Thursday, June 21, 2007

5 Essential Vitamins We Need Daily

“It's no coincidence that four of the six letters in health are "heal." ”~ Ed Northstrum


Here is the list of essential vitamins that we need daily. They perform essential functions to keep us fit and healthy. Are you getting enough?



B12

Health Benefits:
Vitamin B12 is used in making DNA, the building block of genes,
and in maintaining healthy nerve and red blood cells.


Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
2.4 micrograms a day for people 14 and older provides all the
body needs; although some researchers have argued that a daily
intake of 6 micrograms would ensure absorption.

Best Food Sources:
B12 is bound to protein, so foods like meat, fish, eggs and dairy
products like yogurt and milk are the principal sources.


Vitamin C

Health Benefits:
Researchers have long known that vitamin C is an essential
building block of collagen, the structural material for bone,
skin, blood vessels and other tissue.


Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The current recommended daily intake for men is 90 mg and for
women it is 75 mg. The body can only absorb a maximum of about
400 milligrams a day.


Best Food sources:
Virtually everything in the produce section including oranges,
green bell peppers, strawberries, broccoli, cantaloupe and
tomatoes, turnip greens, sweet potatoes and okra.


Vitamin D

Health Benefits:
Early on, most of the concern focused on bones, since vitamin D,
working along with calcium, helps build and maintain them.


Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Official recommendations now call for 200 IU for children and 600
IU for people over 71, with other groups falling somewhere
between.


Best Food sources:
We rely on fortified milk and breakfast cereals to get most of
our dietary vitamin D. Apart from a few kinds of fish, including
herring and sardines, there aren't many natural food sources,
which leaves supplements and direct sunlight.



Vitamin E

Health Benefits:
Scientists have not yet discovered all of vitamin E's importance
to our health, but they know that it plays a vital role in immune
function, DNA repair, fight free radicals, red blood cells
formation and vitamin K absorption.


Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The RDA in men and women is 23 IU, or 15 milligrams, and because
many E-rich foods come from nuts and oils, some low-fat diets may
be inadequate in vitamin E.


Best Food sources:
Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ oil. Sunflower seeds, cooked
spinach, almonds, safflower oil and hazelnuts.



Vitamin K

Health Benefits:
Vitamin K is used by the body to produce an array of different
proteins. Some of them are used to create factors that allow
blood to coagulate—critical in stemming bleeding and allowing
cuts and wounds to heal.


Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The current recommended daily intake of vitamin K is 90
micrograms for women and 120 for men. Luckily, vitamin K
deficiency is extremely uncommon.


Best Food Sources:
Vitamin K can be found in spinach, broccoli, asparagus, kale,
arugula, green leaf lettuce, soybean oil, canola oil, olive oil
and tomatoes.



EAT WELL... BE WELL!

6 comments:

Mike Harrison said...

I recently found a multi vitamin/anti oxident drink that has helped me get my vitamins. i have noticed that my energy levels have gone up significantly.It is called kyani.
kayni is a juice that has many preventative properties. it has done amazing things for people. if you interested take a look at this site its very educational.
http://mike.mykyanilife.com/product/index.html i have also been taking omega3's and tocotrienols. that help prevent against heart disease and other things.

Unknown said...

True it's best to get the vitamins from our daily dose of food...great coverage...great post.Ask a Nurse

Unknown said...

All kinds of vitamins are very essential for our body...and food is a natural and good source too.

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Anonymous said...

Don't we get all our vitamins from foods?But since they are grown with pesticides and we need to wash them extensively and sometimes even boil them....don't the vitamins get lost?

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Unknown said...

Vitamins are very important fluids to our healthy body, there is no doubt from perfect foods we get them but we have to choose the best organic ones which does not have any kind of fake chemicals which could harm the health of our body.

Unknown said...

Vitamins are very important fluids to our healthy body, there is no doubt from perfect foods we get them but we have to choose the best organic ones which does not have any kind of fake chemicals which could harm the health of our body.