Why Do I Need to Supplement With Vitamins?

The role vitamins play in supporting optimal health

Vitamins are an integral part of our health and well-being.

They are organic food substances found only in plants and animals and are essential to the normal functioning of our bodies.

And if we don't get enough, it can be harmful to our health. So, let's begin with vitamin A.

Vitamin A helps your immune system function correctly

Vitamin A is also known as retinol, and has many important functions:

We'll find vitamin A in the following foods:

We can also get vitamin A by consuming beta-carotene, as it can be converted into retinol! You'll find beta-carotene in:

So how much Vitamin A do you need?

The vitamin A content of a food is normally measured in micrograms (µg or mcg) of retinol equivalents (RE). The requirements are:

Most of us should be able to get enough vitamin A from our diets.

Vitamin B supports your brain, cells and energy levels

Vitamin B has many faces! Here are the many types:

To make it simple, I've put the above into an easy-to-digest table:

Graph adapted from here.

Vitamin C protects your cells, blood vessels, and helps to heal wounds

This brings us to vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid.

Vitamin C's role is to:

And we can get sources of vitamin C from:

And how much vitamin C do you need?

40mg of vitamin C a day for men and women.

From the sun, Vitamin D strengthens bones and teeth

Vitamin D helps us regulate calcium and phosphate, which keeps our teeth, bones and muscles healthy.

And we can get it from:

So, how much do we need?

Recently revised recommendations state 600 IU (15 micrograms) for those aged 1–70 years and 800 IU (20 micrograms) for those over 71 years of age. The upper limit is listed as 4000 IU (100 micrograms).

Vitamin E supports your eyes, skin, and immune system

Vitamin E helps maintain healthy eyes and skin and strengthens our immune system.

And we can find it in:

So how much vitamin E do you need?

This brings us to our last vitamin, vitamin K.

Vitamin K helps keep your bones strong

We need vitamin K for helping wounds to heal, and for bone formation and bone health.

And we'll find Vitamin K in:

So, how much vitamin K do you need?

Men and women need approximately 1 microgram a day of vitamin K for each kilogram of their body weight.

Now you know why all vitamins are important!

The bottom line is that vitamins A through to K are an important part of our health and wellbeing and must be obtained through our diet. They are organic food substances found only in plants and animals and are essential to the normal functioning of our bodies.

Going without enough of these vitamins can be harmful to our health. Greens, liver, and egg yolks contain the bulk of all vitamins and are excellent food choices for ensuring these needs are met.