carbohydrates. This can be added to foods with protein, such as eggs and milk, to increase the iacin that's naturally produced. There isn't much naturally produced, hench the additive. It is also resistant to most cooking and preserving processes.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vitamin B 9 (Folic Acid)



Deficiencies
It was suggested that, when plants and animals began to transfer from the sea to rivers and land about 500 million years ago, environmental deficiency of marine mineral antioxidants was a challenge to the evolution of terrestrial life. Terrestrial plants slowly optimized the production of "new" endogenous antioxidants such as ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), polyphenols, flavonoids, tocopherols, etc. Since this age, dietary vitamin deficiencies appeared in terrestrial animals. [|[33]] Humans must consume vitamins periodically but with differing schedules, to avoid deficiency. Human bodily stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B12 are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the [|liver], [|[29]] and an adult human's diet may be deficient in vitamins A and D for many months and B12 in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition. However, vitamin B3 (niacin and niacinamide) is not stored in the human body in significant amounts, so stores may last only a couple of weeks. [|[20]] [|[29]] For vitamin C, the first symptoms of [|scurvy] in experimental studies of complete vitamin C deprivation in humans have varied widely, from a month to more than six months, depending on previous dietary history that determined body stores. [|[34]] Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when an organism does not get enough of the vitamin in its food. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or limits the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a "lifestyle factor", such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of medications that interfere with the absorption or use of the vitamin. [|[29]] People who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin deficiency. In contrast, restrictive diets have the potential to cause prolonged vitamin deficits, which may result in often painful and potentially deadly [|diseases]. Well-known human vitamin deficiencies involve thiamine ( [|beriberi] ), niacin ( [|pellagra] ), vitamin C ( [|scurvy] ), and vitamin D ( [|rickets] ). In much of the developed world, such deficiencies are rare; this is due to (1) an adequate supply of food and (2) the addition of vitamins and minerals to common foods, often called fortification. [|[19]] [|[29]] In addition to these classical vitamin deficiency diseases, some evidence has also suggested links between vitamin deficiency and a number of different disorders.

Side-effects and overdose
In large doses, some vitamins have documented [|side-effects] that tend to be more severe with a larger dosage. The likelihood of consuming too much of any vitamin from food is remote, but overdosing ( [|vitamin poisoning] ) from vitamin supplementation does occur. At high enough dosages, some vitamins cause side-effects such as [|nausea], [|diarrhea] , and [|vomiting]. [|[20]] [|[37]] When side-effects emerge, recovery is often accomplished by reducing the dosage. The doses of vitamins differ because individual tolerances can vary widely and appear to be related to age and state of health. [|[38]] In 2008, overdose exposure to all formulations of vitamins and multivitamin-mineral formulations was reported by 68,911 individuals to the [|American Association of Poison Control Centers] (nearly 80% of these exposures were in children under the age of 6), leading to 8 "major" life-threatening outcomes and 0 deaths.

Supplements
[|Dietary supplements], often containing vitamins, are used to ensure that adequate amounts of nutrients are obtained on a daily basis, if optimal amounts of the nutrients cannot be obtained through a varied diet. Scientific evidence supporting the benefits of some vitamin supplements is well established for certain health conditions, but others need further study. [|[40]] In some cases, vitamin supplements may have unwanted effects, especially if taken before surgery, with other dietary supplements or medicines, or if the person taking them has certain health conditions. [|[40]] Dietary supplements may also contain levels of vitamins many times higher, and in different forms, than one may ingest through food. [|[41]] There have been mixed studies on the importance and safety of dietary supplementation. A [|meta-analysis] published in 2006 suggested that Vitamin A and E supplements not only provide no tangible health benefits for generally healthy individuals but may actually increase mortality, although two large studies included in the analysis involved [|smokers], for which it was already known that [|beta-carotene] supplements can be harmful. [|[42]] Another study published in May 2009 found that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may actually curb some benefits of exercise. [|[43]] While others findings suggest that evidence of Vitamin E toxicity is limited to specific form taken in excess. [|[44]] A double-blind trial published in 2011 found that vitamin E increases the risk of prostate cancer in healthy men

Governmental regulation of vitamin supplements
Most countries place [|dietary supplements] in a special category under the general umbrella of //foods//, not drugs. This necessitates that the manufacturer, and not the government, be responsible for ensuring that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed. Regulation of supplements varies widely by country. In the [|United States], a dietary supplement is defined under the [|Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act] of 1994. [|[46]] In addition, the [|Food and Drug Administration] uses the Adverse Event Reporting System to monitor adverse events that occur with supplements. [|[47]] In the European Union, the [|Food Supplements Directive] requires that only those supplements that have been proven safe can be sold without a prescription.

Names in current and previous nomenclatures
Nomenclature of reclassified vitamins||~ Previous name not fit the definition of a vitamin). || The reason that the set of vitamins skips directly from E to K is that the vitamins corresponding to letters F-J were either reclassified over time, discarded as false leads, or renamed because of their relationship to vitamin B, which became a complex of vitamins. The German-speaking scientists who isolated and described vitamin K (in addition to naming it as such) did so because the vitamin is intimately involved in the //Koagulation//of blood following wounding. At the time, most (but not all) of the letters from F through to J were already designated, so the use of the letter K was considered quite reasonable. [|[49]] [|[52]] The table on the right lists chemicals that had previously been classified as vitamins, as well as the earlier names of vitamins that later became part of the B-complex.
 * ~ Chemical name ||~ Reason for name change [|[49]] ||
 * [|Vitamin B4] || [|Adenine] || DNA metabolite; synthesized in body ||
 * [|Vitamin B8] || [|Adenylic acid] || DNA metabolite; synthesized in body ||
 * Vitamin F || [|Essential fatty acids] || Needed in large quantities (does
 * Vitamin G || [|Riboflavin] || Reclassified as [|Vitamin B2] ||
 * Vitamin H || [|Biotin] || Reclassified as [|Vitamin B7] ||
 * Vitamin J || [|Catechol], [|Flavin] || Catechol nonessential; flavin reclassified as B2 ||
 * Vitamin L1 [|[50]] || [|Anthranilic acid] || Non essential ||
 * Vitamin L2 [|[50]] || [|Adenylthiomethylpentose] || RNA metabolite; synthesized in body ||
 * Vitamin M || [|Folic acid] || Reclassified as [|Vitamin B9] ||
 * Vitamin O || [|Carnitine] || Synthesized in body ||
 * Vitamin P || [|Flavonoids] || No longer classified as a vitamin ||
 * Vitamin PP || [|Niacin] || Reclassified as [|Vitamin B3] ||
 * Vitamin S || [|Salicylic acid] || Proposed inclusion [|[51]] of salicylate as an essential micronutrient ||
 * Vitamin U || [|S-Methylmethionine] || Protein metabolite; synthesized in body ||

Anti-vitamins
Anti-vitamins are chemical compounds that inhibit the absorption or actions of vitamins. For example, [|avidin] is a protein in egg whites that inhibits the absorption of biotin. [|[53]] Pyrithiamine is similar to thiamine, [|vitamin B1], and inhibits the [|enzymes] that use thiamine