Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Facts About Nutritional Supplement Vitamins

By Fran Mullens

Vitamins are considered micronutrients. They are essential to life. The body needs them in relatively small amounts when we compare them with nutrients such as water, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. They add to good health by assisting the biochemical processes that release energy from digested food and regulating the metabolism. Many people need nutritional supplement vitamins to help our bodies maintain good health.

Some of the major nutritional supplement vitamins our bodies need are water soluble. When they are water soluble they must be taken into the body on a daily basis. These cannot be stored in the body and are excreted from the body in one to four days. They include B complex vitamins and vitamin C.

Other major nutritional supplement vitamins our bodies need are oil soluble. They can be stored in the body for longer periods of time in the liver and fatty tissue. Of these supplemental nutrients you will find vitamins A, D, E, and K. Both oil and water soluble vitamins are necessary for the body to properly function.

Enzymes are catalysts, or activators, in the chemical reactions that are constantly taking place within the body. Enzymes are necessary chemicals that are the foundation for the function of our bodies. Nutritional supplement vitamins work with enzymes as coenzymes in our bodies. They allow all the actions that go on in the body to be conducted as they should for normal, healthy body function.

The U.S. Food and Nutrition Board many years ago instituted what in known as the RDAs or recommended daily allowances for vitamins. This may also be referred to as DVs, daily values or DRI, dietary recommended intake. These are standards that were set for the daily amounts of nutritional supplement vitamins needed for a normally healthy person. Theses amounts give us only the bare minimum required to fight off deficiency diseases like rickets, night blindness, scurvy, and beriberi. These standards do not account for the amounts that are needed by the body to maintain maximum health but instead borderline health.

Nutritional supplement vitamins are available over the counter in many forms and combinations as well as amounts. They are available in liquid, capsule, powder, tablet, gel capsule, lozenge, and sublingual forms. Most of time, this is a matter of personal choice.

It is important to select your nutritional supplement vitamins based on what you really need. These supplements for the most part are available in combination with other nutrients or as an individual supplement.

The wide variety of vitamins and supplements can be confusing. At http://www.healthyvitamininfo.com/ you can find information that can help you learn more about which nutritional supplement is right for you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fran_Mullens

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