Please click on the vitamin name below and you will be linked to a Wikipedia article to learn about that vitamin. If a deficiency disease is caught early enough it can usually be reversed by giving the person the vitamin they were deficient in but in some cases the damage that has been done is too severe and can not be reversed. At that stage it is called a "deficiency disease". If you are just a little deficient you may only be able to detect the deficiency with a blood test but if you are deficient long enough and severe enough, systems of the body will eventually begin to lose function and you will see signs and symptoms overtly. I encourage you to think of vitamins as being on a continuum where you can be deficient (too low), just right, or toxic (too high). Large doses of vitamin supplements can make it easy to get to toxic amounts of vitamins. These days, people sometimes choose to take large doses of vitamin supplements. Those are tiny quantities and yet we can not live without them! As you read about each of the vitamins and their important roles in human health, keep in mind there can be too much of a good thing. Remember that there are 1,000 mg in 1 gram and 1,000 micrograms in 1 milligram. When you look below, at the amounts needed, you'll see that the vitamins are measured in microgram (µg) or milligram (mg) amounts. Vitamins are needed in very small quantities. Coenzymes are needed for enzymes to function. The largest number of vitamins, the B complex vitamins, function primarily as "enzyme helpers" called coenzymes. Other vitamins function as antioxidants (vitamin E and vitamin C for example). Some vitamins, such as vitamin D and A, have hormone-like functions where they travel through the blood and tell certain cell types what to do. Most of the vitamins have several important functions, not just one. Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions. All of these compounds can be converted into active vitamin A in the body and are therefore considered to be precursors to vitamin A. For example, "vitamin A", includes the compounds: retinal, retinol, retinoic acid and four known carotenoids. It is also important to note that, the term "vitamin" can refer to a number of compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin. The other 9 vitamins are water soluble, including: vitamin C and all of the B vitamins (Riboflavin, Niacin, Thiamin, B 6, Folate, B 12, Pantothenic Acid and Biotin). Only four of the vitamins: A, D, E and K are fat soluble. Vitamins are classified as either: fat soluble (will dissolve in oil) or water soluble (will dissolve in water). Some researchers believe there are more vitamins that have yet to be discovered. Thirteen vitamins are universally recognized. For example, ascorbic acid (one form of vitamin C) is a vitamin for humans, because the human body can not make it for us, but most all other animals have the ability to make this vitamin for themselves. Interestingly, not all organisms have the same vitamin requirements. Just like other essential nutrients, vitamins must be obtained from the diet since the organism can not make them (or can not make enough of them) for survival. Vitamins are organic compounds (meaning they contain Carbon) and they are vital nutrients that organisms require in limited amounts.
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