However, we will share with you as much information as possibly can about this subject so that you no longer have any questions left un-answered by the end of this article.
Function
This means that these vitamins are required for the body to work properly. Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body. The nine water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and all the B vitamins.
They have to be consumed on a regular basis to prevent shortages or deficiencies in the body. The exception to this is vitamin B12, which can be stored in the liver for many years. Some vitamin-like nutrients are also needed by the body such a.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. Most research has not shown antioxidant supplements to be helpful in preventing diseases.
Biological Significance Of Vitamins
Some of the first evidence for the existence of vitamins emerged in the late 19th century with the work of Dutch physician and pathologist Christiaan Eijkman.
In 1890 a nerve disease (polyneuritis) broke out among his laboratory chickens. In 1906–07 British biochemist Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins observed that animals cannot synthesize certain amino acids and concluded that macronutrients and salts could not by themselves support growth. Funk proposed that the polyneuritis arose because of a lack in the birds’ diet of a vital factor (now known to be thiamin) that could be found in rice bran.
Because each of these factors had a nitrogen-containing component known as an amine, he called the compounds “vital amines,” a term that he later shortened to “vitamines.” The final e was dropped later when it was discovered that not all of the vitamins contain nitrogen and, therefore, not all are amines.
Discovery And Original Designation
Some of the first evidence for the existence of vitamins emerged in the late 19th century with the work of Dutch physician and pathologist Christiaan Eijkman. He noticed that the disease was similar to the polyneuritis associated with the nutritional disorder beriberi.
Funk proposed that the polyneuritis arose because of a lack in the birds’ diet of a vital factor (now known to be thiamin) that could be found in rice bran. Funk believed that some human diseases, particularly beriberi, scurvy, and pellagra, also were caused by deficiencies of factors of the same chemical type. Because each of these factors had a nitrogen-containing component known as an amine, he called the compounds “vital amines,” a term that he later shortened to “vitamines.” The final e was dropped later when it was discovered that not all of the vitamins contain nitrogen and, therefore, not all are amines.