Power up with vitamins!
Vitamins are compounds that are essential to the human body. We have to receive them from our diet because our bodies cannot produce them. We need thirteen vitamins that are divided into water-soluble (vitamin C and group B vitamins) and fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) vitamins.
Each vitamin has an important task in the body. Sufficient intake of vitamins is best guaranteed by varied diet. It is not possible to get all vitamins from one food or even a food group. Thus, you should set the table with a variety of grain products, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and milk products. Compared with vitamin pills, the advantage of a varied diet is that in addition to vitamins you will get plenty of important fibres and good fats from the food, and there is no risk of excessive intake. In addition, food most likely contains also some still unidentified health-promoting substances that are not included in any pills. Choose a varied diet and get all the important vitamins for the day!
- Vitamin A is important for vision. You can get it from liver, milk products, egg yolk, and margarine, as well as red and yellow fruit and vegetables.
- Vitamin D is formed in the skin through exposure to sunlight. In Latvia, there is enough sunlight only for a small part of the year, so it is important to get vitamin D from food. Thus, you should enjoy plenty of vitaminised liquid milk products, margarine and fish. In addition, egg yolk and forest mushrooms contain vitamin D.
- Vitamin E is an antioxidant. You can get it from vegetable oils, wheatgerm, nuts, seeds, vegetable margarine and wholemeal grain.
- Vitamin K is essential for clotting. You can get it from green leaf vegetables, beans and peas as well as avocado. In addition, the bacteria in the large intestine produce vitamin K.
- You can get vitamin C from berries, fruit and vegetables. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is formed in the body and used for tissue growth and the formation of teeth. It also functions as an antioxidant.
- The vitamin B group contains eight vitamins. Most of them take part in the metabolism of energy substances, i.e. carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Usually, the intake of vitamin B is sufficient because they can be obtained from common basic food products, such as milk, meat, grain products and vegetables.
