With more and more people on a health kick these days, ensuring that you are getting all the right nutrients and vitamins is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. However, due to our busy lifestyles and the reduced levels of nutrients in our fresh produce, making sure that you consume enough vitamins and minerals becomes tricky.
Furthermore, some vitamins like vitamin B and C are water soluble, such that any excess of these vitamins are removed from the body and need to be replenished frequently. Other fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, and K can be stored in the body and do not need to be restored that often.
Here’s where vitamin supplements can come in handy.
Benefits and Sources of Vitamins
Some of the more common essential vitamins are vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K. As mentioned above, some of the vitamins are water-soluble and others are fat-soluble. For those that are water soluble, they are used up or removed from the body quickly, so you will need to have a consistent source to replenish them. On the other hand, fat-soluble vitamins do not leave the body immediately and are instead stored in the liver and fatty tissue.
You can obtain your vitamins from different sources - such as your day-to-day diet of fruits and vegetables or through supplementation. For supplements, we recommend looking at whole food-based vitamin supplements that are extracted from natural or organic fruits and vegetables. They should also be free from binders and artificial chemicals for better food safety and health reasons.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is necessary for your vision health, immune system support and cell growth. There are two types of vitamin A can be found in both animal and plant products respectively - retinoids and beta-carotene. Some of the foods high in vitamin A are liver, salmon, cheeses, sweet potatoes, kale, carrots, mangoes and grapefruit.
You can also find that vitamin A is used for acne treatments, wrinkles, measles and even dry eye. However, it is important not to overload on antioxidants such as vitamin A, as this may cause your body more harm.
Vitamin B
Vitamin Bs are water-soluble vitamins that help support cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. There are 8 vitamin Bs, including B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B7(biotin), B9 (folate) and B12 (cyanocobalamin). B vitamins act as a coenzyme or cofactor that is necessary for metabolic processes to function.
The main sources of B vitamins come from meat, dairy and eggs, but you can also find them in legumes, whole grains, yeast and potatoes.
Certain groups of people, such as the eldery, vegetarians and pregnant women may require more amounts of vitamin Bs.
Vitamin C
Vitamin Cs are also water soluble compounds with high antioxidant properties and help support our health against infections and illnesses. They can also guard against bleeding gums, bruising and even anaemia, while protecting cells from free radicals and anti-ageing. They are found in citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits, broccoli, cauliflower, capscium and papaya.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is known as the ‘sunshine’ vitamin, as it is produced naturally when your body is exposed to sunlight. However, some individuals may need supplementation, as they do not get a lot of sun, do not eat dairy or are on a vegan diet. However, it is naturally present in some foods, including fish, egg yolks and fortified dairy products.
Vitamin D helps with bone and muscle health as it aids the body to absorb calcium from your diet. It can also help with depression, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and fragile or soft bones.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E protects your body from harmful environmental factors such as pollution, smoking and ultraviolet rays from the sun. It can also help against degenerative disease like high blood pressure and heart disease. Most importantly, it is a great antioxidant against free radical damage to cells.
While you can obtain vitamin E from eating green leafy vegetables, seeds, nuts and vegetable oils, a handful of people may need supplementation if they have digestive problems or low fat diets. However, this is often quite rare.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that supports blood clotting, bone and heart health. To have a vitamin K deficiency is rare, it is often found in newborn babies. The main sources of vitamin K are meat, cheeses, eggs and leafy green vegetables.
As always, do consult with a medical professional before deciding to consume any specific vitamins for health reasons or to supplement your diet. If you know that you have a specific vitamin deficiency, you can take supplements to enhance your nutrition. However, overloading on vitamins can also be too much of a good thing and detrimental to your health.
Vitamin C supplements from Nature’s Glory
One of the most common health supplements that people take are vitamin C supplements. A well-known antioxidant, vitamin C is water-soluble and needs to be readily replenished through our diet or supplementation. Vitamin C can help protect us from free radical damage, heart disease and cholesterol, wound healing and infections.
It is recommended for adult males and females to take 2,000 mg of vitamin C daily.
At Nature’s Glory, we have a few different types of vitamin C supplements to choose from:
American Nutriceuticals Vitality C is a high potency vitamin C powder that does not cause stomach upset. This Vitamin C product has a neutral pH level, that allows it to be easily absorbed into the bloodstream without causing any stomach or diarrhea problems. Consumers can take high doses of the product, up to 4000mg.
Nature’s Glory Vitamin C powder is known for its antioxidants properties to support the immune system and aid with the maintenance of connective tissue like skin and blood vessels. Moreover, the product is made from pure ascorbic acid, without any binders, artificial colours or preservatives.
Vitamin Code Raw Vitamin C is a non-GMO, gluten free, kosher vitamin C supplement that provides 500mg from an extract of 23 organically grown fruits and vegetables. No high heat, synthetic binders, fillers, artificial flavours, sweeteners, colours or additives are used in the supplement.
Find them at our Nature’s Glory ecommerce store.