VITAMINS AND THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page – – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgement – – – – – – iv
Table of Contents – – – – – – – v
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction – – – – – – – 1-2
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Sources of Vitamin – – – – – – 3
2.1 Classification of Vitamin – – – – – 3-5
2.2 Effect of Deficient Intake of Vitamin – – – – 6
2.3 Effect of Excess Intake of vitamin – – – – 7-8
2.4 Effect of Cooking on Vitamins – – – – – 8-9
2.5 Vitamin Supplementation – – – – – 9-10
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Vitamins and their Health Benefits – – – – 11
3.1 Functions of Vitamin in Fetal Growth
and Childhood Development – – – – 11
3.2 Adult Health Maintenance – – – – – 12
3.3 Fat soluble Vitamins and their Health Importance – – 12
3.3.1 Vitamin A – – – – – – – – 13
3.3.2 Vitamin D – – – – – – – – 14-15
3.3.3 Vitamin E – – – – – – – – 15-16
3.3.4 Vitamin K – – – – – – – – 16-17
3.4 Water Soluble Vitamins and their Health Importance – 17-18
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Summary and Recommendation
4.1 Summary – – – – – – – – 19
4.2 Recommendation – – – – – – – 19
References
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
Vitamins are essential substances for the normal functioning and development of the body. There are two classes of vitamin namely: fat and water soluble vitamins. The known vitamin includes A, B, C, D, E and K and the B vitamins; thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), cyanocobalamin (B12), biotin and folated folic acid (Mohammed et al., 2020).
Vitamin has diverse biochemical functions. Vitamin A acts as a regulator of cell and tissue growth and differentiation. Vitamin D provides a hormone-like function, regulating mineral metabolism for bones and others organs. The B complex vitamins function as enzyme cofactors (coenzymes) or the precursors for them. Vitamins C and E function as antioxidants (Bender, 2003). Both deficient and excess intake of a vitamin can potentially cause chemically significant illness, although excess intake of water-soluble vitamins is less likely to do so.
All vitamins were discovered (identified) between 1913 and 1948. Historically, when intake of vitamins from diet was lacking, the results were vitamin deficiency diseases. Then, starting in 1935, commercially produced tablets of yeast-extract vitamin B complex and semi-synthetic vitamin C became available (Price, 2015). This was allowed in the 1950s by the mass production and marketing of vitamin supplements, including /multivamins, to prevent vitamin deficiencies in the general population (Price, 20015). Government has mandated the addiction of some vitamins to staple foods such as flour or milk, referred to as food fortification, to prevent deficiencies (Food Fortification Initiative, 2018). Recommendations for folic acid supplementation during pregnancy reduced risk of infant neural tube defects (Wilson et al., 2015).
