Have you taken you vitamins today?

Most people have heard of Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K. Some are more popular than others like how Vitamin C is widely known because of the famous drink Sunny Delight. Now for a little background on these vitamins. Vitamin A, D, E, and K are all fat-soluble. This means that these vitamins are absorbable in fats or lipids. Each vitamin has a different job in the body that is equally important as the next vitamin. These vitamins A, D, E, and K that are fat-soluble add to the flavor, texture and palatability of the food they are in (Whitney, 150). For this post I will focus on Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is also known as calciferol. Vitamin D comes in two forms ergocalciferol which comes from plant foods in the diet. Then there is cholecalciferol which comes from the animal foods in the diet. Both have to be “activated” before they can be fully used in the human body (Whitney, p.347). When I say “activated” it means, two hydroxylation reactions must occur.  The first reaction occurs when the liver adds an OH (hydroxyl) group and then the kidneys add another OH group to produce an active vitamin. The body also produces a vitamin D of its own when ultraviolent rays from the sun hit the skin and are converted twice, once in to the previtamin D and  then in to the vitamin D.

The role of vitamin D in the body is different from the other vitamins because the active form of vitamin D is actually a hormone. I was learning about this concept this week in my anatomy and physiology class. It is called a hormone because it is made in one part of the body and then travels through the blood to cause a reaction in another part of the body. For example how the hormone oxytocin is produced in the pituitary gland and is secreted in the blood but only the uterus contracts in response to the secretion of the hormone. The way the body responds to vitamin D is by making minerals needed for bone growth and maintenance available for use in the body.

There can be vitamin D deficiencies. The signs of this deficiency are not openly seen however, this deficiency is very common. According to Whitney ten percent of the US population has this deficiency and another twenty-five percent is marginal (349). Factors that contribute to this are dark skin, breastfeeding without supplementation, lack of sunlight and not using fortified milk. When using the term “fortified” it simply means that vitamins and nutrients have been added to something in this case the milk.

Very few foods have vitamin D in them naturally. Foods such as egg yolks and salmon and sardines are natural sources of vitamin D. Recommended sources of vitamin D are to take in some sunlight because the body can make vitamin D. People should drink at least two cups of vitamin D fortified milk a day which can be bought in the stores.  Vitamin D is important for the growth and maintenance of the bone in the human body making it one of the most important vitamins during childhood and adulthood. It is not an easy vitamin to come across as you have read but it is important that we do try to get it.

Whitney, Ellie, and Sharon R. Rolfes. Understanding Nutrition. 13th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.