The Water Soluble vitamins are the B Vitamins and Vitamin C.

• Excess excreted by kidneys.  Excess accumulates, can be toxic

The Fat Soluble vitamins are Vitamins A, D, E and K.

• Absorbed directly into blood Transported and stored like fats

Vitamin A - Needed everywhere. Three active forms: retinol, retinal and retinoic acid.

Functions:

• Eyesight- A is part of rhodopsin, the visual pigment
• Epithelial tissues need A to protect integrity.
• A is needed by immune system to fight infections.
• A is needed for bone growth.

Deficiency Diseases: Keratinization, xerosis, xerophthalmia. Infections. Weak bones, poor teeth.

Toxicity: Hyper A vitaminosus.

Average RDA: 800 - 1000 RE/day

Sources: ß-Carotene. Plant pigment, precursor of A. Converted to A.
Green and yellow fruits vegetables.

Vitamin A Vignette
Sir Douglas Mawson, the Antarctic explorer whose likeness appears on the Australian $100 bill, was the leader of an ill fated expedition to travel to the South Magnetic Pole by dogsled. His party set out with several teams of sled dogs. An accident caused the loss of the sled with the food supplies into a crevasse. To survive, the party had to eat the remaining dogs. The dog livers were large and healthy looking, so Mawson fed these to his men. They became sicker and eventually died. Mawson, who denied himself any liver so to give them to the men, was the sole survivor. We now know that men died of Vitamin A poisoning, as a result of consuming the dog livers which were very rich in Vitamin A.

Vitamin E - Antioxidant. Prevents oxidative damage to PUFAs and vitamin A. Functions: Protects lung membranes. May reduce risk of heart disease.  May help heal burns, may help prevent sunburn, may promote tan. Deficiency Diseases: Premature babies have erythrocyte hemolysis. Adults have anemia,neuromuscular disorder, fibrocystic breast disease, intermittent claudication, and malabsorption of fat. Toxicity: Rarely seen. Maybe free bleeding. Average RDA 8 - 10 mg/day. Sources: Widespread in plant kingdom. Wheat germ oil, fruits and veggies.

Vitamin E Vignette
Much controversy exists regarding the possible role of Vitamin E in protection against sunburn. Proponents claim that daily vitamin E supplements can reduce the chances of painful summer sunburns. Dr. Wolfe has heard of Canadian cruise ships that recommend that their guests prepare for midwinter Caribbean holidays by taking 400 to 800 units of Vitamin E daily for 8 - 10 weeks before the cruise. The crew in sick bay claim fewer bad cases of sunburn happen if the people follow these instructions.

Thiamin (Vitamin B₁)

Functions: Energy metabolism,
appetite and nervous system function

Deficiency Diseases: Beriberi

Symptoms: Weakness, pain, low morale,
nervous disorders, mental confusion.

Toxicity: None reported

Average RDA 1.1 - 1.5 mg/day

Sources: Meat, grains, beans, nuts.

Thiamin Vignette
Dr. Eijkman, a Dutch physician working in Indonesia at the end of the last century, noticed that some people and some chickens in his neighborhood were afflicted with beriberi, a disease characterized by stiffness and weakness. He also noted that diseased chickens fed on rice bran (the roughage created when the hull of the rice grains is removed by abrading the grains) recovered rapidly from the disease. So he followed his observations with an experiment. He fed rice polishings to people with beriberi, and discovered the same nearly miraculous recovery took place as with the chickens. He had discovered that thiamin, present in rice bran, prevented beriberi. Later on, it was discovered that beriberi was caused by a lack of thiamin in the diet, so beriberi could be defined as a thiamin deficiency disease.

Niacin (Vitamin B3) Functions: Energy metabolism, skin health, and nervous system. Deficiency Diseases: Pellagra Symptoms: Diarrhea, irritability, confusion, and psychosis skin rash. Toxicity: 10 X RDA = "niacin flush" Average RDA 15 - 20 mg/day Sources: Meat, milk, eggs, fish, grains, high protein foods.

Niacin Vignette

The Niacin deficiency disease is called Pellagra. Among the symptoms of this malady is dementia. People in the southern United States relied on corn as a staple food, and corn is notoriously low in niacin. Many people in the South who were suffering from pellagra exhibited symptoms of dementia, and hence were confined to insane asylums. In 1936, the State of South Carolina passed legislation to fortify corn meal with niacin, and the consequence was that large numbers of the insane asylum inmates were miraculously cured of mental illness and released back to family and friends. Niacin had cured their pellagra, and their mental illness!

Folate (No common names) Functions: New cell synthesis. Deficiency Diseases: Megaloblastic anemia Symptoms: Anemia, red tongue, nervous disorders, and confusion. Toxicity: None reported Average RDA: 50 - 200 µg/day Sources: Beans, grains, liver.

Vignette

Recently, we have come to understand that folate deficiency in pregnant women can lead to neural tube defects. Neural tube defects are characterized by lack of proper development of the spinal cord, ranging from slight spinal problems all the way to anencephaly, a birth defect that results in babies being born without a brain. Folate is named after foliage, where it is found in abundance. A sound diet, with the recommended servings from the vegetable group, will guard against neural tube defects.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) Functions: Collagen synthesis, antioxidant, amino acid metabolism. Deficiency Diseases: Scurvy. Symptoms: Anemia, bleeding gums, weakness, muscle pain, slow healing. Toxicity: Headache, rashes Average RDA: 160 mg/day Sources: Citrus fruits, vegetables and fruits.

Vitamin C Vignette

In 1756, Dr. James Lind conducted a classic experiment on sailors with scurvy. He divided them into groups, and treated each group with a different food. He discovered that those fed diets containing citrus fruits soon regained robust health, but the sad outcome of this experiment was that the remainder of his experimental patients became more ill, and many died! He was a dedicated scientist, and so he finished the experiment, losing many of his subjects. Nonetheless, his discovery that citrus fruits prevented scurvy changed the dietary habits of the British Navy and Maritime fleet. The chemical structure of Vitamin C was not elucidated until over 150 years after Dr. Lind's classic experiments.