When the question about what food classes are essential for the body is raised, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are always given top priority. Why? Because it’s usually believed that getting energy from food is the only thing that matters. Vitamins, on the other hand, hardly get a shot because more often than not, their role in the proper functioning of the body is mostly unknown to people.
On a daily basis, your body produces muscles and bones. In addition, red blood cells are produced, and they carry nutrients and oxygen to all parts of the body. Nerve signals also travel far distances across the body, along various neural pathways delivering messages to different parts of the body. At the root of these bodily functions are vitamins and minerals which enable the processes to run seamlessly.
Vitamins are carbon-based (organic) compounds that the body needs in small quantities to be able to carry out life functions. The body produces little or none of these vitamins, which is why we primarily get them from the food we eat, and sometimes vitamin supplements.
The vitamins are thirteen in number, and include vitamins A, B (B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12), C, D, E, and K. It is hard to overestimate the importance of these vitamins to the body, as deficiencies in them can result in, but are not restricted to, the following:
-
inflammation of the intestine
-
anemia
-
poor healing of wounds
-
hair loss
-
hallucination
-
rickets
-
softening of the bones
-
unusual susceptibility to bleeding
To learn more, take a look at the following infographic brought to you by medalerthelp.org. It contains information about the food sources, uses, minimum daily intake, and deficiency signs for each vitamin.
